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Learning From The Children

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Viswamitra, Jun 10, 2019.

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  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    The advice from the learned people is to lead our lives like the children. What is so special about the life of the children? What can we learn from them to make our life better and better? When we get older, our mind goes back and mull over our childhood and we need to understand why it happens. There is something in our own childhood we relished and continue to relish even today. That makes me think if our memories are not strong enough to bring back all of what we had experienced in our childhood. what can we learn from the children today?

    Excitement - The children really get excited on every new person they meet and every new thing they do every day. Their excitement never deteriorates as they don’t have to evaluate what others think of them. That excitement motivates them to do many new things that keeps them in the present moment. Fun is the only thing that is the focus at that age.

    Fearlessness – Risk taking comes naturally to them. It is better to regret what one has done than regretting what one failed to do. When we develop discrimination, we also develop the fear of failure. The failure is the way to learn new things in life and risk taking without fear is an essential part of life.

    Curiosity – The children are always curious to know new things. They learn constantly that makes them ask questions without any inhibitions. When that curiosity dies inside of us is when our life becomes dull. Curiosity lets them to explore new things, visit new places and observe new things. That gives them a great sense of fulfillment.

    Expression – The children express themselves freely and sincerely. They don’t hesitate to protest if they are asked to do something others don’t do. They are not calculating how other person is going to react before they express their own words. They have no intention to hurt but their expressions are only to love, learn and legitimate or let go.

    Adapt to change – They are the quickest to adapt to change. They don’t have change resistance in their attitude. If one lives long enough under certain environment and comfort, we tend to resist any change from that. But the children are different. Many of us have uprooted our entire family away from one part of the world to another and the children are the first adapt to that change before we could even plan and comprehend how to do it systematically.

    Focus – If you notice a small infant playing with his/her own toys, we would notice that their concentration and commitment to that action of playing. We can never draw their attention away from what they are doing at that point in time. Only at a later stage, we brag about multi-tasking as a skill. If this is not living in the present moment, what is?

    Simplicity - The children are known for simplicity. They approach all that they need to do with a simple mind and never complicate anything by overthinking. Even if they do it successfully, they can undo what they did and retry without any hesitation. The praise for performance is always received only to share and celebrate with the friends.

    Truthfulness – The children can’t lie confidently and if they lie, their body language shows up the truth. With repeated persuasion, they spill the beans and tell the truth. It comes naturally to them to be truthful in everything they say or do.

    If these qualities are considered as a green leaf and if we can extract the oil from this leaf and use it in our real life, the quality of our lives will become extraordinary. Our relationship with family and friends will flourish and our sense of fulfillment will peak. In fact, what we learned when we started our lives is what we need for the entire life. The rest are something we need to unlearn.
     
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  2. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello: I am happy with this blog. For a while I thought there is children’s day celebration around. Then I remembered it is not yet Thursday Nov fourteenth.

    2. I agree to the virtues of child you had indicated clinging to which might help adulthood and lead a pleasant purposeful life.

    3. CHILD IS FATHER OF MAN said long time ago by WordsWorth.

    4. But now child with exposure to media & gadgets are no more child in the real sense of the term and children are turning “fast super adults” from whom parents are learning finding new logics, logistics and pearls of wisdom!
    Thanks and Regards.
    God is child, He floats as baby on a large green leaf in up stream Yamuna.
     
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  3. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viswa,
    Wonderful write up on children, their innocence,their open mindedness not being judgemental etc.True, we feel that we should be like children if we want real peace of mind and happiness.
    The present day psychologists seem to have a different view.
    They say that telling lies, which is a trait of adulthood starts from the age of two in children.Pretending to have head ache,coaxing parents to give chacolates , being adamant to avoid going to school etc habits start from age2 or 3 even in Pre kindergarten classes.
    They say that to tell lies or a decent way of telling alternate truths ,is a positive sign of child development and it gives them power to judge how to have a 'win-win' situation in their favour.
    One of the research scholars says" if the child is too obedient, too adjusting, too open minded-have an eye on the child.He might become a misfit.
    When a father wants to avoid seeing some unwanted guest, he tells his son'Go and tell that Appa is not at home',
    If the child is smart,just like the present day kids, it will just stop with saying" Appa is not at home' but a few kids however will add that Appa only asked me to say so and be included under 'not so smart' - a child.
    Now it is questionable whether we want to emulate the children and whether the children are as innocent as we thought them to be.
    The word 'child like' seems to have a different connotation altogether these days.Sometimes we may even desist being like those children.

    Jayasala 42
     
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  4. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Sri Thyagarajan:

    Thank you for your first response. The children can be celebrated any time of the year just like mothers. Wordsworth words are golden and with high level of wisdom.

    You are right about learning the operations of the gadgets from the children. However, what is right and relevant content will have to be carefully decided by the watchful parents.

    Cognitive development is a vast area and how the children develop is explained by science while the learned people have already documented them through experience and from the scriptures.

    Viswa
     
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  5. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. Jayasala:

    Thank you for your wonderful response providing a different perspective of what the parents are experiencing dealing with kids. Emulation of care giver and the parents have significant impact on the children. There is no doubt about it.

    However, psychologist provide category of cognitive development for the children.

    The cognitive theories of child development focus on how a child’s thought processes change over the course of childhood. One of the best-known cognitive theories is Jean Paiget's theory of cognitive development.

    Jean Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a stage theory of cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an active role in gaining knowledge of the world. According to his theory, children can be thought of as “little scientists” who actively construct their knowledge and understanding of the world.
    Early thinking tended to assume that the way kids think is pretty similar to the way adults think, but Piaget helped change this. He concluded that the way that children think is fundamentally different from that of adults.

    His cognitive theory quickly became one of the most influence child development theories. His approach focuses on four distinct stages that kids go through as they progress from birth to adulthood.

    Concepts such as schemas, egocentrism, accommodation, and assimilation are central to Piaget’s theory. Each stage of development is marked by distinct changes in how children think about themselves, others and the world.

    The four stages in Piaget’s theory are:

    1. The Sensorimotor Stage, which takes place early in life between the ages of birth and two. During this time, a child learns about the world through their sensory perceptions and motor interactions. It is a time of astonishing cognitive change as children gain a great deal of knowledge about the world around them.
    2. The Preoperational Stage, which occurs between the ages of 2 and 6, is also a time of rapid growth and development. At this stage, children still lack the ability to mentally manipulate information and struggle to see things from other people’s point of view. A great deal of language development takes place during this stage.
    3. The Concrete Operational Stage, which takes place between age 7 and 11, involves the emergence of more logical thought. Kids are able to think rationally about concrete events, although they struggle with abstract concepts.
    4. The Formal Operational Stage, which lasts from roughly age 12 and into adulthood, is marked by the emergence of hypothetical thought. Kids are able to reason about abstract concepts and make systematic plans about the future.
    Social theories of child development tend to focus on the role that parents, caregivers, peers and other social influences impact development. Some focus on how early attachment influence development, while others are centered on how children learn by observing people around them. A few examples of these social theories of child development include attachment theory, social learning theory, and sociocultural theory.

    Psychologist Albert Bandura proposed what is known as social learning theory. According to this theory of child development, children learn new behaviors from observing other people. Unlike behavioral theories, Bandura believed that external reinforcement was not the only way that people learned new things. Instead, intrinsic reinforcements such as a sense of pride, satisfaction, and accomplishment could also lead to learning.

    Bandura’s social learning theory combines elements of behavioral theories as well as cognitive theories while accounting for the powerful influence that social experiences have on how kids learn and grow. Bandura believed that behavioral processes alone could not account for how kids learn. How, he wondered, could we explain learning that occurred without any direct association or reinforcement?

    He noted that observation and modeling play a major part in the learning process. In his famous Bobo doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that kids could learn aggression by watching the actions of an adult model. Observational learning can involve directly observing another person, but it can also take place by listening to someone else explain how to do something or even reading about it in a book.

    Viswa
     
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  6. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viswa,
    Thank you for the elaborate reply.I felt like attending 'Psychology'class by Prof.Subramaniam in 1962 in the College of Education Karaikudi.
    All said and done, viewing practically,children are not as innocent as we presume.In these days of both the parents working, not withstanding allotting 'quality time' to kids, I don't know whether we can totally avoid media influence on kids.Some children, by nature are amenable to discipline and some are not.Each child is different and the general analysis of child behaviour may at the most be a guidance and not a tailor made solution for every child.

    My DIL is having psychology text books pertaining to every year of the child's development.I read almost all the books with interest with varieties of examples.We have to arrive at a pattern depending on our child, bearing in mind the outlines explained by the psychologist. I am not contesting what the psychologist says. But it is very difficult to bring up a child in a way that can be emulated by adults.Individually we can appreciate our child if he is too analytical ,too inquisitive, too intelligent and too bright. But it is a question of doubt whether all these positive factors , do really have positive influence on him and the society as well.
    I feel that we can exercise moderate influence on the child and watch him grow naturally without considering whether he becomes an exemplor or not.
    Many children who are very much excellent in our scale of assessment turn topsy turvy and there are late bloomers, about whom mothers are worried about, later turn to be veterans in all aspects.
    Jayasala 42
     
  7. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    There is an interesting legend behind the Swaminathan temple at Swamimalai. Once Brahma, the lord of all creations, was proceeding to Kailasa, when child Lord Muruga asked him the meaning of the Pranava OM. When Brahma failed to answer, Murugan imprisoned him. Lord Muruga agreed to expound the meaning of OM to Lord Shiva if he accepted him as guru and listened to the exposition as a committed disciple. It is the reason why the place came to be known as Swamimalai and the presiding deity at the temple as Swaminathan.
    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    very pertinent and informative. Thanks to you sir.


    விளையும் பயிர் முளையிலே - adage in tamil meaning hints of talent observed in young ones. Bhakthi Prahalad & Hiaranyakasibu comes to my mind.

    2. But my mind also thinks of juveniles serving their time in prison or in correctional institution. Boy or boys causing mayhem in school class room shooting fellow class mates or teachers. Boys being trained in Indo-pak-Afgan borders as future war mongers or suicide bombings.

    3. Young girls of impressionable age hijacked or kidnapped trained and used for illegal undertaking.

    OMG - all children are your children they say. What can you say about it?
     
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  9. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    My dear Thyagu
    It is not as if people are not aware of all these. They just bury their head in the sand and believe it is night. Meanwhile a few youngsters get picked for cellphone sntching daily. Wives join their paramours in murdering their husband.
    Mum is the word from me when people talk of high morals.
    Sri
     
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  10. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Thyagarajan Sir:

    You are forgetting something. All these boys trained in Afghanistan or Palestinian land are trained by the adults to become suicide bombers. Every child that serves the term in Juvenile detention either has a history of abuse by the parents/guardian or a third party torturing the people the child loved. Kidnapping young girls are done by the adults. What I am talking about in this article is young children how they conduct themselves in a normal environment and what we can learn from them.

    How many children are raised in the world as of today and how many of them are turning out to be suicide bombers, bullies in the class, goes to Juvenile detention and abuse other women? By nature, the children have no ego, opinion about others, intention to bully anyone, fear, etc. and also are always inquisitive to learn new things, etc. We are not talking about what they would become in future and who they turn out to be.

    If we plant a seed of bad qualities as a society, the entire future generation can turn out to be bad as well. That is precisely why teaching morals as they grow up becomes essential. Efforts are underway to make the children become an outstanding and moral example for others in more than 100+ countries through character education. The government itself is sponsoring such schemes. They are trained to provide service and learn how to be helpful to others. Even in India, slum children are taught moral by volunteers to make them understand the value of quality life. Enormous amount of adults are contributing to make the next generation better.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
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