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Author Topic:   Teaching Children Both Sides
nator
Member (Idle past 2169 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 36 of 62 (416652)
08-17-2007 7:51 AM
Reply to: Message 35 by Dragoness
08-17-2007 2:26 AM


Re: Update
quote:
Again, I ask that this topic be about how you would have or have handled the situation, NOT about how YOU believe I have failed as a parent.
I don't see that Taz has said that you have failed as a parent.
quote:
You do not know my child and have no business telling me to "just let the school handle it" because she is MY child to raise how I see fit.
Sure, that's the way we do it in our culture. And that's a big reason why our populace is the way it is; enormous gaps between those who are good thinkers and those who are good believers, those who are exposed to many ideas and those who are taught to fear ideas, those who are encouraged to accept facts and reality and those who are taught to believe in spite of facts and reality. And I am not just talking about religion here.
Now, please be assured that I am not singling you out or accusing you of any particular thing in the above paragraph. My point is, though, that this idea that American parents have that they sort of own their children and that they are the absolute best person to teach them anything on any subject is just not very useful in the end. I think that this is what Taz was saying.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 35 by Dragoness, posted 08-17-2007 2:26 AM Dragoness has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 37 by EighteenDelta, posted 08-17-2007 11:40 AM nator has not replied

  
nator
Member (Idle past 2169 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 47 of 62 (416765)
08-17-2007 6:51 PM
Reply to: Message 41 by EighteenDelta
08-17-2007 4:07 PM


Re: Update
quote:
I am kind of appalled that people seem to think that the 'average parent' isn't qualified to teach their own kids.
About science? Or many other subjects? No, I absolutely don't think that the average parent knows anything close to enough about science, history, mathematics, economics, computer skills literature, English, physics, health, etc. to be qualified to teach more than the bare basics. Even then they will probably get a lot wrong.
If a parent is a physicist or a computer programmer or a investment banker, or a carpenter, or a journalist they would probably be good at teaching certain parts of certain subjects. But I wouldn't expect the Physicist to have a deep knowledge of, say, medieval European history, or the journalist to be able to teach a great lesson on the properties of matter and energy.
Look, there are people who go to college for quite a long time to become professionals at relaying information to children. Even then, with all of that instruiction, some of them aren't especially good at it.
What makes you think that a parent with no specialized training in teaching children, and even less knowledge of a lot of different subjects, is better qualified at teaching than a professional?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 41 by EighteenDelta, posted 08-17-2007 4:07 PM EighteenDelta has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 49 by Dragoness, posted 08-17-2007 7:00 PM nator has replied
 Message 50 by EighteenDelta, posted 08-17-2007 7:15 PM nator has replied
 Message 62 by anastasia, posted 08-23-2007 4:47 PM nator has not replied

  
nator
Member (Idle past 2169 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 52 of 62 (416776)
08-17-2007 7:23 PM
Reply to: Message 49 by Dragoness
08-17-2007 7:00 PM


Re: Update
quote:
I think the assumption here is that I plan to homeschool my kids and teach them only what I know from the top of my head.
No, that was not my assumption, although I can only speak for myself.
quote:
Please, I may not have a college education, but I am not stupid. I am perfectly capable of teaching my children many things, and many of those things they will learn more about in school, and much of it I will have to learn or relearn. I am well aware of this.
I plan to be involved in my childs education on ALL subjects, not as a substitute for school, but in additon to.
Sure, that's great.
Nobody ever said you were stupid, you know.
I have a niece who took calculus when she was a freshman in high school. If she had been my child, I wouldn't have had a clue how to help her with that. She easily surpassed my mathematical training by the time she was about 11. Now, she did love horses back then and she used to ask me all sorts of questions about them, which I could answer, since I have a lot of education about horses.
Our point is that most parents are not educated in most things their children need to learn. That doesn't make them stupid, it just makes them uninformed.
What WOULD make a parent stupid is if they tried to pretend that they know something or know how to teach something when they don't. (You've got to admit that this sort of attitude is rampant in our country).
Again, not saying that this is what you are doing or are going to do.
Edited by nator, : to fix the spelling of the word "stupid" hahahaha

This message is a reply to:
 Message 49 by Dragoness, posted 08-17-2007 7:00 PM Dragoness has not replied

  
nator
Member (Idle past 2169 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 53 of 62 (416778)
08-17-2007 7:30 PM
Reply to: Message 50 by EighteenDelta
08-17-2007 7:15 PM


Re: Update
quote:
How many 5 year olds need to know about midieval european history?
If they ask about it, what would you say?
quote:
We are talking about idiots chastizing a woman for the answers she gave her 5 YO.
Nobody really chastized her. They criticized what she did, because she asked people their opinions on what was done. She became rather defensive and IMO overreacted.
I'm pretty sure that 1) she's a big girl and can deal with things here on her own without the need for a defender such as yourself, and 2) trying to shame or shout people down will not work well here.
quote:
We are talking about the basics, nothing more in this case.
What, nobody's allowed to talk about "more" just becasue you said so?
quote:
Read the damn topic before you develop diarhea of the mouth.
And I will thank you to keep your temper tantrums off the board.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 50 by EighteenDelta, posted 08-17-2007 7:15 PM EighteenDelta has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 54 by EighteenDelta, posted 08-17-2007 7:46 PM nator has not replied
 Message 55 by Dragoness, posted 08-17-2007 7:50 PM nator has not replied

  
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