Comments
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As someone who has no intention of home-schooling, I want to say how much I appreciate the time you’ve taken to supply all of this information, and how much I’ve enjoyed reading it.
I teach my daughter as much as I can and help her make connections between what she learns (the point of education, after all). I’m learning ways to improve what I do with her from your Education series.
AnnaD | 11/6/2008 04:37 PM CDT -
This series is gold, with a generous side order of win.
The subject of education has been a minor obsession of mine for the past four years since I was dismissed from university. It’s taken me this long just to figure out how to articulate what happened. It wasn’t a matter of a lack of ability. It was a lack of will. Twelve years of public schooling had actually resulted in a state where I became apathetic to any cohesive long-term goal in terms of study. I remained generally curious with an appetite for new knowledge, but I had grown so accustomed to the knowledge not amounting to anything practical, that I was actually failing to remain focused even though I was finally pursuing a career I had my eyes on since I was a small child.
Working backwards from that experience, my interest in education, I suppose, stems from the recognition that until adulthood, the parents are responsible for what happens in their kids’ education. I mean to make certain that what happened to me does not happen to the children I intend to have in the future.Being attentive of the child’s interests and being willing to invest in feeding their pursuits should go a long way in making sure they don’t learn to hate learning.
George guy | 11/7/2008 07:04 PM CDT -
In that example, I’ve intentionally used an obvious example of teaching a concept too soon, before the perquisites have been mastered.
I suspect you meant “prerequisites” there. Interestingly enough, however, I have now learned a new word.
per·qui·site
1 A payment or profit received in addition to a regular wage or salary, especially a benefit expected as one’s due. See Synonyms at right.
2 A tip; a gratuity.
3 Something claimed as an exclusive right:Laughingdog | 11/8/2008 01:36 AM CDT -
PErfect example of a pre-requisite unmet causing a disinterest in the subject:
I was surprised, no shocked at how many high school students, no scratch that once again, people in general, adults too, truly do not understand the concept of a variable, and therefore are forevermore frustrated and confused and turned off by the very mention of algebra and higher math.
Junior high and high school math teachers could almost certainly improve the majority of their students’ performance if they simply spent a bit more time and effort in explaining this concept effectively.
Thebastidge | 11/9/2008 05:40 AM CDT
