Play and exploration is what makes children grow.
Making mistakes is part of learning and also part of growing.
I keep reflecting on my childhood days with a lot of nostalgia, some of the thIngs we did with my siblings in the early 80s still puturb me till now. In most occassions we received structured strokes because both our parents were teachers and so to say disciplanerians. There was no mischief that was overlooked.
One day my kid brother and I started asking ourselves how chicken did go for short-calls, because we could see how cows did relieve themselves same to other animals like dogs and donkeys, but never did we see chicken do it except for the dung. My mother was a good poultry farmer and there were so many chicken at our home and all of them had the same colour, we saw our mother collect so many eggs from the chicken house every evening and this kept surprising us. One day, my brother thought; “what if we helped these chicken get some water and have them go for short-call?”
Children grow and learn better through experiments that is why all adults should be positive towards competency based learning which encourages learners to explore different means of getting results. Probably if I and my brother lived as children now and our parents having to go through some sensitization on parental empowerment and engagement, we could be the best scientists in the world.
Children should be given an opportunity to experiment on various means of solving problems for them to grow knowing that there are different ways to approach a challenge and the motivation should be at the final results.
When I see young children today, I keep imagining the number of things we can do together to enable them develop the 21st Century skills and this is the main reason behind my initiative of the Pick Up Trash campaign that I am engaging learners in my neighbourhood to pick up trash not just to keep the environment clean but also to learn how to take care of themselves, others and the planet by giving love hoping to get love back.
The reason for the Pick up trash campaign is to sensitize everyone to pick trash and dispose it in the right place inorder to make it possible to Refuse; Reduce; Reuse; Recycle; repair; Rethink and Reconnect trash.
The GLGL Kids have started to learn how to apply the 7Rs of sustainability by preparing paper mache from old newspapers and reusing waste water bottles in gardening as shown in the pictures. By initiating this campaign, I aim at giving learners to explore and in the process explore the 21st Century skills.
“What if all learners in the world were supported to take care of themselves, others and the planet?”