Children Are The Best Teachers

Children are the best teachers because what we learn from them is often uncorrupted, pure, honest, and packed with love and goodness.

I teach my twin boys, so they can read and write when they enter school at three years old. I was ready to compete with Albert Einstein. They left infant school at six years old, topping the class. One came 1st, and the other came 3rd.

In primary school, the competition was for one girl. Every year that child would beat more than forty children for first place. Our classrooms were overcrowded. I did everything a competitive parent/athlete could, and still, she won. My twins would come in the top three, sometimes the top four and five, but she was always ahead of them. I bought all of the books the teachers use. I get advice from them about how to improve my son’s performance.

She was my competition.

When my sons were in the fifth grade, I went to pick them up from school one evening. They weren’t where they suppose to be. I went to the classroom, they weren’t there, but she was. She was on duty cleaning the classroom. She was alone. In my country, the students help to clean the classrooms. The teacher would choose a different group of children to clean up after dismissal every week.

Glancing around, I asked, “Where are the others?”

When the teacher stepped out of the classroom, I learned that they grabbed their bags and ran out—leaving her alone to clean up. I snatched a broom from the corner, and together we cleaned up.

She never complained. I found out that she was happy, cheerful, funny, intelligent, and humble. She didn’t care if they were there or not. She did her best and was comfortable doing it. We became friends that day. Over the next month, I found out why and how she always beats everyone to come first in class. She does her best every time, no matter what the task is.

She topped the school in graduation too. I learned from her, an eleven-year-old child, whom I viewed as my competition, that when doing your best becomes a habit, it will spill over into your life, limiting your chances of failure. She didn’t come first in class every year because she was brilliant. She won because she did her best in everything, and it spills over into all she does.

Failure is a part of life as success is, and it teaches valuable life lessons. But doing your best does give you the power to limit your failure. Some of the most successful people in our world did their best to achieve success, and they must continue doing so to keep it.

The hard part for some of us isn’t getting there. It’s staying there. Doing your best gives you staying power.

Children are the best teachers because what we learn from them is often uncorrupted, pure, honest, and packed with love, goodness, and laughter. Many of the good things I knew, children taught me.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it. Below is more from other writers.

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