Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Ringo Lives in LA
I applaud all those who are dedicated to teaching children, but I don't think anyone can teach children unless they are able also to learn from them.
When you learn something from a child -- and kids in school today learn, if they want to, ten times as much as old fogeys like me ever learned -- and you tell them what you learned from them, they get a feeling that is much stronger and deeper than the feeling they get when you praise their fingerpainting.
It shows you are treating them as an equal, and that what they say counts.
I remember driving along with my daughter and asking her, "What kind of clouds are those?"
"I don't know," she said. "I'm only six years old."
Two or three years later we were driving along again and I asked, "What kind of clouds are those?"
"Cumulo-nimbus, dad."
When she was older she went to London with her mom.
"Say hi to Ringo," I said.
"Ringo lives in LA, dad." ¶ 8:13 PM
When you learn something from a child -- and kids in school today learn, if they want to, ten times as much as old fogeys like me ever learned -- and you tell them what you learned from them, they get a feeling that is much stronger and deeper than the feeling they get when you praise their fingerpainting.
It shows you are treating them as an equal, and that what they say counts.
I remember driving along with my daughter and asking her, "What kind of clouds are those?"
"I don't know," she said. "I'm only six years old."
Two or three years later we were driving along again and I asked, "What kind of clouds are those?"
"Cumulo-nimbus, dad."
When she was older she went to London with her mom.
"Say hi to Ringo," I said.
"Ringo lives in LA, dad." ¶ 8:13 PM
