What do most of us do when we are curious as to how something works? We take out our phones and Google it, of course! But, what do you think would happen if we slowed down and tried to visualize it, process it, understand a piece of it, make our own hypothesis, before running to the search engine? You would be much closer to actually understanding it for yourself. You may even surprise yourself with how much you can learn by letting your brain do the thinking first. Learning is all about the journey to the conclusion. When children are in school, education is the journey they embark upon to explore the world around them. Memorizing answers should never be the goal. For real learning to take place, it must be about the process of pondering. Children need environments where the adults in their life allow them to learn. At Faith, one day on our campus will confirm that you have stepped into a world where children are encouraged to think and learn by doing! The children tend to the garden, crack their own eggs in cooking class, build models of shapes in math, discuss their own interpretations of Dante, set up their chess boards, pluck the strings of their guitars, whittle their own projects in woodworking, and the list goes on.
I have seen so much growth in my own children this past year. They are less concerned about screen time and more interested in working with their hands and exploring various forms of art when they return home from school. Not only that, but this past week when we made Christmas cookies, my children sat at the table, weighed, measured, poured, and stirred every part with a patience and attention span that thoroughly impressed me. There were even comments made along the way of, “We’ve got this mom, we’ve learned all of this in Baking class.” It is moments like these where the impact of experiential learning truly shines. Children that attend tech-free, experiential schools have better social skills, higher academic achievement, and an all around better sense of self and what brings them joy. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all desire for our children?
With love,
Becca
Written by Rebecca Buckner, Principal