Children find ways to learn about each other

We all know children who are brighter and better looking than most other children. We call them sons and daughters. Or grandchildren.

But then we have to admit that most children can be pretty amazing at times, particularly when it comes to learning ideas and concepts that some adults find hard to grasp.

Take learning a foreign language, for example. Most adults have enough trouble with their native tongue and often struggle with someone else's. Not children. Put children from different countries together for awhile, and soon they will be communicating just fine.

This is happening at Community Day School in Cape Girardeau, where a pair of Japanese youngsters are bringing not just a new language to their classmates, but also an opportunity to learn about the Japanese culture.

While adults are needed to guide such learning opportunities, the best results often come when children are allowed to do what children like to do. In the process, the children learn about one another in ways that would be tough to duplicate in a textbook.

And let's hope adults who are part of this process pick up a few good ideas of their own.