Stand back and let them learn! By Meera Raman

Cicero, the great Roman writer and philosopher once said, “The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.”

True, us adults deal with children authoritatively. As parents and teachers, we lack modesty, patience and respect when dealing with a child. There is a hierarchy of ‘superior’ and ‘inferior’. There is a feeling that the child is totally dependant and can be developed only by the adult.

The commonview point that the child develops only because of the adult is the standard opinion of many. We tend to take credit for our children’s academic success and achievement. I, myself, have always felt that I’ve had a major hand in moulding and developing my children, that whatever they have learnt, whatever they know is because of me.

But as we try to understand about the natural laws of development, our perspective starts changing. Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori Method of education, observes that from conception and during the physio-embryonic period (time spent in development before birth) and after birth, the child’s development is governed by Nature which sets its laws of development. Nature has its own laws regarding what the human being should achieve, when and how. It is difficult for us to decide when we adults can and should take over the tasks hitherto undertaken by nature. For more please read here.