Self-Exploration for Basic Education in Early Age

We are aware of the importance of providing education from an early age to our children. Freedom to develop themselves, explore, and accept the consequences of the exploration results is also a valuable lesson.

In my family, sometimes I motivate them to explore and learn optimally until they achieve the results they want or otherwise they will take the consequences of what they do. Sometimes they have to learn to solve their own problems as part of the learning process. Wait..., monitoring also needs to be taken into great consideration so that the learning process doesn't cause unnecessary trouble that they can't bear.

As is currently the case, there is a proliferation of natural education and learning in nature which is implemented in the early childhood education process in big cities in Indonesia at relatively high costs, even reaching millions a month for the need for facilities that are deliberately made as natural as possible.

This educational pattern is designed, so that the early childhood learning process can be developed naturally in a natural atmosphere while at the same time, the children can relax and complete the challenges. This challenge is designed for the children to learn and to develop their creativity to the maximum level.

Why am I discussing natural education patterns in my writing this time? Today I gave a chance to two little princesses who sometimes also become cute monsters to be creative and explore to the maximum.

These two little princesses started their little adventure by asking about what tomatoes are made of.

"I just answered that tomatoes are made from all kinds of nutrients that exist in nature, and then all these nutrients will enter the Mother Tomato's body that we plant and finally become tomatoes. They look at some tomatoes that start to ripen on several tomato stems planted by their grandmother".

Ok, then, another question arises from Fatiya, "where do these nutrients come from?"

"These nutrients come from various leaves that fall to the ground and become fertilizer, then this fertilizer will become natural nutrients absorbed by Mother Tomato".

Fatiya became more enthusiastic about today's new knowledge and then emptied a pot that was usually used for cake and brought it out without thinking any longer. The two of them picked all kinds of leaves they found, flowers, and also soft stems they found in the yard around the house.

I already guessed what the two of them were doing by collecting all kinds of staff, and I just watched what they were doing.

Even though I already guessed what they were doing, I still asked Fatiya and Khudaija. What are they doing, their unequivocal answer is; We are collecting leaves to make tomatoes. It was clear that my explanation sparked their curiosity about tomatoes growing on stems. Of course, they want to make more tomatoes.

After they had been collecting leaves for some time, Fatiya's hands and Khudaija's feet suddenly itched and they almost cried to report that they had been stung by caterpillars.

I asked them to show me where the caterpillars were. Then we all observed the location indicated by Fatiya near the road in front of our house. After I observed and asked where the caterpillars were, Fatiya confidently said that the caterpillars had run far after biting them.

I have seen the cause of itching on Fatiya's hands and Khudaija's feet. In a jar containing a collection of various types of leaves and flowers, I also saw several nettle leaves which can cause a sharp itching sensation for a moment.

I explained and showed them directly that what was causing the itching was not caterpillars as the two princesses thought, but nettle leaves which have fine hairs. This hair is venomous and can cause irritation to the skin, I took the leaf and explained to them to be more careful in choosing leaves in the future. They must be able to distinguish these nettle leaves and avoid them.

To overcome this itching, I took several fern leaves and rubbed them on the itchy spot, then took them inside to wash their hands and feet with soap. Naturally, they had forgotten the itching they experienced, but not the bunch of leaves they had collected. I directed the leaves to be piled on the ground. As I explained, the process of decomposing leaves until they become nutrients that can be given up by Mother Tomato takes months.

After their curiosity and learning were sufficient, I took them to take a shower and change into clean clothes. Before I get ready for evening prayer.

This story is just a glimpse of the natural learning process that I apply to my family, especially when they are still in the early stages of exploratory learning.

I am not surprised by Fatiya's desire to explore, because since I was little I liked learning while exploring nature. In fact, to this day I am still carrying out a learning process in every outdoor exploration that I do.

The process of learning while exploring can give children more understanding in comprehending things in theory and real practice. As long as I have the opportunity to be with them, I will make maximum effort for their growth and development in a better direction.

Thank you for reading my article and wish you all the best

Regards

El Nailul