- Babies have no knowledge of the difficulties involved in what they are learning. They just go for it. A good example is learning to walk, talk, or ride a bike. They are not embarrassed to fall down in front of others.
- Babies have access to teachers and other encouraging mentors. Think about teaching your babies to walk.
- Babies intuitively understand that if they keep practicing, they are going to get it. Whatever "it" is.
- Babies live in an environment that allows mistakes. And trial and error. And encourages perseverance despite bruised knees. Remember learning how to ride a bike?
- Babies are determined. They are not "trying" to learn to walk, they are "going" to walk. They have commitment to the project.
- Babies learn multiple skills all at once.
I paraphrased these thoughts from the blog, "6 secrets infants can teach adults about learning" from Scientific American. The author is Rachel Wu a psychology professor at University of California, Riverside. Have a look.
The author postulates that cognitive decline maybe linked to older adults refusing to learn anything new because of embarrassment. Ouch.
See you in the practice room.
David Story