Discovering Child Centered Learning

One of the most influential books I read in the crunch before my first son arrived was: Baby Knows Best by Deborah Carlisle Solomon.

The most important lesson it taught me:

Letting your child figure things out is the greatest gift you can give them.

I may have all the answers, my answers will work, what happens when my answer stops working?

My child will come back to me for a new answer.

The bigger question now:

Do I want my child to always depend on me for the answer?

I decide: no. I want my child to figure things out on their own - when they need guidance, support, or recover from a mistake, I’ll be there.

In a way, I am putting my child at the center of their learning. I am not teaching them, I am giving them space to learn on their own. To make errors while they are young so they can recover on their own.

When looking at schools to send my child, Montessori style education appealed to me as it shares the child-centered philosophy.

I ended up sending my son to a Waldorf school after moving and I found the Waldorf approach is even better than expected and aligns with my vision of raising my children more.

It’s a long way to say: I discovered the value of Waldorf Education from a book about letting children solve their own problems.

I have more thoughts on Waldorf Education that I will share another time.