You gotta watch out for labels on toys and other materials that say "educational!" or "We make learning fun!"

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These phrases and expressions may sound all well and good to many people, but to me they often telegraph a real lack of understanding as to how kids (and adults) really learn, which is through play and self-directed exploration. This is why I always cringe a little bit when I see these types of labels on toys.

Everything is educational if one is constantly in the mindset of an explorer, learner, and teacher.

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My son wanted to make a YouTube video today demo-ing his brand new toy, the Jūou Kingu, or "Animal King." This is decidedly not an "educational" toy, but it is one he loves, and that is why learning happens naturally.

A scene from the currently accepted "shut up and listen" model.

A few things to note from the vid:

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• He is teaching.

Isaiah teaches the viewer how to use the toy. Teaching others how to do something is very important to the development of a child's self-confidence, and makes learning more complete. As a quote often attributed to Einstein says: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Very true, indeed.

• He is skimming the fields of math, biology, engineering, and language.

Which area of focus may end up most captivating him later in life (maybe none of these, perhaps) is up for grabs, but the point is: EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. Nobody here is trying to teach him the "animal names," "counting," "shapes," or "English" as disjointed areas of study disconnected from his real life experience.

Everything is connected. My son also is still better at Japanese than English (we live in Japan), but loves to speak English to me. He had to really focus here to explain and demonstrate this toy to me entirely in English. YouTube and technology (my son is a big fan of toy demo videos on the social media site) are a great way to light the fires of curiosity.

• He is doing what he wants!

Why people still don't see this as the all-important factor, especially in "education," blows my mind and, frankly, pisses me off. It is a blatant ignorance of years of scientific and psychological research showing that the current models of compulsory schooling ("public education") are broken, and indeed, have been designed that way from the start.

This decades (centuries?) long denial of the evidence for how children actually learn viewed in the context of no real changes taking place to adapt to this knowledge in the public "education system," seems to betray an almost intentional refusal to help children actually learn and grow into independent, self-directed, happy and healthy human beings capable of real critical thought.

ENJOY THE VIDEO!!!

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~*~

(Thanks for stopping by. If you missed the last Unschooling Blog, "Vol. 27: Fatigue, Frustration, and a Slow, Happy Moment in the Park (cryptic lessons from a jungle gym, caterpillar)," you can find it HERE.)

~KafkA

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)