“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.”
"While it is important to educate children, what is much more pressing is the need to love them. When education becomes more important than love, it is no longer education at all. For, tending to the delicate spirit of children is foundational if education is to fulfill its intended purpose of serving the greater whole."
- Vince Gowmon
Love
"Remind yourself daily: While education is useful, it’s love that children and the world need. A deeply loved child with only some education will go much further than a well educated child lacking love."
- Vince Gowmon
Love
"Too much leading and we create anxiety for children. Too much following and the same is true. In wisdom we find balance between the two."
- Vince Gowmon
Balance
"Don’t educate a child to become something or someone, educate to help them explore and celebrate who they already are."
- Vince Gowmon
Self-awareness
"Stop trying to turn children into someone they are not. Instead, let them unfold into who no human can imagine them to be."
- Vince Gowmon
Self-awareness
"The expert in anything was once a beginner."
- Helen Hayes
Learning
"Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow."
- Mahatma Gandhi
Learning
"To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live."
- Dorothy West
Learning
"In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind, there are few."
- Vince Gironda
Learning
"I am always doing what I cannot do yet in order to learn how to do it."
- Vincent van Gogh
Learning