Kudos to these parents for listening to their parental instincts, despite pressure from the school to do otherwise. They saw that forcing their son to read at age 6, before he was ready, was causing him to hate reading and despise books. They recognized that the rigidity and uniformity characteristic of the mass schooling model was smothering their son’s curiosity and innate, self-educative ability.
Tag: children
The Data Don’t Matter
My kids have some clear challenges and opportunities because of their digital immersion. None of those changed because someone did some research. My kids’ unique screen time pros/cons existed before I read stats from a study, and they exist after.
Law as a Tool to Get What We Want
Imports threatening domestic production? Raise tariffs! Cheap labor threatening labor unions? Enact a minimum wage! Businessmen without scruples ripping off easy prey? Occupational licensure! Boogeyman at the front door? Increase the “defense” budget! Your neighbor is sodomizing his friend in the privacy of his home? Ban all the gays!
I Do Not Want a “Well Behaved” Child
“Whoever wrote this and did the research is confused and did not define terms accurately. I spanked, not hit, all nine of my children and they do not hit. Never have. My grown children are well adjusted, well behaved, loving kids. I receive positive compliments about them often. Spanking is quite misunderstood.”
Abnormalities and Treating Others with Kindness
Abnormalities aren’t normal. We don’t need to normalize abnormalities in order to have the kind of society that treats people with respect. We don’t need body positivity, trans awareness, gay awareness or anything else. We only need to teach people to be polite and treat assholes like they are assholes.
Ripping Asunder and Incinerating Children
Collectivism is not only the greatest enemy of sound economic reasoning. It is even more so the greatest enemy of sound moral reasoning. Sad to say, I am trapped in a world in which such unsound — indeed, often monstrous — argumentation is more the rule than the exception. May God have mercy.
My Children Deserve My Time and Attention
I don’t want my children feeling superior to others, that they are owed something from them. I want them to learn that persuasion and negotiation, kindness and acceptance, are the best ways to make and keep friends. That when they view others as an opportunity for mutual benefit, as versus someone to be used and then discarded, they will develop better, stronger, and longer-lasting relationships with others.
Episode 075 – Russ’s Journey, Part Two: Learning to Read by Sight (1h2m)
Episode 075 welcomes Russ Fugal to the podcast in a two part conversation with Skyler and Morgan. The topics covered in this second part include his background as a reader, cryptography and peer 2 peer technology, mathematics and his desire to make it simple for his children, cognitive development on how we count, why people are born with the ability to count to 4, the language he developed early on to count in base 4, a conversation on base 10, base 12, and base 60, origin of Roman numerals, his daughter’s stronger interest in reading than in mathematics, switching tracks from mathematics to reading development, how children teach themselves to read, speed reading, Chinese characters and reading, his new program called EAR (Engaged Aided Reading), why phonics is a crutch to fluency, reading well is reading by sight, not by phonics, why are brains are good at pattern recognition, the development of his mobile app based on EAR and sight reading, and his hopeful presentation in the SXSW 2018 conference.
Must My Kids Play with Your Kids, Just Cause?
I want my kids to learn that if they want someone’s time and attention, they need to earn. It’s not owed to them. Even as their parent I don’t believe I owe them time and attention. I choose, happily, to give it. Most of the time. Some of the time they’re super annoying and I walk away. When they get upset, I tell them openly and honestly how I’m feeling and why I’m leaving. I don’t shame them. That’s stupid, too. But I don’t hide the fact that I’m feeling annoyed by their behavior, and if they want me to stay, they should take a breather and consider changing it.
Will Virtual Worlds Destroy Humanity?
People who become consumed with virtual worlds do so because they find there the hormonal rewards that are lacking elsewhere. I’ve heard it said by such a person that he’s a hero and champion in his video game, but outside his life is complete shit. How does that happen?