One of the most enthralling aspects of childhood is how fast children learn. It's not only how quickly they learn their mother tongue, but it seems like they can soak up knowledge from their environment -quicker than adults do. This uncanny aspect of childhood gave rise to the concept of the Absorbent mind and adult mind. But before we delve more into the specifics of how an absorbent mind differs from an adult one, let's start with a quick introduction to what is Absorbent Mind.
What is the Absorbent Mind?
The absorbent mind is the ability to soak up knowledge, skills, and information like a sponge- to absorb like a sponge absorbs water flawlessly. Imagine a baby freshly born at the hospital, and its mind is 'blank' and ready to learn anything that comes into contact with it. This state of mind is called the absorbent mind.
How to nurture the Absorbent Mind in Children?
To nurture the absorbent mind, we must understand that children work best when exposed to a rich learning environment that stimulates their senses and heightens their awareness reasonably. Let's look into some ways that we can nurture the absorbent mind.
1. Limit Screen Time
The oldest kids are not as adept at absorbing information as toddlers and preschoolers, but they still do great. Children typically learn to read independently around age 2 or 3. This reason is why overloading a toddler or young child with technology is counterproductive. It's important to limit screen time to engage in more imaginative activities, exploring the world and stimulating their senses.
2. Learning with Montessori Inspired Materials
Montessori type materials are designed to help children learn by themselves, and these materials work great for the absorbent mind. These materials are unique because kids can play independently without adult guidance, which means independence is truly nurtured here. The beauty of Montessori inspired materials lies in how it stimulates children’s' minds through sensory engagements - auditory, visual, tactile, etc. It also helps that these activities encourage concentration and focus too. The materials also include a self-correction aspect. Allowing the child to learn through their mistakes and to do self-correction apart from the adult. Leaving the adult as a guide and the child taking responsibility for their own learning.
Every child will be able to benefit from such material no matter what educational stage. The materials also include a self-correction part. Allowing the child to learn through their mistakes and to do self-correction apart from the adult. Leaving the adult as a guide and the child taking responsibility for their own learning.
3. Don't Over Limit Choice
The absorbent mind thrives in an open-ended environment where learning is the ultimate goal. In other words, it's good not to limit a child's choices when they're engaging in activities that will help them learn new things. "Do you want milk, honey, orange, peanut, or juice when you give a child choices? What outfit would work best for going out?" - these options enable them to think and absorb information from what they've learned about different scenarios. Again, please don't fall into the pitfall of giving too many options that can be counterproductive; and it actually might confuse the child instead of helping them acquire more knowledge through exploration.
How is the absorbent mind different from the adult mind?
It is indeed true that the absorbent mind is an optimal learning state for children before they grow up to be adults. However, it's important to remember that adult minds are entirely different in many ways. Here are some of the most obvious ones:
1. The Absorbent mind has no preconceived notions while the adult mind has lots of them. The absorbent mind is the ultimate form of authentic learning. Children are exposed to new things that allow them to absorb knowledge naturally, without any initial concepts or biases about whatever they're learning. On the other hand, adults learn with their own set of pre-existing ideas, and these preconceived notions stop them from exploring new things in life.
2. Absorbent mind has a shorter attention span while the adult mind can focus for more extended periods. When it comes to learning, children are very much different from adults. While kids thrive in the absorbent state that allows them to learn new things, adults are better suited towards being focused and attentive. Attention is a skill that allows humans to master their surroundings by tapping into its many aspects - auditory, visual, sensory, etc. The absorbent mind does not take charge of focusing on one thing at a time - meaning they only need short periods of concentration to absorb knowledge.
3. Absorbent mind can focus on many things at once, while the adult mind cannot
One of the most impressive qualities about the absorbent mind is that children can learn so much in such short periods. This happens because their senses are so powerful when they come together during learning sessions, allowing them to take in new information quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, adults do not have this ability since they're already biased towards thinking in a certain way by following their inner compass (or code of conduct).
Final thoughts
During the tender ages of birth to about 3 years old there is a plethora of knowledge that can be obtained from your children, and the best part of this is that much of it can be absorbed from doing very little on your part other than simply provided a safe and supervised environment for your child to learn and explore independently.
Tazamach Homeschooling Academy has a ton of educational resources for Blacks, Natives, and Hispanic children, visit our YouTube Page to experience them hands-on and incorporate them into your own homeschool.