Today's World (from "Learning to Learn" by Thea van Eijk-Looijmans)

In today's world, many skills people had in the past have disappeared. We have become used to machines and computers taking over...We live in an environment where we teach our children how to push the right buttons, and make life as easy as possible. Much of the real visible handwork is gone. When we look at this from a child's perspective, we can begin to learn to understand what is really happening in their own and their parent's world. This means that children are frequently deprived of sufficient meaningful experiences and activities, activities that are the foundation for understanding what is later taught in school.
We seem to have forgotten that children need to play and move in order to learn and to develop motor skills, vision and reasoning skills. Planning, structuring, sequencing, concentration, being able to focus and be persistent, being creative and being able to experiment and learn from it are very important skills to develop.
These skills are needed for learning in school and later for becoming successful. Many children have become very passive and do not know how to get their bodies and brains to work together so they can do what they want to, or do what is expected of them.
Many children with learning problems have difficulties focusing and concentrating. Television screens change images every few seconds...This, however, causes children to become used to changes every few seconds.
We forget to think about what children really need in order to develop basic life skills. We forget to teach and allow them to learn on their own, to think for themselves and solve problems appropriate to their age. We, as adults, are responsible for the world our children live in, and we should provide them with plenty of useful opportunities to develop to the full extent of their capabilities.