Love of learning

Yesterday, I wrote a bit about the love of reading. Related, but not the same, is the love of learning.

I think an illiterate person can have a love of learning, and you might agree. Reading certainly facilitates learning, at least formal learning or the learning of facts and ideas, but even those can be learnt without picking up a book or reading Wikipedia. In fact, there's something to be said for getting your information at least in part from experience, observation, and from other people who haven't formalized what they have to say in writing.

I take my curiosity for granted. I also take the ease at which my curiosity can be sated through technology for granted at times. But there are people who don't like to learn. I wonder, though, if it is just an aversion to the formalized education in their past and not an aversion to intellectual activity. I can say for myself, I hate learning maths and I didn't do so well with some science. As an adult, though, I used mathematics textbooks on their own to try to overcome my ignorance in it. During elementary school, I had a little computer gadget that only taught maths, and I loved that thing. I even get excited at the idea of learning maths. I just end up usually getting put off when I don't understand and the method doesn't adapt to my needs.

But some people won't seek opportunities to learn, or at least obvious ones. I don't tend to think that this is the result of people just being naturally different. I tend to think it's either exposure to some of the methods of formal education itself, social pressure from peers, or the inability for large institutions to adapt to the needs of the individual that causes this.

While my husband and I are figuring out how we want to parent our children, I think about what my duties are to our future kids. One is to provide for their needs and to respect their wants (even if we don't always give into their wants). Another is to provide a moral structure and character building. I don't think this is automatically religious, even though some may disagree with me. After that is to make provisions for an education and to help prepare them for the adult world in appropriate fashion to their age. It seems to me that almost everything else falls under one or more of those broad categories. Safety comes under needs. Multiculturalism falls under education, character building, and preparation for the adult world. Spirituality comes under needs, wants, moral structure, and education. And so on.

But I think two things are often ignored when discussing these duties. We should preserve curiosity and foster a love of reading. I don't think that this is always possible if you leave education totally in the hands of the government.

We probably won't be able to afford to send our kids to one of the more progressive private schools (although there is an Enki preschool near here). We are considering the option of home education, particularly with the resources that are provided in the community and the supports we are planning to both our lives and the lives of any children we may have.

It might seem weird that we are planning this so early, but I guess due to personal reasons, thinking about how we will raise our kids responsibly is vital before we begin to have them. I know the best of intentions can go wrong, and reality is a lot different than plans, but seeing how easily things can go wrong with no reflection or planning as you go based on the latest recommendations, I am glad we're thinking about these things with plenty of time to spare.