The most important characteristic of a great learning environment for a child is freedom. The freedom for exploration. Providing the child with this kind of freedom will unleash in the child the joy of learning and the joy of discovery. Once the child discovers the joy of learning and has the freedom to set the pace for his own learning, the child's ability to absorb knowledge and skills and perfect them increases manifold. Such freedom also enables the child to develop into a self-reliant, confident and socially aware adult who is capable of living his life the way he is meant to.

This is the kind of environment that has to be provided to a child. "Help the child help himself" should be the operating doctrine of a learning environment for children.

The governing principles for providing the child the freedom in the learning environment should be the following:

(1) The child's basic nature, inner drive and curiosity have to be leveraged upon. Whatever freedom the child needs to strengthen and satisfy its inner drive and curiosity should be provided as long as it is within the bounds of safety and correct knowledge.
(2) The child should set the pace for its own learning. The child should have the freedom to work on and perfect a skill as long as it wants. This construct respects the child's ability to decide how long it needs to perfect the skill.
(3) Everything has to be interpreted from the child's point of view and not from the adult's point of view. For example, the playpen is an invention from the adult's point of view because it gives the adult the freedom to pursue their tasks without having to worry about the child. However, the playpen is very restrictive from the child's point of view because it inhibits his freedom of movement and exploration.
(4) The freedom has to be such that it has to bolster the self- esteem and self-confidence of the child. There should be an emphasis on the overall personality not just the way the child has to learn.
(5) The freedom has to be channelized through proper guidance. The environment, the materials available to the child and the teacher are all part of creating the right conditions for a child to learn.
(6) The freedom for the child to play with the materials should be preceded by the knowledge of the correct use of the materials. Freedom is incomplete and shallow without the power of knowledge.
(7) Of course, it goes without saying that the environment has to be also safe for the child.

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