Check out this lovely photo taken yesterday morning of one of our debutantes on his way to work. The water is so clear you can actually see his toes! He did a round of mud, and pulled a clump of tules and then retired for the day. This morning at 5:30 I saw our littlest beaver demonstrate more fine behavior…
Perfect execution and form, solid entry and dismount, and very beaver-like in his performance. In both instances he looks exactly like a beaver should look and did entirely what a beaver should do. Once. I waited an hour for part two and saw nothing. Our beavers have learned the aesthetics of dam building and the intricacies of laying mud.
They just haven’t learned the value of repetition.
Take, for example, last weeks excellent mudding demonstration on the secondary dam. Just what junior needed to do. He did it very well. One might even say he did it perfectly.Once.
They all need to keep doing do it about 1000 more times. And another 1000 on the primary.
As a rule, the value of repetition in our culture is vastly underrated. We tend to look for new ways to work and new things to amuse us and we forget that sometimes we need to do just what were doing before only over and over again. Learning to walk, tie your shoe, write the letter ‘A’, color in the lines, play by the rules, list state capitals, swing a bat, and do your multiplication tables only happen because you repeat them again and again, even when they get boring and fail to hold your interest.
At a certain point the child learns that “going to work” isn’t just dressing up like your parent and doing whatever they do for five minutes. It means getting up everyday and repeating the same job over and over again regardless of whether anyone helps you or praises you, until the job is basically finished and you’re ready to start the next job. Repetition increases skill, reduces anxiety, and familiarizes individuals with the various demands of the job.
It also builds dams.
Today is the initial round for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and finals are tomorrow. None of those remarkable children would be there without massive repetition and rehearsal.
Let’s hope the beavers get ESPN.
