Enjoy the ease that follows mastery

Have you ever noticed so many of us, both parents and teachers alike, tend to focus on only seeing educational value when there is a challenge or difficulty in learning?

We don't seem to value quite so much or appreciate the joy in having mastered something and being able to do it easily.

Have you ever noticed that?

When we see our kids sat at the table, struggling over something new, we see growth, we see development, we see that as progress. But once that same child "gets it", we quickly move onto something new and start back at the beginning again.

The past couple of weeks we have been working on cell structure with my 11 year old. Looking at the components of animal and plant cells and their functions. After going from almost zero knowledge of the subject, she has a pretty good grasp Alhamdulillah.
Yesterday, she printed off for herself a couple of worksheets to label parts of a cell and explain their function.
When I came to the kitchen table and saw what she was doing, my immediate (inward) reaction was she already knows this she should be doing something else, and I was about to spurt out some sort of admonition to say "why are you doing this, you already know it, work on something else"....but my brain popped and I stopped....Alhamdulillah I stopped!

I remembered something I'd heard from Julie Bogart of Bravewriter some time ago...so this thought is not my own however it is the first time in all these months since hearing it, that I actually took heed of it and implemented the advice.

My brain reminded me, give opportunity for our kids to feel the reward of showing what they have learnt by repeating it with mastery. To feel the pleasure in demonstrating what they have learnt and  experience the ease that comes after having obtained it.

 

We spend so long pushing them to work through a difficult maths problem, but once they have bit into it, chewed and swallowed, we don't let them enjoy the taste of that success. We hurry them along to the next new problem, instead of letting them take it easy, and spend a bit of extra time simply going over what they have just practiced and mastered now with complete ease and tranquillity.

Let them see the view and feel the adrenalin after reaching the top of the mountain, for indeed they have climbed! 

Don't take away the reward, the ease, the comfort and indeed joy, after having worked to master something new, ploughing through the challenge of learning it.

Isn't that the point of education...to go from not knowing to knowing. Let them see and experience their own success, because in that there is a great lesson for them to keep.