Philosophy for children may not sound like a brilliant idea. Given many adults I know haven't studied philosophy, one can imagine that children wouldn't either. They certainly don't teach it in the school systems around here, at least not at the elementary level. It's just not really viewed as a child's subject. It's not what people expect their children to be learning. The focus should be on more useful things, like reading, writing, math, and science, you know, stuff they need in the real world. Those subjects prepare a child for college or university some day, but philosophy? It just doesn't seem to fit the bill.
Once upon a time, philosophy was considered a great topic for all ages. Philosophy encourages the student to think deeper on any subject at hand. Of course, "the student" really referred to any philosopher, given the general concept of philosophy encourages the constant pursuit of learning and greater, deeper understanding. The whole subject is about expanding one's consciousness, learning to look deeper. It's not so much about learning what to think, but how to think. You can never stop learning new ways to think!
Looking at philosophy that way, it's not surprising that children would take naturally to it. By nature they are rather curious creatures. Many children, especially those that haven't been indoctrinated into a strict structure of expectations, want to know the details of everything. They're likely to want to know how things work, why people do the way they do, and what the greater meaning of things in the world around them is. Can you blame them? Everything is deep and interesting to them, and the study of philosophy just appeals to their natural curiosity. They're encouraged to think for themselves, come up with new ideas, be creative, and explore things as deeply as they possibly can. I'm surprised so few people are interested in teaching philosophy before university and college! It's something I would think could appeal to many parents!
Of course, allowing kids to question "why" all the time opens the door to very frustrated and annoyed parents. Constant questioning from children can be daunting. It can be frustrating to adults to have constant pestering about why this works or why people do this in the way they do, but it's good for the kids. If we want creative and innovative children, which most people do, these aspects should be encouraged. There does come a point where the parent is so tired and frustrated that they just need to put an end to the questions for their own sanity, but I have to wonder if that's as common as many parents seem to think it is. I can't count the number of times I've heard parents gripe at their children to just go play and stay out of their hair. We're not the most interactive culture. Many parents are more focused on their own needs than the needs of their children, which isn't all bad. Unfortunately, the more acceptable that behavior becomes, the more we stunt our children's ability to learn, question, and be genuinely curious. We want our children to be innovative, creative, and successful, but how can we do that when we're constantly putting our kids off to meet our own needs? Perhaps kids need another outlet, a philosophy forum or other engaging group activities that will allow our children to expand their own minds and feel comfortable with questioning and coming up with new ideas.
All of this stemmed from something my daughter's philosophy teacher said. (Yes, my daughter is only eight and studying philosophy! Isn't homeschool wonderful?) She was talking about an exercise they did about being nobody. Being somebody means having all these labels and expectations put on you. Being nobody removes you from that pressure and allows you to spend your time going through your life and doing what you believe is right pretty unharassed by society. My daughter was one of two kids that thought perhaps it would be better to be nobody. I have to wonder if any of their thoughts on the subject will change by the end of class. Then she mentioned that my daughter asked a really good question, "What does happy really mean?" I had to stop and think about that one myself. What does happy really mean? I think I'd have a difficult time expressing that myself. How many eight-year-olds would think to ask that question?
Perhaps this is something that warrants more thought. I might just have to start thinking about getting more philosophy books myself so my daughter and I can keep having intelligent conversations on the subject. I think it's time to change my Amazon settings over to store credit! I have a feeling I've got a lot of learning to do in order to keep up with her curious mind!
Once upon a time, philosophy was considered a great topic for all ages. Philosophy encourages the student to think deeper on any subject at hand. Of course, "the student" really referred to any philosopher, given the general concept of philosophy encourages the constant pursuit of learning and greater, deeper understanding. The whole subject is about expanding one's consciousness, learning to look deeper. It's not so much about learning what to think, but how to think. You can never stop learning new ways to think!
Looking at philosophy that way, it's not surprising that children would take naturally to it. By nature they are rather curious creatures. Many children, especially those that haven't been indoctrinated into a strict structure of expectations, want to know the details of everything. They're likely to want to know how things work, why people do the way they do, and what the greater meaning of things in the world around them is. Can you blame them? Everything is deep and interesting to them, and the study of philosophy just appeals to their natural curiosity. They're encouraged to think for themselves, come up with new ideas, be creative, and explore things as deeply as they possibly can. I'm surprised so few people are interested in teaching philosophy before university and college! It's something I would think could appeal to many parents!
Of course, allowing kids to question "why" all the time opens the door to very frustrated and annoyed parents. Constant questioning from children can be daunting. It can be frustrating to adults to have constant pestering about why this works or why people do this in the way they do, but it's good for the kids. If we want creative and innovative children, which most people do, these aspects should be encouraged. There does come a point where the parent is so tired and frustrated that they just need to put an end to the questions for their own sanity, but I have to wonder if that's as common as many parents seem to think it is. I can't count the number of times I've heard parents gripe at their children to just go play and stay out of their hair. We're not the most interactive culture. Many parents are more focused on their own needs than the needs of their children, which isn't all bad. Unfortunately, the more acceptable that behavior becomes, the more we stunt our children's ability to learn, question, and be genuinely curious. We want our children to be innovative, creative, and successful, but how can we do that when we're constantly putting our kids off to meet our own needs? Perhaps kids need another outlet, a philosophy forum or other engaging group activities that will allow our children to expand their own minds and feel comfortable with questioning and coming up with new ideas.
All of this stemmed from something my daughter's philosophy teacher said. (Yes, my daughter is only eight and studying philosophy! Isn't homeschool wonderful?) She was talking about an exercise they did about being nobody. Being somebody means having all these labels and expectations put on you. Being nobody removes you from that pressure and allows you to spend your time going through your life and doing what you believe is right pretty unharassed by society. My daughter was one of two kids that thought perhaps it would be better to be nobody. I have to wonder if any of their thoughts on the subject will change by the end of class. Then she mentioned that my daughter asked a really good question, "What does happy really mean?" I had to stop and think about that one myself. What does happy really mean? I think I'd have a difficult time expressing that myself. How many eight-year-olds would think to ask that question?
Perhaps this is something that warrants more thought. I might just have to start thinking about getting more philosophy books myself so my daughter and I can keep having intelligent conversations on the subject. I think it's time to change my Amazon settings over to store credit! I have a feeling I've got a lot of learning to do in order to keep up with her curious mind!
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