In Émile, Rousseau speaks of “natural” and “nature” with regard to human nature and the natural education of a child. Let’s look at what he has to say.

Unlike many thinkers of his day, Rousseau believed that human nature was generally good. This applies to children as well. They must be encouraged, therefore, to follow and expand on that nature. To do this, Rousseau advocated a natural education of children. They should be allowed to run and yell and play and not be forced to be miniature adults. Rather, they should act according to their nature, and this natural state should fill childhood.

Nature itself has given children the means to grow and develop, and parents and educators should rely on those means, not stifling children but allowing them to explore, even if that means they get hurt sometimes. They cannot be so carefully guarded and coddled as to become helpless.

Rousseau also argued that children should spend much time in nature and should be trained to have good judgment and self-control, not getting everything they want all the time because this simply is not the way the world works, and they need to learn that.