Young children actually learn in bits and pieces. They quickly examine this or that – – like briefly touching the pieces of a puzzle until they perceive a pattern where two or three pieces fit together.

They know what they’re trying to do.  They know what pieces are of greatest interest to them.

If we make them sit still and be under our control, we only thwart and delay their process. They do want us to lay it all out there.  They do want us to understand their enthusiasms and passions;  maybe even share them.

But more than anything, it’s “I do it by myself!”