Learning Stages

Age 6 to 8yrs - the age of exploration.

Key driver is Curiosity - kids are allowed to Explore the world around them. The emphasis is on sparking CURIOSITY and allow them to wonder and wander.
Key goal - Discovery - They will be left in the learning environment to explore. For example if they are exploring Water - we allow them to wonder how water come where it goes, who uses, how we use, what happens after use - there is no hurry to introduce them "rain cycle" - let them make there own idea of rain.

Key Characteristic - Width of learning - while they are exploring water they might experience plumbing and sanitation, water resources, hot and cold, volume, measurement, quantity, fluidity, et al. They do not rattle the way an adult would like them to say "right answer" of what is rain cycle. If a child says "I think there is a water tank in the sky" - we do not correct the child and say no water evaporates and become rain. We are not in a hurry to teach. As the child explores, the child constructs her own learning related to water.

Age 9 to 12yrs - the age of Experimentation.
Key driver is Questioning - Now after they have explored water without any boundaries - they start questions why this or that happens? Why the water disappears, why it flows, what problem this flowing causes? What scientific and social implication would water not flowing lead to? As questions flow out of their mind - the learning goes deeper - we say they get sucked into the complex web of learning :).
Key goal - Establishment - With experimentation they establish how rain cycle happens - we are still not in a hurry to prove them the rain cycle - they may come up with their own theory of rain cycle.

Key Characteristic - Depth of Learning - The learning is more in depth - different children choose to get into different topics -

• one may want to explore Water resources, use, importance, ecological implications and so on
• another may want to know the "what water is" - composition, characteristic,
• another wants to use water as a medium of expression - water painting, water games
• another may want to explore water and nature - fishes, water birds, water life flora, etc.

There is no limit to learning.

Age 13 to 16yrs - the age of Expression
Key driver is Clarity - As conceptual understanding forms, as clarity sets in - one can express that in simple and lucid form. I now am able to clear my doubts and form a complete picture. How rain cycle happens is clear in mind by all my efforts. exploring and experimenting not because I read in the book. I am clear how water is part of my life?

Key goal - Refinement and finesse - Children at this age automatically look for refining their skills. They develop the maturity to understand the importance of developing finesse. They now understand the whole water system on a conceptual level.
 Key Characteristic - Application of Learning - And they are ready to use this understanding in various places - whether it is to design a new way of water harvesting or they are a new