What Did You Learn Today?

I quite often ask children who return home from schools, “what did you learn Today?” “Did you learn anything new?” What replies can you guess you will get when you ask children after the school? The most common replies that you will get: I learned nothing. It was a boring day. There was nothing new. It was the same old thing-BORING. This really got me into thinking why not the children learn something new everyday. There are many things that children don’t know about that they can learn and not be the victim of boredom.

There are vast areas of interests that children should engage in themselves to learn and master because they are capable of doing so. I understand when they go to school they learn nothing other than what is there in the books. Other than apple and orange they don’t teach other fruit names though there are many fruits available.  Parents expect their children to learn something new everyday but their children don’t learn new things. It is a pathetic phenomena today.

It is good to ask ourselves what new things we learn everyday? If we are not learning new things then we should make an effort to learn new things. Learning new things are basis of making our life better and meaningful. Let’s teach ourselves something new and also help others learn new things.

The children should be able to say I learned today about human behaviors, about healthy eating habits, how to remain healthy, happy, rich, and peaceful. I learned today how to be creative, innovative and how to make mistakes. I learned that I can make a difference in the world. I learned today that people are same and should not be discriminated. I learned today to be polite, respectful, helpful and generous. I learned how to make the best use of resources. I learned how to train people, teach people, empower people, guide people, mentor people and I learned to take care of animals, plants, the nature and the earth.

If children are taught all these things they will surely say they have learned something new everyday otherwise the texts will seem boring and stagnant. It is important to teach children what is important. Schools and colleges today don’t guarantee job security or financial security yet people value them too much and go extra mile to pay even the highest fees. The parents are willing to pay high fees for the children to get best academic education but they cringe paying for the most essential things of life that they must learn about.

Alwed Ekka