Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. Very early in life, children begin exploring the world with their bodies, senses, and developing skills. They intuitively know how to take the smallest observation, object, or surprise and turn it into a meaningful experience.

Children are naturally curious and have a built-in desire to learn first-hand about the world around them.He is open, perceptive, and experimental. He wants to make sense out of things, find out how things work, gain competence and control over himself and his environment, and do what he can see other people doing. He does not merely observe the world around him. He does not shut himself off from the strange, complicated world around him, but tastes it, touches it, hefts it, bends it, breaks it. To find out how reality works, he works on it.

A child is not afraid to admit ignorance and to make mistakes. And he is bold patient. He can tolerate an extraordinary amount of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, and suspense. When Holt in a research study invited toddlers to play his cello, they would eagerly attempt to do so; schoolchildren and adults would invariably decline. Children, free from the intimidation of public embarrassment and failing marks, retain their openness to new exploration.

They learn by asking questions, not by answering them. Toddlers ask many questions, until about grade three. By that time, many of them have learned an unfortunate fact: that in school, it can be more important to hide one's ignorance about a subject than to learn more about it.

While infants and toddlers teach us many principles of learning, schools have adopted quite different principles, due to the difficulties inherent in teaching a large number of same-age children in a compulsory setting. The structure of school usually assumes that children are not natural learners, but must be compelled to learn through the efforts of others. Besides, fully-scheduled school hours and extracurricular activities leave little time for children to dream, to think, to invent solutions to problems, to cope with stressful experiences, or simply to fulfill the universal need for solitude and privacy.

Sadly, when adults participating in a research study were asked how they felt about learning in school, the majority said that many things; pressure to pass tests, anxiety about answering correctly, and concern about meeting expectations took the joy out of learning. But they also said that they enjoyed learning when they could explore things on their own at home, outdoors in nature. They notice the butterfly in the park, the ants congregating on a crumb on the sidewalk, and wonder about the formations in the cloud.

With the right attitude and encouragement from elders, a child is sure to develop a love of learning quite naturally. We each see and explore the world in our own way. When children feel comfortable asking questions, confident in their ability to problem-solve, and valued when they share their ideas, learning and interacting with the world becomes a successful, joyful experience that lasts a lifetime.