What Are We Going to Learn Today?

Anne Cummings Jacopetti's engaging book, based on five decades of teaching experience, is a clarion call for parents, teachers, and everyone concerned about the future and the way we educate our children. What are the necessary conditions for full development of our most precious natural resource-our children's innate capacities? Jacopetti answers this question. She stresses that all children are born learners whose survival depends on their ability to make sense of the world. Every child wants to succeed. Using the words of her students and her vivid memories of them, she describes the natural ways that children learn best. Jacopetti demonstrates that our current high-stakes-testing system limits development of capacities such as empathy, curiosity, creativity, collaborative inquiry, patience, perseverance and self-confidence, damaging not only our children but also our prospects for a more just and sustainable future. Jacopetti offers practical and wise guidance for parents, teachers and administrators who want to support children to become enthusiastic lifelong learners, world citizens who see the earth as a miracle to be preserved rather than functionaries in a corporately-controlled world that sees the living earth as a resource to be exploited for gain. Children learn best from teachers they trust, and they learn most effectively through play-creating safe situations in which they can test their ideas and try out their new capacities. Children are capable of developing supportive communities in which each child is respected for his or her special gifts. Intellectual capacities as well as soul life are deepened by practicing the arts, by hearing stories and by participating in community and exploring the natural world. Children learn by asking questions and by learning how to pursue answers; they learn by doing and by being allowed to learn from their mistakes. Jacopetti warns us that when we ignore these fundamentals in the service of "teaching to the test" or when we cut recess to make room for more math or science worksheets, we are not paying attention to what children need to thrive and to become engaged, successful citizens. What Are We Going to Learn Today? reminds us of some basic truths about learning and offers inspiration and practical support for teachers and parents who want their children to thrive and become enthusiastic lifelong learners.