Father Ramblings #008: Childhood Education
Dear Steemians,
As a continuation of the Father Rambling series, I wanted to ask the community what they thought in terms of an aspect of childhood education. My son currently just turned five to put things in perspective. In Korea, one of the major educational experiences involves the children learning from a very early age. Math and a second language are a must, with the language usually being English or Chinese.
Background
As I received all of my schooling in the states, my thoughts and my opinion seem to differ from a great deal of the population from Korea. I believe both have their pros and cons and ultimately it will be up to me to decide what the deciding factor should be. I’ve always been a proponent of not introducing my children to textbooks and classes until they reach elementary school. I won’t say that I introduce my children to nothing. Because CJ has expressed an interest in the arts, he does take some art classes. Other than that, he just attends kindergarten.
Imagination Crucial
Giving a child structure in their life seems to be quite important, much more as time goes by. Does teaching a language, math, or any other classroom courses for that matter, hinder a child’s room for imagination? That may be the highlight question of the day for this post. If it doesn’t impede imagination, then I would by all means introduce him to more and more materials, on the condition that it does not stress out the child, which brings me to the second question: How much in reality can learning be fun?
Learning Fun
In an ideal world, learning would be fun, and children would be running towards enriching their knowledge base. As parents, and as people who have gone through some sort of educational system, we know that this is not to be the case (unless you have very special, gifted child). If we start at such a young age, then how long will it be before a child will burn out from the educational system?
Would love to get some feedback from the community!
Thanks, and have a wonderful week!
Chris
Disclaimer
Also, in a full disclaimer, I have been invited to join the TUDA team (@tuda) as a strategic advisor, and as such, will be talking more and more about education as well. TUDA is a SMT-based educational blockchain that wants to revolutionize the education system with the largest community of teachers and a transparent learning experience. I have been really involved in the topic of education and am getting more and more passionate as a direct result of parenthood. I really believe in the beliefs and ideals of the team and project. If you wish to learn more, please take a look at the following links!
TUDA Website
TUDA Steemit
TUDA English Whitepaper
TUDA Android Application
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- https://sites.google.com/site/melissaluis87/ece-430-early-childhood-education-capstone/portfolio-table-of-contents
- https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@tuda/introductory-post-how-tuda-tutor-s-diary-began
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Father Ramblings #006: An Extremely Hard Week
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I think you're are bang on when you talk about trying to foster your sons' imagination. At a young age, I think it is important to introduce kids to as many hands-on and play-based learning activities as you can. They will take so much out of the kinesthetic learning and this will help foster a good foundation for when they enter school. Textbooks have a purpose and a time but for older kids. Books and reading are great for young kids to help develop a love of reading. Thanks for sharing your experiences with your son. People can learn from them.
Thanks @broncofan99! These are some really good comments. My son currently just turned 5. How would you go about teaching your kids how to read. We've been reading to our children before bedtime, but how have you transitioned from the parents reading the books to the children to the children reading and enjoying the books for themselves?