Education – acquiring knowledge through teaching and instruction.

Enlightenment – giving or imparting knowledge by removing the dimness from one’s eyes or heart.

These two definitions talk about gaining knowledge,
the difference is the means to the end.

Learning lessons, through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts is education but finding the right mode of instruction is the key to turning on that figurative light bulb on top of a child’s head.

While there are definitely many children whose eyes sparkle with intrigue at the idea of going to school, most, usually gloss over. It’s not that school is not informative and educational, because it is.  It’s that children don’t normally find it fun.

hamilton-lightbulb2Education tends to be structured lessons, back to back assignments and basically training. Reading is combined with assignments not available as intrigue.  When a child discovers on their own or through story-telling the excitement that can be found through reading, it becomes enlightenment.  When they are told to read, it becomes an assignment and any story gets lost to that glossed-over effect when that happens.

When education is fun, that’s when a child gets the most out of it. That is why I’ve worked so hard to make my stories fun and light-hearted.  Encouraging the light in a child’s eyes is my goal.  While providing a likeable role model, Hamilton Troll, and presenting situations and problems in a fun rhythmic way, my objective is to teach children how to respond to situations and deal with problems while preserving the light in their eyes.

When a child acquires an understanding of something you can see the light go on. The sparkle in their eyes illustrates the importance of education yet if it’s fun it’s enlightenment and that’s always a winner.