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Intelligence
Intelligence and the childMythsGeneticsStudy of intelligenceNature of giftednessCreativityFAQIdentificationPsychology testsIQ scoreIdentifying talentscharacteristicsExceptional qualitiesObservationsLists and limitationNurture
Protegy and childhoodSecret of successGenius factoryObjectionsAssembly lineGrowthCultivating talentsProblemsPlay and explorationSelf conceptFamily relationshipKindergartenUnderachieversPre-schoolPrenatal developmentInfanthoodStimulation|
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| Play and Exploration |
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| In order to learn about his world the baby must explore it. While still a helpless infant he will explore his surroundings with his eyes. Later, as control over movement develops and coordination becomes increasingly refined, the exploration will be extended through all the other senses: touching, banging, squeezing, shaking, tasting. By such means the child learns to 'know' his world and to learn the properties of the objects within it. Play is a way of further exploring and practicing the information received. Exploration and play are essential ingredients of growth, both physical and intellectual. As caretakers of infants we delight in their growing competency. We watch eagerly for each new sign of advance. We wonder at the fumbling attempts and the primitive movements. We identify with the child's pleasure and surprise in each new experience and share in his delight. This sharing of experience between adult and child is perhaps the most crucial and significant element in early human experience and one that will lay the foundations for all future relationships. Without a caring and participating adult, the child will undoubtedly still explore his world (there does seem to be an innate drive within us all to explore and to 'know' our environments). It is however in the mirror of the adult's face that the child learns to interpret the new-found knowledge and to attach significance to it. The child reacts to each new skill he masters, not only in terms of the immediate effect it has on him, but also the effect it produces in the caretaking adult. Pleasure expressed by the adult evokes pleasure and satisfaction in the child. The two share the delight of a new discovery, of a new skill developing. The growth of understanding and the intense joy of love between human beings become associated. Where this growth of skill and knowledge through exploration is not matched nor mirrored by a 'human response', it remains as mere knowledge: cold, practical, impersonal. Possibly it is in the quality of these shared experiences, from the earliest moments of life, that future attitudes are determined. Play and exploration are instinctive and universal needs. However, in some children the drive to explore is so urgent and so excessive that their families are overwhelmed. Eager, restless, inquisitive babies, ones whose very energy may result in their absorbing their world at such a rate that they become 'exceptional', can cause serious problems for their caretakers. In the early months, such a child can become intensely frustrated by the distance between the need to explore and his ability to satisfy these desires. Such children see or know what they want to do, but cannot physically manage to achieve it - or, if they do, cause chaos and destruction in the doing. We all know of children who are into everything. No sooner is the back turned than television sets and hi-fis are turned on (inexpertly), objects pulled out from every drawer in consistent randomness, discovery of food items never before known to man, unexpected and disastrous uses found for precious possessions. It is very hard indeed to remain calm in the face of such an onslaught - very difficult to share the pleasure of the child's new-found skill. Good sense and careful safeguards are also important. During the period of intense activity, at a time when the child's co-ordination is still at a primitive level, it is not sensible to have one's house and possessions so arranged that clumsy explorations will be a source of potential danger or distress. It must also be fully understood and accepted that a child's desire to explore is natural, and that he will not be able to respond to 'reason'. Continuing to explore, despite his parents' displeasure, is not being 'naughty'. Naughtiness is deliberate disobedience - an intention to disregard an instruction or to do deliberate damage. Babies cannot 'intend' in this way: their thinking processes are too primitive. A baby's need to explore his world must be satisfied if deep frustration and later depression are to be avoided. The more eager, restless and inquisitive the child, the more potential there is for such frustration and the greater the need for careful organization on the adult's behalf.  Toys The main desire will be to experiment: banging, squeezing, fitting, throwing, watching what happens when different actions are used on different objects. He will be fascinated by variations in sound, light and pattern. A baby's needs can be satisfied without great expense. The average household is an Aladdin's cave of interest and delight to the innocent eye. Toys involve expense, and some are very expensive indeed. Buying toys therefore needs careful thought. A baby's interest in the toy is going to be very different from an adult's appreciation of it. A toy is to a small child, not itself, but a 'possibility' - an object to be examined to its last element, to be figuratively and often literally 'taken to pieces' until every aspect has been explored for its interest and fun. There is no point in giving a child a toy which does not allow this or where the adult disapproves. In that case for adult and child there is only disappointment and anger. The person giving a toy has to remember that the child cannot be grateful: he has not the thinking capacity to be so. He has no understanding of 'value' in any term: cheap or expensive, toys are all the same. The value of the toy will be judged in respect of its possibilities for exploration and gratification. It was once assumed that children should be offered only the plainest of objects in the believe that they would therefore be encouraged to use their imagination. Whilst there is, of course, great value in allowing for and encouraging the imagination through symbolic play, there is also an important place for the complex. Children may love the simplicity of the plain shape, the outline, but they are also fascinated by the intricate and by detail : this is apparent even in the response of young babies to different kinds of rattles. Toys that are modifiable - transformable into new shapes, capable of different uses - are more fun than toys that are just themselves. Building blocks or construction shapes offer more than ready-made objects; things that take apart are more fun than those that do not. If the child, through the exercising of his natural desires, encounters disapproval and anger, he will experience confusion. He will be learning that exploration, the following of natural interests and delights means an angry adult. Curiosity and a zest for life will become associated with apprehension and loss of favor. The consequences for future learning and future relationships are not hard to foresee. If, on the other hand, the child's discoveries are complemented by the adult's delight, then discovery becomes a human joy, a means of experiencing 'shared adventures'. It makes sense to protect such experiences. |
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