Every child is born a genius and made to grow into an idiot.  I am not saying anything new. I am just reiterating a fact that all of us are aware of but refuse to acknowledge.

Have you ever seen a child who has not learnt to walk or talk on his own (except if they are challenged)? Have you ever found a child who is not curious about things and willing to learn? So, if curiousity and willingness to learn are the foundations of learning, why does the child not turn into a genius?

The truth is that the child is really a genius but academic genius is the only kind of genius that is recognized in the educational system today.  There are  musical geniuses, business geniuses and sports geniuses in the school system.  They are all stifled and regimented into enhancing mental skills. Their natural insincts are suppressed till they are no longer aware of their native genius.  If they shine and blossom forth into geniuses in business, sport or arts, they are exceptions rather than a rule.  These are qualities that are not evaluated in the education system and found to be extraordinary.

Recall, how often we have been told that not everyone can aspire to become a musical genius or a business genius or a sports genius?

How is academic genius defined?  By evaluating IQ.  What is IQ?  It is Intelligence quotient. How is that arrived at? By dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying the product with 100. It follows that if you want to continue to be a genius, you need to continuously learn and maintain your mental age at a level that is higher than your choronological age. In other words you need to maintain a disparity between your mental and physical skills.

Boy! does that sound tiring? I rather not be a genius if that is the criteria! To me, learning is all about understanding ones own peculiar capacity for learning and applying that knowledge effectively.  It is all about being free from fear of making mistakes or sliding down a scale of perfection.  It is about doing that which your natural inclination drives you to do and doing it well.

So, do not force your child to grow into an idiot by insisting that there is only one kind of genius he can be–an academic genius.  Allow him to realize his potential and grow into the genius he is destined to be.