I learned something last month. I learned something about learning. My greatest teacher imparted this lesson, with a somewhat flippant expression, but her eyes were a vision of depth and seriousness. 
We learn when our spirits are ready for the teaching.
Who Says A Child Is Ready To Learn
There exists a belief, in our culture, that children won’t learn unless they’re taught. We sit our children in schools where they are taught to do things on a schedule, pre-defined as being “age-appropriate”.
Children should start learning to read at age five. If they haven’t got the gist of it by age six or seven, they are frequently labelled “learning disabled” - a label that sadly sticks for a long time. This schedule is adhered to regardless of whether the child is ready to read or not. Even if the child is a whiz at Mathematics, or fascinated in Astronomy, or gifted in Art, or a prodigy Violin-player, those skills and talents are ignored.
Almost all children will learn to read on their own, given the time and support, and most of all, the readiness of Spirit.
My teacher, who happens to by my six-and-three-quarters-year-old daughter, Sequoia (and I must never forget the all-important three-quarters!), told me about Spirit.
Sequoia had grown somewhat lately, and was in need of new running shoes. Thus we found ourselves in the store of a purveyor of children’s shoes, perusing the aisles.
Ready For Laces?
Thus far, I’ve always bought her shoes with Velcro fastenings, figuring that it would be easier than teaching her to tie laces before she was ready. At first I’d had the idea that buying lace-up shoes would be a great way to force her to learn, and I got her a nice pair when she was about three.
It didn’t take long to work out that was a mistake! I spent the next month chasing her around, tying her shoes for her all the time. I realised that trying to teach a small child to tie laces while running late to get somewhere (which I perpetually am), is a special brand of torture, reserved for those labouring under the mistaken belief that children will learn something if an adult decides it’s the right time to be taught.
At that point, I decided to raise Sequoia without knowing how to tie shoelaces, and by the time she reached adulthood, it would be her problem, not mine.
However, when we got into the shoe store, the only running shoes Sequoia really liked had laces. With vague images of shoelace-branded insanity flitting through my mind, I tried subtly (or perhaps not-so-subtly) to direct Sequoia’s attention to a similar pair with Velcro.
Eventually, I managed to convince Sequoia to get the Velcro shoes, but I could see that her heart wasn’t really in them, and a little voice in my mind reminded me that we were buying shoes for her, and she should be free to choose the ones she wants. I took a deep breath, and put both pairs on the floor in front of her and told her to choose the ones she really wants.
Minutes later, I found myself walking back to the car, with a pair of small, lace-up running shoes in hand, and a happy child in tow.
When we got home, I sat down with Sequoia, and gave her a short demonstration on how to tie laces. Astoundingly, she managed to repeat it with very little help. On her second try, Sequoia tied her shoes just fine. She untied them and re-tied the shoes again, before running off to play.
Flashback To The Mother's Childhood
I was amazed. Learning to tie shoes had been such an ordeal for me, when I was in school. When I was six, everyone in the class had to learn to tie shoes. I was the last one who couldn’t do it, and I was constantly getting told off for having laces dangling on the ground.
I remember walking in lunch break one day with my shoes helplessly untied, when a teacher from a different class stopped me and pointed out that my shoelaces were loose.
I started crying, knowing that I would get in trouble for not knowing how to tie my shoes. Luckily, that teacher was patient, and showed me a trick to tying laces easily. I still failed when it came to shoe-tying in class, because I wasn’t using the “correct” knots, but at least my laces were tied, and I did eventually learn to do it “properly”.
I was wondering how it was possible for my child to learn to tie laces in one go, when all the other children around seem to need a long time and a lot of practice.
A Child's Wisdom
Walking home the next day, Sequoia said to me, “Mama, I think my spirit told me to get the shoes with laces now, because my spirit knew I was ready to learn how to tie them. That’s how I learned to do it so easily. If we got shoes with laces before I was ready, it would have been really hard to learn”
Of course she’s right. Sequoia has been showing me every day of her life how she learns things effortlessly, when she’s ready for it.
I’m so lucky to have such a wise teacher present me with this lesson, but then again, maybe my spirit was just ready to learn it!