RE: Educational TV (was Re: [Nolug] Cool wired house in Old Metairie)

On Wed, 2004-07-28 at 10:20 -0500, Chris Reames wrote:
> > Here you guys go read this
> > http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5479418/
> >
> >
> > Roland
> >
> The problem with introducing anything to children (at any age) is that thing
> (if it ingages the child for more than 5 minutes) becomes a substitute to
> parental guideance. I personally have a now 7 year old that I gave her her
> first computer at 2. I played the little games WITH her and REINFORCED what
> she was learning with other activities. The simple thing is investigate the
> software and what it teaches, be involved in the learning process and follow
> up with hands on 3D games.
> (Eg. Software with a sorting game, get plastic geometric shapes (available
> at education stores) and play lets sort these.)

Excellent point.

> My major argument for 'playing' with the computer is this. Computers are
> all around us, even in McDonalds. If you introduce a thing before there is
> a fear of the thing, there will be a better chance of learning.
> (Eg. I found an old 286 compaq laptop that was of no real use. My daughter
> was trepidatious until I showed her the laptop had MS Paint. 'OH' she says
> with joy 'I use that program at school...can I use it on here too?')
>
> To further my point, what if your child was introduced to an AS400 or
> whatever at work. Would you A) what him or her to panic at the
> unfamiliarity, or B) Confidently look for simularities and be egar to learn
> what is being explained.
> Personally, my 7 year old is in the B category and does very well in all of
> her classes (better than her father).

Totally invalid logic. If "If you introduce a thing before there
is a fear of the thing, there will be a better chance of learning"
were true, then no one would have ever learned anything new in
the 1st place, since adults had to discover it.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson, LA USA
PGP Key ID 8834C06B
"I went home with a waitress the way I always do. How was I to
know she was with the Russians, too?"

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