(OK, radical for me - I'm hardly Black Panther material - but I do like those jaunty berets they were prone to wearing...)
Bear with me here, people - The Baroness is only working on Coffee #1 of the day.
But a thought that occurred to me while pondering through my Intellectual Devotional (seriously, I bought it for the title alone), and reading about Aristotle and the subject of logic and how it pertains to Philosophy (yah, I used the big "P" here - it's that important).
So, about the whole education thing. And the "science" of it all.
Rather that bustling children out the door at the age of 3 to go to pre-pre-school to finger paint and build puzzles and basically run around like caged banshees, wouldn't it make sense to have an education system where the formative years were spent learning life skills - I'll call it the 5 C's: cooking, cleaning, construction, community involvement, camper training? I'm not talking Montessori - it would be a little more emcompassing than that.
Then when they're at a point where they can appreciate how the applications of what they're learning fit into the world they've been moving in already, and they're eager to learn more on a higher level - then we introduce the hard-core education.
Think of all the people who choose to go back for post-secondary education after moving in the "real" world for a while. They go back thirsty for knowledge, eager to learn ways to make improvements where they've seen a need.
Just thinkin'. That's all.
Bear with me here, people - The Baroness is only working on Coffee #1 of the day.
But a thought that occurred to me while pondering through my Intellectual Devotional (seriously, I bought it for the title alone), and reading about Aristotle and the subject of logic and how it pertains to Philosophy (yah, I used the big "P" here - it's that important).
So, about the whole education thing. And the "science" of it all.
Rather that bustling children out the door at the age of 3 to go to pre-pre-school to finger paint and build puzzles and basically run around like caged banshees, wouldn't it make sense to have an education system where the formative years were spent learning life skills - I'll call it the 5 C's: cooking, cleaning, construction, community involvement, camper training? I'm not talking Montessori - it would be a little more emcompassing than that.
Then when they're at a point where they can appreciate how the applications of what they're learning fit into the world they've been moving in already, and they're eager to learn more on a higher level - then we introduce the hard-core education.
Think of all the people who choose to go back for post-secondary education after moving in the "real" world for a while. They go back thirsty for knowledge, eager to learn ways to make improvements where they've seen a need.
Just thinkin'. That's all.
7 comments:
Exactly what many countries do overseas. Excellent point.
Countess NATUI: Like I said, radical - for me. I was pretty sure that there were places elsewhere that are eons ahead of us in their thinking. Too bad that egocentric N. Americans strive to be so original in their thinking that they are blind to models that already work brilliantly.
I have the Intellectual Devotional and I LOVE it. Love love love it.
I also agree about educating our kids in the outside world. Somebody else posted about it today, though, and I used up my witticism on her comment.
Actually, it wasn't a witty comment at all. But the thinking hurt too much to replicate here.
Which is why I totally need the Intellectual Devotional, see.
Countess Maggie: Someone else posted about this? TODAY? Sh*t. This just confirms my theory that I do not have one single original idea left in my head.
Either that or it supports my belief in synchronicity.
I've been thinking about this idea for a while, and just seeing the whole thing on logic made me think - if I'd been introduced to this when I was in high school - I wouldn't have appreciated it with the depth that I do today.
Sincerest of apologies for making you read the same thing twice. Baroness so sad :(.
Those are wonderful ideas, though they might work out better when the munchkins are five, tiny ones are a bad idea around stovetops and knives unless they have 100% individual adult supervision.
I am all for what you are preaching, I try to point Procrastinator Junior towards sefl-sufficency every chance I get. Independence is just as important as independent thought.
Count WP: You know how they say you ,shouldn't e-mail drunk? Maybe I should stay away from the keyboard until the caffeine has reached the wee recesses deemed necessary for rational thought.
Of course there would be constant adult supervision in my education program. I am a mother, after all, and a Jewish one at that, so am all about the over-protectiveness. It would be a great growth exercise for me as well to let these little being actually do something for themselves...
I like the idea of beginning education earlier and making it relevant to real-life skills you need. When I think about the years I spent mastering inverse hyperbolic derivatives and the integral functions of sin and cos -- I wonder if I missed the lesson on making a budget for yourself and how to remove any kind of stain from any kind of garment? Now THOSE are lesson I would've paid to hear.
I can do a hell of a sentence diagram and name all 50 states off the top of my head in alphabetical order, but don't ask me to embark on some DIY project if it involves any kind of assembly skills. And I don't want any parts of trying to fold a fitted sheet. I have a system for those, and it ain't pretty! Let's just say a lesson would've been nice! ....Barbra Peapod
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