322 Where There Is No Doctor 2011
HELPING CHILDREN LEARN
As a child grows, she learns partly from what she is taught. Knowledge and
skills she learns in school may help her to understand and do more later. School
can be important.
But a child does much of her learning at home or in the forest or fields. She
learns by watching, listening, and trying for herself what she sees others do. She
learns not so much from what people tell her, as from how she sees them act.
Some of the most important things a child can learn—such as kindness,
responsibility, and sharing—can be taught only by setting a good example.
A child learns through adventure. She needs to learn how to do things for
herself, even though she makes mistakes. When she is very young, protect a
child from danger. But as she grows, help her learn to care for herself. Give her
some responsibility. Respect her judgment, even if it differs from your own.
When a child is young, she thinks mostly of filling only her own needs. Later,
she discovers the deeper pleasure of helping and doing things for others.
Welcome the help of children and let them know how much it means.
Children who are not afraid ask many questions. If parents, teachers, and
others take the time to answer their questions clearly and honestly—and to say
they do not know when they do not—a child will keep asking questions, and as
she grows may look for ways to make her surroundings or her village a better
place to live.
Some of the best ideas for helping children learn and become involved
in community health care have been developed through the Child-to-Child
program. This is described in Helping Health Workers Learn, Chapter 24.
Or write to:
The Child-to-Child Trust
Institute of Education
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
England
Tel: +44 (0) 207-612-6649
Fax: +44 (0) 207-612-6645
E-mail: [email protected]
www.child-to-child.org