Learn young

Learn young

• 1.
  LEARN YOUNG, LEARNFAIR (Scottish proverb) Have you ever heard someone saying that they hate school? Have you ever said that you can’t stand doing your homework or other schoolwork? I guess the answer is “YES”. The most enjoyable time in the year for most school students is the holidays. However, most of us understand that the education we receive at school is essential in shaping our future lives. It is here that we are laying the foundation for the life ahead of us. It is here that we acquire the basic knowledge in most subjects, gain valuable study and life skills so that we can cope with challenges in the future. “No man is born wise or learned”, the proverb says. So whenever we hear about wise, successful young people who have achieved a lot in their young years, we realize that they must have worked hard to succeed. It would be good to remember that whenever we struggle to do our school tasks, or complain about how hard and boring they are. If we want to lay a proper foundation for the future, we should discipline ourselves to work hard here and now. But does it mean that everything we do at school is necessary and important? I guess, there is some space for improvement. In my opinion, we are overloaded with too much information to be memorized. We learn a lot of facts by heart, but we do notalways know how to use them in practice. To learn to use the knowledge practically, to learn how to cope with problems, to gain practical life skills such as socializing, fitting in and working with others is very important too. In the age of information technologies it is much more important to learn how to find and sort out the facts than to memorize them. But does it mean that school is the only place where we can gain knowledge and skills? In my opinion the out-of-school education is very important too. Many of us attend various sports or dance clubs, music or art schools, or have different hobbies and meet like minded peers in various social clubs. I my opinion, we should have even more time for these activities because informal learning is at least as significant as formal learning.Out-of-school learning has a positive impact on children’s wellbeing and development.Sport, outdoor activities and creative activities such as dance, art, and music can all be used to motivate young people to participate and develop their creativity, self confidence, responsibility and independence. It also helps young people to reduce anti-social behaviour,to manage risk and encourages them to welcome challenge. “Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy” – the proverb says. The definition of the word ‘wisdom’ says – it is the ability to make good and serious judgements because of ones experience and knowledge. It means that to become wise you have to learn a lot and to learn fair. And the best time to do that is the young age. However, the full proverb says “ LEARN YOUNG, LEARN FAIR; LEARN OLD, LEARN MORE”. It means if you study when you are young and study properly (fair) when you study at an older age you will be able to learn much more. Real learning is a lifelong process. We live in a constantly changing world, an we must continually learn and acquire new knowledge to keep up with changing events.