Every Child is Matilda; The Hidden Creative Genius of Children

   Whenever I was a child, I read a book called Matilda by Roald Dahl. It chronicles the educational (and telekinetic, but that's a whole different post) adventure of Matilda Wormwood. Matilda loves to read. She constantly goes to her local library, often coming home with piles of books. She spends days reading. She yearns to go to school, where she encounters a lovely teacher named Ms. Honey, who nurtures Matilda's love of learning and eventually adopts her from her neglectful, what's-the-point-in-reading parents.
A key point of the novel is Matilda's upbringing. She has no support from her family. Her parents "don't believe" in reading, and have no interest in their child's education. Matilda is on her own, and learns at her own pace; a rapid, precocious pace. She has no support, no school, no guidance, no introduction...She just learns.
Now here's a secret: Every child is, at one point, Matilda. Learning for Matilda (and for every other child) is a natural, exciting process. How many four year olds ask incessant questions?
"Why is the sky blue?"
"Where do trees come from?"
"Why do people speak different languages then us?"
And a thousand more. These children (who have never been to school) are learning constantly. They have a biological drive to learn about the world. Every child loves to learn.
With Matilda, the evidence that she is learning is obvious. She's reading; one of the most obviously educational activities on the planet. She loves books; another obvious, of-course-she's-learning-from-that item. And all children are interested in something. It doesn't have to be something so glaringly educational; it could be bugs, or vehicles, or plants, or animals, or water, or building things. There are a million things that interest children, and all children love to learn (and each have a personal, specific way that they like to learn).
But then they go to school. Suddenly, they go from a free, natural, personalized environment where they learn about their interests (whatever they may be) to a highly regimented, mandatory schedule. You learn Subject X at this time, and then move on to Subject Y (whether you want to or not), and during this entire time you might be interested in Subject Z. They have to learn in a very specific way which might not work for them at all (or if it does work, it might not be the best, most effective, preferred way to learn), and they are only allowed to learn about the worksheet of the day.
Not every child loses their love of learning, of course. Some children can thrive (or survive) in such a regimented, mandatory environment. Some progress (miraculously) at the same pace as the worksheets, while others are behind or ahead. But, unfortunately, it's not often the case.
Matilda had no support. Her parents were neglectful, yet her love of learning still persisted. Now, imagine if Matilda and Ms. Honey had been together from Day One. Ms. Honey nurtured, guided, cared for, and exposed Matilda to new ideas; and made sure she was happy and healthy the entire time. Imagine how much Matilda would have flourished then.
Every child loves to learn; every child is Matilda before they go to school. A few manage to keep their Matilda-ness as they progress through the system. But many don't, and very few flourish.
Imagine what the world would be like if it was full of Matildas. And imagine how much more incredible it would be if every child had a Ms. Honey at their side.