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An intrinsic ability to test?

I've recently been off work for a little while (and will be for a few more weeks), and been able to spend a lot of time with my 2 year old son and my newly born daughter (hence the lack of posts!)

I've realised something over these past few days, that every child is born with a natural ability or an intrinsic ability to "test". Obviously I'm not talking about testing software :)

This is more about testing their surroundings, testing what they can and can not do with their toys and just testing themselves to see what they are truly capable of (that last one is definitely apt for my new born daughter!)

Unfortunately, I believe this "intrinsic ability to test" is lost when they reach school to a degree, they are encouraged to not push the boundaries of things and to conform to some form of normality. It's made me realise that I will try and help my children to never lose this ability, and not because I want them to grow up to be like their daddy, but to constantly push things and learn new things.

I believe we shouldn't lose this intrinsic ability, as it will help them in life both at school and at work in whatever they want to do, encouraging them to think outside the box when applicable, and to not always accept the first answer given to them... unless it's from Mummy or Daddy ;)

What does everyone else think?  Is this intrinsic ability "forced" out of children? Should children be encourage to grow or never lose this ability?



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