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My parents taught me how to read and do some relatively complex math prior to kindergarten - today I feel that I owe nearly all of my academic & career success

by ngoel36 11y ago

My parents taught me how to read and do some relatively complex math prior to kindergarten - today I feel that I owe nearly all of my academic & career success to that. Of course, your first point is valid - this was only useful because I was lucky enough to have amazing teachers who took the time to issue me a tailored curriculum at a significantly higher level than my peers. I had teachers and programs which allowed me to stay at a cutting edge until early high school when these initiatives existed naturally (and I had the resources to explore intellectually outside of school). More than that, it gave me a ton of confidence as I found things easier than my peers. That's not to say that all of this didn't come at a cost - my social growth was definitely stunted. Instead of playing sports I did homework, and instead of sleepovers with friends I worked on school projects. In the end, I wish I'd had a bit more balance, but I'm really glad I was lucky enough to have the opportunities I did early. I truly believe our ability to learn slows down every single day, and the early years are most formative.

yareally 11y ago
My experiences were similar in some ways. My parents taught me to read and basic math before and during my early school years. I had some teachers that tailored the curriculum for students like me (special projects, more advanced literature) and then others that kind of just left us to our own devices. In my case, I ended up doing all my schoolwork before lunch. The second half of the day I'd tinker around on the old Apple PCs my school had, read through the limited selection of interesting books in the school library or help some of my classmates with their schoolwork. Some teachers encouraged a few of us to tutor/mentor some of our peers, but I don't think it was encouraged enough. I can't directly relate that to where I am now, but I know overall it contributed to my ability to work/learn independently with minimal guidance. Might have also spurred my interest in problem solving and programming since I would be bored and become curious about how things worked around me. If there was a negative, it made me think much of school was really boring the first 8-9 years. When I had a teacher that was too busy to adjust their curriculum for more advanced students, I assumed this was how school would always be. I didn't want to have a negative opinion of the education system, but it was hard at the time to have a positive one. When I reached high school, I had to get out of the habit of thinking schoolwork (and homework) was some "busy work" chore I had to do in order to move onto the next grade. This was a bit harder in some courses than others--since I had to train myself to pay attention and actually take notes versus memorizing. Thankfully, I had some great high school teachers that helped me along the way. My high school education was overall a positive experience. Do I think I would have been better off being home schooled or in a private school with more attention? Hard to say. Perhaps better in some ways, but not in others. Always a trade off.
- ngoel36 11y ago
  I think we had extremely similar childhoods! I too spent much of my free time tinkering with old Apple PCs - I started programming in QuickBASIC in the 5th grade because of it, and I owe my career today at a major tech startup to that. I also empathize with the transition in high school - I always found history class to be a relative struggle due to the change from repetitive memorization to actual understanding/notes.
  - yareally 11y ago
    My biggest struggle was math for the same reasons. I had a lot of teachers that emphasized the memorization aspect of it. Thankfully, my math teachers got progressively better throughout my high school years or I'm not sure I would have made it through calculus at the university. I probably would have struggled through history if I hadn't had an abnormal interest in subject. Two of my favorite things to read when I was bored were encyclopedias and reading ahead in my school history book. Guessing that probably helped me with lessening the struggle of memorizing history facts.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
Fordrus 11y ago
I'm so torn on exactly what to do for my month-old firstborn kid. I love him so much, I want to raise him with all possible advantages, but I don't want to create a living death zombie student out him- I figure my best bet is just to try and have fun. I know it might benefit him for me to discipline him into playing violin at 3, learning to read by 2, soldering projects by <unreasonably low age for electrical engineering here>, but I don't think I could handle that if I were him, and I don't want to impose that on him. But I DO have that plot- to show the way. To do interesting stuff and invite him along. To keep my door open and try to tempt the poor tyke ever-so-subtly into reading, programming, talking, laughing, telling jokes, and all the like. We joke that he's going to discover sports and use them to rebel against me, because I'm no good at most of them and can scarcely imagine something so uninteresting as "Playing Catch"- but if he's interested in it of himself, I'll follow along- it's only fair if I'm trying to tempt him to follow in my footsteps, that I allow him to guide me, too! I just- mean, I'm waxing all peotic and shit here- I really just intend to interact with him about as much as he'll let me, have as much fun as we can together, and when opportunities arise (lazy summer days!!?!) - throw in some volcano making, some quark songs, some amateur electrical engineering, some mod programming in there- I want so much for the folks who says that "Play is the best education for a child" to be right, that I reckon I'll give it a go. :D For now, at a month old, that involves me talking to him just about endlessly- telling him stories (mostly that I make up out of my head, he and I have made some good ones so far!! :) ) and yammering about the news, the weather, the holidays, philosophy, math, genetics, etc., and then listening when he makes noises back and telling him how much I love to listen to the noises. :D I don't know for sure if it will work out like I hope, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Uh, will report back in 17 years? :D
- bcantrill 11y ago
  Kids are... themselves. Especially if/as you have more than one and as they get older, you will appreciate how different kids are from one another, and how much of that is baked in. So it's a great idea to lead by example, keep your door open, etc., but the best piece of advice is the one you've already given yourself: when it comes to their interests, meet your child where they are instead of where you want them to be. And your example of athletics is no joke: that is exactly the story of my oldest (age 11), for whom his organizing force in life is baseball. While the interest in baseball emphatically did not come from me (or my wife), I have come to appreciate the existential joy of playing catch with him or watching a ballgame with him or hitting pop-flies to him long after the sun is down. Yes, a part of me wishes that he were more interested in some of the things that I liked at his age (and I will continue to hold those doors open for him should his interests shift) -- but it pales in comparison to the bond we have formed over the stuff that really matters to him.
brianpan 11y ago
Can you expand on "I feel that I owe nearly all of my academic & career success to that"? I feel even my college courses have only a modest impact on my career, much less elementary school or pre-kindergarten.

by ngoel36 11y ago

yareally 11y ago

My experiences were similar in some ways. My parents taught me to read and basic math before and during my early school years. I had some teachers that tailored the curriculum for students like me (special projects, more advanced literature) and then others that kind of just left us to our own devices. In my case, I ended up doing all my schoolwork before lunch. The second half of the day I'd tinker around on the old Apple PCs my school had, read through the limited selection of interesting books in the school library or help some of my classmates with their schoolwork. Some teachers encouraged a few of us to tutor/mentor some of our peers, but I don't think it was encouraged enough. I can't directly relate that to where I am now, but I know overall it contributed to my ability to work/learn independently with minimal guidance. Might have also spurred my interest in problem solving and programming since I would be bored and become curious about how things worked around me. If there was a negative, it made me think much of school was really boring the first 8-9 years. When I had a teacher that was too busy to adjust their curriculum for more advanced students, I assumed this was how school would always be. I didn't want to have a negative opinion of the education system, but it was hard at the time to have a positive one. When I reached high school, I had to get out of the habit of thinking schoolwork (and homework) was some "busy work" chore I had to do in order to move onto the next grade. This was a bit harder in some courses than others--since I had to train myself to pay attention and actually take notes versus memorizing. Thankfully, I had some great high school teachers that helped me along the way. My high school education was overall a positive experience. Do I think I would have been better off being home schooled or in a private school with more attention? Hard to say. Perhaps better in some ways, but not in others. Always a trade off.

ngoel36 11y ago
I think we had extremely similar childhoods! I too spent much of my free time tinkering with old Apple PCs - I started programming in QuickBASIC in the 5th grade because of it, and I owe my career today at a major tech startup to that. I also empathize with the transition in high school - I always found history class to be a relative struggle due to the change from repetitive memorization to actual understanding/notes.
- yareally 11y ago
  My biggest struggle was math for the same reasons. I had a lot of teachers that emphasized the memorization aspect of it. Thankfully, my math teachers got progressively better throughout my high school years or I'm not sure I would have made it through calculus at the university. I probably would have struggled through history if I hadn't had an abnormal interest in subject. Two of my favorite things to read when I was bored were encyclopedias and reading ahead in my school history book. Guessing that probably helped me with lessening the struggle of memorizing history facts.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

Fordrus 11y ago

I'm so torn on exactly what to do for my month-old firstborn kid. I love him so much, I want to raise him with all possible advantages, but I don't want to create a living death zombie student out him- I figure my best bet is just to try and have fun. I know it might benefit him for me to discipline him into playing violin at 3, learning to read by 2, soldering projects by <unreasonably low age for electrical engineering here>, but I don't think I could handle that if I were him, and I don't want to impose that on him. But I DO have that plot- to show the way. To do interesting stuff and invite him along. To keep my door open and try to tempt the poor tyke ever-so-subtly into reading, programming, talking, laughing, telling jokes, and all the like. We joke that he's going to discover sports and use them to rebel against me, because I'm no good at most of them and can scarcely imagine something so uninteresting as "Playing Catch"- but if he's interested in it of himself, I'll follow along- it's only fair if I'm trying to tempt him to follow in my footsteps, that I allow him to guide me, too! I just- mean, I'm waxing all peotic and shit here- I really just intend to interact with him about as much as he'll let me, have as much fun as we can together, and when opportunities arise (lazy summer days!!?!) - throw in some volcano making, some quark songs, some amateur electrical engineering, some mod programming in there- I want so much for the folks who says that "Play is the best education for a child" to be right, that I reckon I'll give it a go. :D For now, at a month old, that involves me talking to him just about endlessly- telling him stories (mostly that I make up out of my head, he and I have made some good ones so far!! :) ) and yammering about the news, the weather, the holidays, philosophy, math, genetics, etc., and then listening when he makes noises back and telling him how much I love to listen to the noises. :D I don't know for sure if it will work out like I hope, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Uh, will report back in 17 years? :D

bcantrill 11y ago
Kids are... themselves. Especially if/as you have more than one and as they get older, you will appreciate how different kids are from one another, and how much of that is baked in. So it's a great idea to lead by example, keep your door open, etc., but the best piece of advice is the one you've already given yourself: when it comes to their interests, meet your child where they are instead of where you want them to be. And your example of athletics is no joke: that is exactly the story of my oldest (age 11), for whom his organizing force in life is baseball. While the interest in baseball emphatically did not come from me (or my wife), I have come to appreciate the existential joy of playing catch with him or watching a ballgame with him or hitting pop-flies to him long after the sun is down. Yes, a part of me wishes that he were more interested in some of the things that I liked at his age (and I will continue to hold those doors open for him should his interests shift) -- but it pales in comparison to the bond we have formed over the stuff that really matters to him.

brianpan 11y ago

Can you expand on "I feel that I owe nearly all of my academic & career success to that"? I feel even my college courses have only a modest impact on my career, much less elementary school or pre-kindergarten.