To know by heart is not to know.
—Michel De Montaigne
It’s time for us to review your multiplication tables, you tell them. Let’s look over your vocab flash cards. Or maybe you’re one of those parents who make their kids recite poems or plays, who sign them up for speech competitions. Maybe you’re drilling them for a spelling bee right now.
It’s all making them smarter, you tell yourself. But is it? Or is it just teaching them how to act smart? We’re not trying to raise robots. We want kids who can think, who can figure stuff out. Who cares what they can recite? We want them to know what something means as much as we want them to know what it is. We want them to love learning, not trivia! So make sure your priorities are aligned. Make sure the activities you design actually get you closer to that goal. Make sure you’re focused on the right stuff.
Teach them to know. That’s what counts.