SCHOOLDAYS--- DEAR OLD GOLDEN-RULE DAYS

Victor Bloom MD

(Part IV of a Series)

In my previous articles I stressed the role of parents initiating learning and rules from the earliest days. Even when the child is an infant, you can sing the alphabet song among others. Since the child's young brain is receptive to language and song, the alphabet will be easily imprinted on the child's cerebral cortex. The alphabet is the basis of written language. Similarly, songs can be invented about counting and numbers. Games can be played about adding and subtracting, using fingers and blocks, knives and forks. Names can be given for things, along with simple spelling. Stories can be read, told and retold. The idea is to suffuse your relationship with learning and the love of learning.

Television is a serious and deleterious detraction from the kind of learning a school child must undertake. The beginning of formal learning is the book, not the television set. Some programs geared to learning on TV are fine--- but not the usual mindless and endless sequence of cartoons. Television, on the whole, should be drastically limited to an elementary school pupil. The child should learn to relate to a person, not the tube. The teacher is a parent-surrogate, and whether or not the child looks to the teacher for learning depends on whether he or she looked to the parent for learning.

In order for the school experience to be optimal, the parent should take a great interest in the child's studies in school. The mother and father should ask questions and encourage the child to ask questions. Nothing squelches a child's natural curiosity and love of learning more than to discourage questions. How many times have you heard, "That is a stupid question!", or "Stop asking so many questions!"?

The child is naturally curious, and asks you for answers. They can be given directly, or sometimes even better yet, the parent will say, "Let's look it up in a book." "I know a book that might have the answer." And the book may be a dictionary, an encyclopedia or, yes, even a thesaurus, where the child can learn to expand his or her vocabulary and learn spelling, synonyms and antonyms. I hope the parent will not be embarrassed to not know the answer, but rather have the assurance that the answer can be found.

More and more I hear nowadays that the child does not want to do homework. This is most likely a derivative of the parent not wanting the child to do homework, and the latter may come from the parent's ongoing rebellious attitude from childhood or adolescence. School should not be just nine to three. There is a time for recess and a time for play, and a time for quiet study. Children should be encouraged to read books, and to borrow books from the library. The librarian can often be of great help to recommend age-appropriate books, and more advanced books for a precocious child.

It is good to instill in the child a vision of the future. It is fun to explore the many occupations that would interest a child. "A butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker", a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a policeman, a fireman, an ecologist, a super-market checker, a hamburger flipper, a bus driver, a factory worker, a carpenter, electrician or plumber. Don't be afraid to give the whole range of possibilities, and explain what the work might be like. And you can also be far-out, and even mention a rocket scientist or astronaut. Give a child the whole range of possibilities, and let him or her know that we are just scratching the surface of amazing possibilities and potentialities.

Convey the concept that learning and creativity can be fun, answering questions, completing assignments and fulfilling potential can be fun. But realizing potential also involves some hard work and perseverence, some delayed gratification and frustration. The parent is the role-model for solving problems, persevering at a task, and handling frustration with calm determination.

Each child has a unique talent, but this talent may not be uncovered without exploring all the many possibilities. School consists of reading, writing and 'rithmetic, but it also consists of history and geography, music and art and sports. The parent is the one to give the proper balance between work and recreation. The job of childhood is schoolwork, and recreation should not overshadow or take precedence over school. As they say, "Business before pleasure", "the early bird catches the worm", "early to bed and early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise."

There is much wisdom in these old teachings. Education and learning are traditions that go back to the ancient Hebrews and Greeks. School can be supplemented by stories of Greek mythology, the classic children's stories and fairy tales. Children need to feel swept up in a continuum of culture, partake in the powerful mythology within the tapestry of our Western Civilization, which has been a Judeo-Christian culture, but now with a wider spectrum that includes some knowledge of African and Asian culture, along with a keen awareness that there are other languages and subcultures.

The home should supplement and complement what goes on at school, and parents should take an active part in curriculum and parent-teacher discussions. Optimally, the child should learn that learning is in itself important, that it will enable him or her to cope successfully as adults, and that is what every child longs to do. As a basic part of elementary school learning the child should be guided in the way of kindness, helpfulness and respect for others, and the best way to teach this is to live it. Beyond mere academics, the school and home must teach the child, most importantly, values, standards and priorities. Values, standards and priorities vary from one home to the other, one school to the other, one classroom to the other, but this is the way the child learns about life.

Elementary school is elementary, but the beginning of lifelong learning.