Think of all the stuff you know. The skills you have. The movie quotes you can throw out there mid-conversation.
It’s interesting, isn’t it? You remember more from a two-hour movie than from the museums you were dragged to. You learned more from Wikipedia rabbit holes you fell down than you do from a couple decades in school. What’s that about?
It’s a reality that epitomizes the line from Plato,
“Nothing taught by force stays in the soul.”
The Greek word for school—scholé—means leisure. You learn best when you are at leisure. When you are relaxed. When your mind is at ease. That’s when it’s open and most receptive.
The same is true for your kids. They don’t learn to be readers because you make them read. They don’t learn to love playing an instrument because you threatened them with consequences if they didn’t practice. They don’t learn to be respectful because you yelled at them for being disrespectful.
They don’t learn anything by force. Just like you. Just like everyone.