As we share in the work of Fred Rogers this month, I thought I would pass along my favorite “Mr. Rogers’ Words of Wisdom”. I consider myself so blessed to have met him, and have always considered him my mentor (I first became aware of him as a young child, when I saw him perform as a puppeteer on a tv series called “The Children’s Hour” on a Pittsburgh station in the 1950’s; he reappeared as I began college in the 1960’s on “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”!), and I have always patterned my approach to early childhood education after his. As we celebrate his life today at South Hills, I thought you might enjoy these quotes from him:
“Learning and loving go hand in hand. My grandfather was one of those people who loved to live and loved to teach. Every time I was with him, he’d show me something about the world or something about myself that I hadn’t even thought of yet. He’d help me find something wonderful in the smallest of things, and ever so carefully, he helped me understand the enormous worth of every human being. My grandfather was not a professional teacher, but the way he treated me (the way he loved me) and the things he did with me served me as well as any teacher I’ve ever known.”
“What are the basic necessities for children to be ready to learn? (1) a sense of self-worth, (2) a sense of trust, (3) curiosity, (4) the capacity to look and listen carefully, (5) the capacity to play and (6)times of solitude.”
“There’s a lot of talk these days about ‘education’ and what children need for learning. Before narrowing down to three black marks like C A T on a piece of paper, I would rather see a child be in the presence of someone who cares about children and about cats, someone who can help him or her come to respect cats for their grace and independence, grow to know that cats have feelings, that they need food and water, that each one is different, that they get tired and they sleep and they need to be loved.”
“Knowing that we’re valued and being in the presence of people who want to share with us something of this world that they love are the two most important ingredients of education.”
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
“I like you just the way you are.”
“Learning and loving go hand in hand. My grandfather was one of those people who loved to live and loved to teach. Every time I was with him, he’d show me something about the world or something about myself that I hadn’t even thought of yet. He’d help me find something wonderful in the smallest of things, and ever so carefully, he helped me understand the enormous worth of every human being. My grandfather was not a professional teacher, but the way he treated me (the way he loved me) and the things he did with me served me as well as any teacher I’ve ever known.”
“What are the basic necessities for children to be ready to learn? (1) a sense of self-worth, (2) a sense of trust, (3) curiosity, (4) the capacity to look and listen carefully, (5) the capacity to play and (6)times of solitude.”
“There’s a lot of talk these days about ‘education’ and what children need for learning. Before narrowing down to three black marks like C A T on a piece of paper, I would rather see a child be in the presence of someone who cares about children and about cats, someone who can help him or her come to respect cats for their grace and independence, grow to know that cats have feelings, that they need food and water, that each one is different, that they get tired and they sleep and they need to be loved.”
“Knowing that we’re valued and being in the presence of people who want to share with us something of this world that they love are the two most important ingredients of education.”
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
“I like you just the way you are.”
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