Rich And Stimulating Learning Environment
There are three important factors to be considered when teaching with patterns. The first is that material must be presented repeatedly. An adult's perspective should not be used here to determine whether or not material is too difficult for a child to learn. Remember that children do not and cannot process material analytically, but simply absorb and store it for later use. Also, no adult can hope to compete with a baby's memorization abilities. The second point then is that no explanation of material need be given. What a child acquires by rote memorization becomes part of his or her stored information and can be retrieved for use by the left hemisphere later, when its abilities are more fully developed. The third point is not to expect immediate results. Demanding that a child use or reproduce newly acquired information may destroy his or her willingness to or interest in gathering more knowledge.
In order to feed this tremendous thirst for information in our children let us make a rich and stimulating variety of knowledge available to them. The immediate use of this information should not concern us. Rather, lessons which will prove useful in later life, such as self-discipline or sensitivity to people, should be taught so that they become automatic, before reasoning takes over. Thus healthy habits of a lifetime can be forged without difficulty or painful questioning.
Most important of all however to my mind, is that we not pay too much attention to the customs, rules and dictates which society tells us we should impose on our children. Better to follow the spontaneous clues a child will give its mother during their daily interactions. In this way she will be able to sense where her child's real interests and talents lie, and be able to help him or her to create a meaningful and productive adult life.
