The Way Children Develop and Learn

Oh no! Never teach children to read and write. Their world is playing. Let them grow peacefully without our force and intervention. Poor they are to study at their early ages. This statement has been said by one of my colleagues who has an 2-year son. She told me that as she has read some books relate to the children development which explains that the children world is only playing. Based on the theories, the statement is not totally wrong. However, it cannot be said that it is true. It is correct that playing is the best way for children to learn as I have written in my first paper, entitled The Uniqueness of Children. Through playing, children can explore anything they want without feeling hesitate. They learn new thing along the process, even they learn something beyond our mind as it has been explained by Schulz in MIT News, an assistant professor of cognitive science and co-author of the study "God Does Not Play Dice: Causal Determinism and Preschoolers' Causal Inferences. It has been written that the way kids play and explore suggests that children believe cause-and-effect relationships (24-3-2006). Therefore, whatever they do, it will help them to develop their mind. It, of course, needs skilled educator to guide them in a proper way. In addition, it is said that play is essential to early learning; infants and children need unlimited opportunities to engage in play in all of its many forms with freedom to explore and experiment, with necessary limits clearly stated and consistently maintained (Allen, 1999:4). Based on this statement, it is clear enough that children need time and space to explore their ideas, and there is no better way for them to explore but playing. In playing they will start to think an abstract meaning as they will encounter with some situations that encourage them to do that in unconscious process. In line with this, Dolya (2010:11) adds that in play children are involved in an imaginary situation, with explicit roles and implicit rules. Therefore, it is a must for all parents and their educators to understand their world as they are much more brilliant than what we think. Then, they will have a guide in developing their skills through playing. Concerning their brilliances, it is strengthened by Lozanov, an inventor of Accelerated Learning, that all of children are born as genius, however, in the growth process it is destroyed by the surrounding labeling. (Khoo 2010:28) From this brief explanation, it can be the answer of my colleagues statement that it is forbidden to teach children read and write as their world is playing, not studying. What lies behind this is that the most important thing is the way we teach them. In playing, as it is stated
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in paragraph 3, children will also start thinking the abstract think. When they play family, for instance, actually they think an abstract think through imagining and behave in the real world. As when one of them has a role as a father, for example, he will think as he were a father, and it is an abstract thing. Whereas, when he is acting as a father, it is the real thing. Therefore, teaching reading and writing are not forbidden at all if we can enter to their world, playing. Then, might be it could be taught in the role-play. The creativity of the educators, parents and teachers specially, is the point to make the process of their development runs smoothly. Aside from that, a child needs to be accepted in their environment to have enjoyable experience. And the key for this is the way they adapt to certain environment, then their existences will be concerned by other members. It is also stated by Piaget that adaptation is the most important principle of human functioning. Adaptation is the continuous process of using the environment to learn, and learning to adjust to changes in the environment (Singer and Revenson, 1996:15). The primary start to build is belief. As parents or teachers, we have to be able to build their confidence in order to be easier for them to believe that they are the same as other members. That is why they will be acceptable by others. When thy have high confidence, then they will be free to explore and experience whatever they want to. This is, feeling free, will never be created without feeling secure. Therefore, the environment should be create as safe as possible that will make them secure. One thing that needs to be remembered is that every child has their own characteristics and their own time to develop their skill. The age is not the determiner for them in the development stage as their experiences from surrounding will affect them to be the way they are. However, it is believed that the general basic would be owned by the children despite their different ages as it is stated in Singer and Revenson (1996:13) that most developmental theorists agree that there are basic similarities in childrens behavior at different ages or points in their development. Another important thing to remember is that no single area develops independently of other developmental areas. Every skill, whether simple or complex, is a mixture (Allen, 1999:10). Therefore, worries are not necessary to feel and to think when the children are good in different skill from others.

References Allen, Eileen K. 1999. Developmental Profiles: Pre-Birth Through Eight. 3rd edition. New York: Delmar Publisher, Inc.
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Dolya, Galina. 2010. Vygotsky in Action in the Early Years: The Key to learning curriculum. New York: Routlege Halber, Deborah, News Office correspondent. MIT News, 24-3-2006. Scientists show that children think like scientists. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/children.html on 20 February 2011. Khoo, Adam. 2010. I am Gifted, So Are You. 8th edition. Jakarta: Gramedia Singer, Dorothy G. & Tracey A. Revenson. 1996. A Piaget Primer: How A Child Thinks. USA: Penguin Group

Written by: Muflihah Islamiyah 1004985/C

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