There is a saying often quoted in education:

“The purpose of education is not to prepare for life; education is life itself.”

Childhood is the beginning of life — and a part of life in its own right. So, in truth, there is little meaning in rushing.

When we try in every possible way to push learning forward, it often leads to the opposite effect. Children grow at different speeds — and there is, in fact, nothing to compare.

When I first entered early childhood education, I was like many young teachers. I believed children should “learn faster”. I thought that as long as I followed the methods in the books carefully — even doing a little more — their progress would naturally exceed expectations.

But reality surprised me.

My efforts seemed only to make my own teaching smoother. When it came to the children’s learning and development, there was hardly any sense of them moving ahead. They simply continued to grow at their own pace.

I remember one child who spent a long time just pouring water — again and again. Once, twice, three times… I began to feel a little impatient, because that day I had prepared other, more advanced activities for him. But he was completely absorbed. When he finally finished, I could sense something in him — a quiet steadiness, a sense of satisfaction, and confidence.

At that moment, I had a sudden feeling: For him, this was not wasted time. He was simply living. And then another thought followed. From my perspective as an adult, it was an exercise. But for the child, it was a moment of life that he was fully living.

I have also seen children spend an entire morning colouring — filling page after page. And I would find myself wondering: “What exactly is he doing? What kind of progress is this bringing?” Of course, there is no clear answer. But gradually, I began to notice that some forms of growth cannot easily be measured as “progress”.

I came to accept the idea that “the process is more important than the result”. For a child, the process itself is learning. Adults often carry the mindset that “those who do not plan ahead will soon face worries”. So we think about the child’s future: primary school, examinations, long-term benefit…

But childhood exists only in the present continuous. Children live in today.

For them, pouring water now, drawing now, doing a puzzle now — everything they are doing in this moment is part of their life. For a child, education is not something separate from life.

Education itself is life.

Over the years, I have encountered countless moments like these — almost every day. They have slowly helped me understand that growth has its own rhythm — a rhythm that belongs to human development itself.

This rhythm cannot be determined by a timetable. Nor can it be accelerated by adult urgency.

Education should respect this pace.

After twenty years of teaching and curriculum design, I have come to understand this more clearly:

The essence of early childhood education is not to prepare for the future, nor to hurry children along the path. It is to honour the life they are living now.

When we are willing to slow down, and respect this rhythm of growth, learning begins to happen naturally. For a child, each day of life is, in itself, growth.

In recent years, I have also noticed something else.  Educational methods are constantly changing. Every few years, a new trend appears — a new slogan, a new approach. And yet, the child’s brain does not evolve every ten years.

Sometimes, the urgency we feel as adults comes simply from the fact that we cannot see growth happening.

Perhaps that child who kept pouring water already understood learning better than I did.

When we are willing to slow down, we begin to see: Children are not preparing for life in the future.

They are already living it.