Kids who hate to learn

Several months ago, for some odd reason, I was quickly flipping through a James Dobson book at the store. In a chapter about Education, there was a comment or quote that said something like, "Saying that all children love to learn is as incorrect as saying that all children love baseball. Sure, some do, but many don't."

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During the school year I was talking to a woman at the park whose child was in the GA lottery-funded pre-K program. I asked if her daughter liked it.

"Yes!" the woman said. "She loves it, because she just loves to learn. She's completely the opposite of my three year old son."

I laughed and said lightly, "Oh, he hates to learn?" thinking she would realize how ridiculous that sounds and clarify what she really meant.

Without any humor, she explained that she tried to get to play educational games on the computer and he wasn't at all interested.

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This week I was in the car listening to some talk radio person named Joy Brown. The "topic" was about some school who was giving away some sort of prizes for good grades.

I thought this was really weird that this even a topic for discussion, because don't schools do this all the time in form or another?

Anyway, at one point Joy Brown said to a caller, "but out of your three children, I'll bet you had at least one who was a good student and at least one who wasn't interested in learning."

The caller said, "Yes, but the one who wasn't a good student is the only one who later went on to get a Master's degree."

"Oh," said Joy Brown, "so you're saying that eventually she grew and learned to love learning."

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To be very blunt:

What the hell is wrong with all these people?

I think every child loves to learn. In fact, I think it's the same as saying "every child loves to breathe."

How could anyone even think otherwise? Have you ever watched a toddler in action? All they do is learn! Either they're learning a new way to reach the cookie jar (or in my son's case, the various light switches), or they're learning how to walk, or climb, or learning something new about speech and language, or learning what kinds of sounds they can make by pushing buttons on their book, or on my piano ...

They're learning constantly. It's a drive. It's natural, normal, healthy.

Obviously people are confusing "schoolwork" with "learning." How sad.

I bet that poor three year old boy has all KINDS of things he loves learning about every day, whether it's how to build more intricate things in sand or memorizing the names and nuances of all of Thomas the Tank Engines' friends. But none of that counts, because it's not "educational software," so gee, he's just a kid who has no interest in learning. Let's either give up on him or nag the hell out of him throughout the years until he gets a clue.

Here's what I have to say about a kid who has has little or no interest in a class they're being forced to take:

Good for them!