Learning isn’t fun. It could be interesting. When learning is fun, that simply means you’ve coupled learning with a fun experience, but the learning itself isn’t fun.
I think this is a bad association. We use incentives for learning, but that is different. Kids will understand that its the candy that tastes good, and is simply being used for a reward, “shelo lishmo”. As they mature, they will come to outgrow it. When we try too much to “make learning fun”, however, they will come to see and expect learning to be fun. Since this fades as the child grows, and the natural interst they have in the learning process itself, which would be the best tool with which to approach learning, will not have been developed.
Life ain’t always fun. But if we can help our kids maintain their natural curiosity and excitement for learning…