The role of parents in learning

Mum and Dad, we have so much to learn from babies. The way they explore the world and gradually build an understanding of everything they experience. Sometimes we think we are teaching them, only to find that we are the ones learning how to live in the moment, to play, and to create.

We learn from the spontaneity of play. Babies explore their world through all their senses: they pick up objects, touch them, smell them, listen to them and taste them. They teach us that it does not matter if clothes get dirty; there will always be more clothes, but the memories created stay with us forever.

We learn to become facilitators of play rather than directors of it. Children are the guides; we simply support and enrich their play. In this way, their desire to learn and explore continues to grow. The baby or child sets the rhythm and direction of the play.

At times, we abruptly interrupt children’s play to “teach them something”, even when they are not asking for our help. In doing so, we interrupt the natural process of exploration and the inspiration that drives learning and development.

During the first year of life, play is especially centred around gross motor development. When babies are given freedom of movement, they naturally reach for their mother’s or father’s arms to support themselves and begin to stand. Just as they learn to stand through their own strength, supported by the arms of their parents, the role of parents in learning continues in much the same way: to provide support, to facilitate, and to create space for curiosity and creativity to flourish.

Author: Ana Charles