Learning Quotes

"Teaching is learning. They are inseparable. The humility of a teacher is born when this is realized. Only then does teaching really begin."

- Vince Gowmon

"Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions."

- Alfie Kohn

"We keep thinking as adults that we need to control the way they do things. I wish we’d get out of that. They know how to play, they know how to structure their own play – they need that time to grow responsibly."

- Debbie Rhea

"Children come into the world exquisitely designed, and strongly motivated, to educate themselves. They don’t need to be forced to learn; in fact, coercion undermines their natural desire to learn."

- Peter Gray

"If it hasn’t been in the hand and body, it can’t be in the brain."

- Bev Bos

"If we want children to play BIG in the world, then let’s let them play in small ways to start."

- Vince Gowmon

"Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write and count. It is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace that is right for each individual child. Earlier is not better."

- Magda Gerber

"Movement isn’t a break from learning; movement is learning, and the opportunities for thoughtful exploration in the classroom are endless."

- Aleta Margolis

"A child learns when time. Some want to read at age three and some don’t care until age eight. There is no right or wrong way, no best timeline. If a child shows no interest in reading or math, it’s because he or she has something far more important to explore."

- Vince Gowmon

"Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements."

- Maria Montessori

"We learn to do something by doing it. There is no other way."

- John Holt

"So you pull me from my play, my all consuming play to _learn_ maths with brightly coloured bits of plastic. Whilst I sit there _learning_ with you, all I can think about is getting back to my play… my all consuming play where I was measuring, using shapes, making patterns, counting, solving problems and THINKING – until I got pulled away to come and _learn_ maths with you."

- Elaine Bennett

"The more adults turn play into a project, the more it loses its very essence. The gifts derived from play are suffocated by unnecessary structure and hovering, leaving little room for the child to learn, develop and enjoy his or her explorations."

- Vince Gowmon

"Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play."

- Plato

"Learning is alive when experiential, relevant and joyful. It is all but dead when limited to disassociated rationale and sedentariness."

- Vince Gowmon

"Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."

- Kay Redfield Jamison

"Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning how to learn."

- Loris Malaguzzi

"Sometimes the greatest PD is the teacher down the hall."

- Brian Aspinall

"The art of being taught is the art of discovery, as the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery to take place."

- Mark van Doren

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn."

- Ancient Chinese Proverb

"The singing of hymns is one of the best ways to learn the doctrine of the restored gospel."

- Dallin H. Oaks

"We are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly."

- Boyd K. Packer

"Our doctrine is memorized when we memorize our hymns."

- Hugh Pinnock

"In order to be great, you have to learn from greatness, which is what I have tried to do."

- David Oliver

"Children learn to smile from their parents."

- Shinichi Suzuki

"Never stop investing … never stop learning"

- Captain Sully

"The life so short, the craft so long to learn."

- Hippocrates

"Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play, children learn how to learn."

- O.F. Donaldson

"Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window."

- William Faulkner

"Hang in there—the lessons today shape tomorrow."

- Unknown