The animal school: A master lesson of how we must teach

Up to now, there has been nobody to find a global teaching formula. Therefore, it is crucial to find a good teacher for our children.

Perhaps you did not have the opportunity to read a very nice and inspiring animal fable, written by Dr. R. H. Reeves. I have much pleasure in bringing it to you, as I am convinced that you will enjoy it. It is more than likely that you shall think about it, quite a lot of times, after having read it.

The Animal School

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “New World,” so they organized a school.  They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying.  To make it easier to administer, all animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, better in fact than his instructor, and made excellent grades in flying, but he was very poor in running.  Since he was low in running he had to stay after school and also drop swimming to practice running.  This was kept up until his web feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming.  But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make up in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustrations in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the tree-top down.  He also developed charley horses from over-exertion and he got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and had to be disciplined severely.  In climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way of getting there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well and also could run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to the badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

This story talks about teaching and learning, at school. Here, I invite you to consider how this fable can be used for our children education at home. Most important, we shall learn how to value the different abilities of our kids. We shall recognize the effort they make to reach their targets, as we shall keep in mind the different skills each of our children is provided, individually. 

We cannot ask all of our children to do the same, or to give the same type of answers, if we want to make justice to them. We should never try to constrain our kids to fit into the mold that we had, erroneously, prepared for them. We ought to help our kids to develop the best of their skills. By doing so, we shall motivate our children to improve in other areas where their expectations are not so high.