Thursday, December 06, 2007

The Village Idiot

Apparently I am an angry person this week because I have yet another complaint.
There is a commercial I keep seeing where a mom is reading with her little boy in some lobby and the other mom's are all impressed because the son is truly reading and he's only 4.
My beef is this: why is it so damn important that he read by 4? Would the mom be less proud if he wasn't reading? Is she so concerned about his education or is it a reflection on her that she has produced this genius?
Okay, maybe I am reading way to much into a product designed to make someone money (because that is the main function of most products) but every time I see that commercial I grit my teeth. Asa is 2-I don't care if he can read at 4. One day I will look at him and say "that is a red square and that is the letter "Z", and he will know what I am talking about. He may be 4, he maybe 14, but one day, his memorization skills will kick in and it won't matter. What I do worry about teaching him is the abstract. How do I teach my child to be creative? A problem solver? To not give up because it is to difficult, but to know when it is okay to accept defeat after we tried our best? Those are the lessons I find way more important then making sure my 7 year old can recite verbatim the Gettysburg Address.
Now statistically, the chances of Asa being a "reader" are high. He sees me reading, we read together, and we can pick out the capital letters "A", "E", and "O" most of the time. But if we get to school and he has a "learning disbalilty", it could take longer for all that to sink in. Big deal. My own opinion is that as research catches up with current knowledge, "learning disabilities" and their stigma, will be a thing of the past (unless you are Tom Cruise and then you can just buck up and "think" your problem away). More and more they are finding that learning is a lot more individualistic that previously thought. Just because you can't learn something one way, doesn't mean you can't learn it a different way. And the people who succeeded in the past weren't the smartest-just the most adaptable. As more and more learning styles are discovered, more and more teaching styles will be developed. A big argument for small classes in my opinion.
What this means to my blog is that I want Asa to be a happy 4 year old without the pressure of being some super child. In modern times, two of the greatest thinkers in the world were considered idiots and either kicked out school or didn't do well-Albert Einstein and Thomas A. Edison. I hope Asa is that stupid.
Oooo-I think I feel better now!

1 comment:

Katie said...

I think you are right about just not getting wrapped up trying to get your kids to be some kinds of over-achievers - if you are doing just what you are doing, there is no worry...it will happen when it will happen. There is actually research out there that says it can be detrimental to try and "MAKE" your kids learn quicker than they are ready for. It will cause them to think that they are stupid and then they won't trust themselves and have confidence when their brains really ARE ready for different kinds of thinking. Kids aren't even ready to begin thinking abstractly until much later. Things are veeery concrete until even 3rd grade. Sounds strange, but it is true. They begin to figure out that just because mommy left the room doesn't mean she is gone "poof" forever, and that is the first kind of abstract thinking...but it doesn't really kick all the way in until around 7 or 8. Kids know, and we know our kids...that is enough, if you ask me. I've had people ask me why Emma isn't potty trained yet...I think, "Why?" She is 2 and half for frick's sake...she wont' be in diapers at 5, and probably not even at 4...but there is no way I'm going to "MAKE" her go on the potty until she is ready. I wish people would slow down...Makes me mad, too!!!