Is Your Child Really Learning—or Just Following Instructions?

Parents often look for evidence of learning in things they can see.

A finished drawing. A correctly written letter. A completed worksheet. A new word read aloud. A piece of work that can be brought home, displayed and admired.

The younger the child, however, the more misleading this instinct can become.

A child who spends twenty minutes mixing water and pigment may appear to have produced very little. Another may refuse to follow the activity an adult has prepared, then spend the next hour experimenting with tape, paper and a sponge. A third child may watch rather than participate, returning to the idea days or even months later.

What, exactly, has been learned?