So, I was once again looking at “The School: Humanity’s New Future,” a video of a very unusual school in Tekos, Russia. It got me thinking. For those of you who haven’t seen this, you can Google it or order it here: www.deepsnowpress.com/school.htm.

So, at this school, students do everything, literally. They cook, they clean, they build and decorate their school, they practice dance and singing and music and martial arts. They study math and science and other traditional subjects. But it’s more than just that.

They design their own curriculum, evaluate their own progress and seek to improve, all self-motivated. They spend time in nature, study outside and feel themselves a part of the world. The older students help the younger and the few adults you see around in the video hardly do anything. This is a pretty unusual concept, or, at least, to see fully manifesting and working.

I think one thing that really impressed me, was the maturity of these students, who leave this “school” able to create and run their own home, being educated mentally and artistically, able to defend themselves, connect with the earth and just “live” at a level so much above our modern level of maturity for a high school student.

Maybe that’s because this school speaks to the child as an adult and expects that he or she is fully capable of learning as such. I think children are actually more intelligent than adults, in some ways. I love this topic, but that's another topic, for another day. I like what the principle said in the video that all children are endowed with genius, talent and creativity. This reminds me of Maria Montessori and her idea of letting the child lead and also how the child is intelligent.

So, whether or not this school is perfect, it’s an amazing representation of what children are capable of. I began thinking, how am I doing this with my child? How can I work to develop the fullest maturity of my child so that they also grow up to be capable and fully empowered?

While there is much room for improvement, I realized that I already do this in some ways. I speak to my children with the maturity of an adult. Obviously explaining words where necessary and not addressing topics beyond their maturity. And yet, there is so much that you can do, that I choose to do, for my child.

From birth I have spoken to my children as the mature soul that they are. Perhaps it helps that I have a spiritual belief in the pre-existence of souls. Does this mean that I have never had fun with them or used silly words or sounds? No, of course not! But I do believe, for what it’s worth, that it does grow their brains when you speak in mature ways to them, instead of baby talk with limited vocabulary.

So, speaking to the soul of your child: addressing your child as an intelligent being - I’m all for it!

Please share your own thoughts about the maturity of these souls we know as our children. How can we better facilitate their development in this life?