Today, while playing on the basketball courts, I realized that I’m a good shooter, especially when I balance the ball, calculate its weight, and measure the dimensions. When I make the shot, it goes pretty well. Reflecting on this, I realized that this ease comes from how, when I was a child, I also threw the ball in the same way. I would take the time to play with it, dribble it, explore it, touch it, feel it, and even just observe it. I firmly believe that when a child has this opportunity for exploration, they develop a spatial understanding that greatly facilitates performance in activities like basketball.
This makes me think about music and how important it is for a child, in my case, my daughter Isabel, to familiarize herself with her instrument from an early age. It’s crucial for a baby to have the violin in front of them, to see it, touch it with their hands, turn it around, and, in short, become familiar with its dimensions.
I’ve noticed that this early familiarity makes a significant difference in their learning style. As someone who has taught many children, I can see that those who have no prior experience with an instrument tend to play a bit rigidly, despite doing many exercises. It’s not the same as when someone has had the opportunity to freely experiment with the instrument from a young age.
Isabel, for example, spends time playing with her violin, guitar, or piano. Sometimes, she even stands on the piano and starts playing with her feet. Other times, she spins the violin in her hands or strums the guitar with both hands, which is not common, as the guitar is usually strummed with only one hand. But why not? At the end of the day, these experiences and this early approach are what allow her mind to develop an innate understanding of the spatial and dimensional relationship with the instrument and its execution.
I believe this is one of the many reasons why early education is vital. When children grow up without this experience, their execution can become rigid, as happens with many of my students who started learning later. On the other hand, those who have had a natural and fluid approach from an early age, like Isabel, show a magical development because their minds have processed even aspects that I, as an adult, do not understand.
The other day, Isabel was playing the piano, and as I watched her, I discovered functions and connections I had never noticed, just because she pressed the buttons seemingly at random. The same thing happens when she uses the computer, activating functions I didn’t know existed. I end up thinking that if I hadn’t seen her do it, I would still be unaware of those aspects.
This is my reflection on the importance of early exploration and its impact on natural learning.
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