The modern landscape of parenting and education is at the forefront of culture’s relentless drive towards peak potential and never-ending optimization. If we aren’t careful, we can begin to treat our children’s lives like high-stakes tech startups, where every hobby must be a skill, every interest must have a trajectory, and every Saturday morning must be a growth opportunity.
The most vital task for the parent or educator of a vibrantly curious child is to protect the idea of learning as a beautiful end in itself. What if we view learning as something to do simply because it is fun and joyful to do so? Not because we must optimize or be better, but simply because learning expands our view of the world and enhances our understanding and appreciation of it.
This work must begin within ourselves. We must work through our own perfectionism and our own deep-seated fears for our children’s futures. We must foster our own love of learning alongside them and spark our own desire for collaboration, curiosity and joy in learning. We cannot gift our children a freedom that we have not claimed for ourselves.
Let’s teach them to prioritize joy and curiosity rather than facts and performance.
Our children’s potential isn’t a debt they owe to the world; it’s a playground they get to explore if they choose to do so. As parents and educators, our goal is to model a passion for learning. If we can cultivate a life that values wonder over winning, we provide them with the ultimate scaffolding. We show them that joy isn’t something you earn after you’ve become perfect, it is the fuel that makes a life worth living.
In the end, the goal isn’t to raise a child who is “the best.” The goal is to raise a child who is fully and joyfully themselves with a strong sense of intrinsic self-worth.