I always remember the things that I enjoy learning about better than I remember the things that “they” want me to learn. In fact, this insight was the basis of “free schools” such as I was peripherally involved with in the late 60s: Teachers were there to help kids do whatever project they wanted… by pointing out how they’d need to write a great grant proposal… how to calculate profit and loss… how to understand coefficient of friction for the tires of the hot-rod they were trying to build…
Oh yeah, been there, done that. To paraphrase the old saying, “There is no limit to the amount of things you can learn, if you’re supposed to be learning something else.”
Yessss! As a high school teacher I’d try to find ways to let the very capable students teach themselves. They do a much better job of it on their own. (Like letting them skip homework for a week so they could prepare to teach a future lesson to the class.)
My daughter is autistic (high functioning) and did not get along with the standard education system. If she was not interested, she WOULD NOT put forth the effort. However, you could get her interested in something, she would attack it with intense fury. :o) It is amazing the information she will retain when she wants to – as long as it was a book or a video. She has an auditory processing disorder that prevents her from being able to learn from lectures. She needs to SEE the words/materials/instructions, not hear them.
Lots of us were like that before the days of labels, when stigmas were plentiful. Kid is smart to recognize her interests and to find ways to enjoy them.
If you master language and math, then you can master anything else, since you can read about it.
If you can’t read, you can still master physical trades, but you are more likely to make dangerous mistakes because you can’t read instructions or cautions.
However, I will say that as you get into math beyond basic arithmetic, that a teacher is very desirable.
Sydney J. Harris was a columnist for the Chicago Daily News and Sun-Times, and a terrific one. He was certainly one of my favorites when I was younger. I was a little late to catch much of his newspaper career, but I devoured his columns as they were collected in book form. In fact, maybe I need to see if I can find one of those books and read it all over again. But I digress. Which is okay, since that’s kind of today’s point.
One of Harris’ recurring column themes was “Things I Learned While Looking Up Something Else.” I don’t know if Harris was that genteel by nature or if he cleaned it up for newspaper, but I am still reasonably fluent in Newsroom, and I’m pretty sure the title really reads, more accurately and even poetically, “Stuff I Found While Dicking Around.”
Agriculture is dependable, but it’s the hunters and gatherers who find the real gourmet stuff.
That has always been a problem for me. I may never find what I was looking for, but I learn a lot on the way. If I learn something useful, or even just very interesting, it wasn’t a wasted trip.
pschearer Premium Member almost 5 years ago
That is why I consider myself well-self-educated.
Concretionist almost 5 years ago
I always remember the things that I enjoy learning about better than I remember the things that “they” want me to learn. In fact, this insight was the basis of “free schools” such as I was peripherally involved with in the late 60s: Teachers were there to help kids do whatever project they wanted… by pointing out how they’d need to write a great grant proposal… how to calculate profit and loss… how to understand coefficient of friction for the tires of the hot-rod they were trying to build…
Bilan almost 5 years ago
Now if we could only learn to stop procrastinating while we’re doing that.
McColl34 Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Oh yeah, been there, done that. To paraphrase the old saying, “There is no limit to the amount of things you can learn, if you’re supposed to be learning something else.”
DorothyGlenn Premium Member almost 5 years ago
algebra vs why do cats want to snug with the allergic visitors. (still passed the exam, no thanks to myself)
beymly almost 5 years ago
What is wrong with that poor child’s eyes?
Stegozard almost 5 years ago
Kinda like what Hobbes said to Calvin once – “If nobody makes you do it, it counts as fun.”
dadlivonia almost 5 years ago
boy or girl?
Judy Saint Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Yessss! As a high school teacher I’d try to find ways to let the very capable students teach themselves. They do a much better job of it on their own. (Like letting them skip homework for a week so they could prepare to teach a future lesson to the class.)
contralto2b almost 5 years ago
My daughter is autistic (high functioning) and did not get along with the standard education system. If she was not interested, she WOULD NOT put forth the effort. However, you could get her interested in something, she would attack it with intense fury. :o) It is amazing the information she will retain when she wants to – as long as it was a book or a video. She has an auditory processing disorder that prevents her from being able to learn from lectures. She needs to SEE the words/materials/instructions, not hear them.
sandpiper almost 5 years ago
Lots of us were like that before the days of labels, when stigmas were plentiful. Kid is smart to recognize her interests and to find ways to enjoy them.
Seed_drill almost 5 years ago
Maybe until you hit puberty. After that all mind wandering suddenly becomes singularly focused.
Nick Danger almost 5 years ago
If you master language and math, then you can master anything else, since you can read about it.
If you can’t read, you can still master physical trades, but you are more likely to make dangerous mistakes because you can’t read instructions or cautions.
However, I will say that as you get into math beyond basic arithmetic, that a teacher is very desirable.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 5 years ago
Blog PostsFrazz13 hrs ·
Sydney J. Harris was a columnist for the Chicago Daily News and Sun-Times, and a terrific one. He was certainly one of my favorites when I was younger. I was a little late to catch much of his newspaper career, but I devoured his columns as they were collected in book form. In fact, maybe I need to see if I can find one of those books and read it all over again. But I digress. Which is okay, since that’s kind of today’s point.
One of Harris’ recurring column themes was “Things I Learned While Looking Up Something Else.” I don’t know if Harris was that genteel by nature or if he cleaned it up for newspaper, but I am still reasonably fluent in Newsroom, and I’m pretty sure the title really reads, more accurately and even poetically, “Stuff I Found While Dicking Around.”
Agriculture is dependable, but it’s the hunters and gatherers who find the real gourmet stuff.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 5 years ago
I have come across more things while searching for other items that threaten to derail me from my primary task at the time.
cknoblo Premium Member almost 5 years ago
That has always been a problem for me. I may never find what I was looking for, but I learn a lot on the way. If I learn something useful, or even just very interesting, it wasn’t a wasted trip.