5 ms·

Can we stop drugging children and just give them a little more recess?

black6 8y ago
When we sit children down to do low-grade, menial clerical tasks for eight hours a day with minimal breaks, what do we expect?
- vibrio 8y ago
  When we sit adults down to do low-grade, menial clerical tasks for eight hours a day with minimal breaks, what do we expect?
- bayesian_horse 8y ago
  Adults who can perform knowledge work and have sufficient impulse control. I believe that sitting children down for a couple of years, compulsory, is a strong factor in what we call civilization and the overall decrease in violence. You can think of it a bit like Zen's "just sitting" meditation practice, if you want.
mholmes680 8y ago
I believe that's the guiding principal behind Creative Curriculum: https://www.creativecurriculum.net/ https://www.creativecurriculum.net/ My kids' daycare has adopted it. It seems perfect for my daughter who seems self-driven, but maybe too open-ended for my son (who we pushed ahead..so far - mid-november bday with 10/31 cutoff). Or maybe better: https://www.montessori.com/montessori-education/ https://www.montessori.com/montessori-education/
nixpulvis 8y ago
I can't say that nobody gets some benefit from the drugs, but having grown up with some friends on them in elementary/middle school I can safely say it's a serious thing to be on, and it's not to be taken lightly. EDIT: I'm talking about drugs like Ritalin.
tylerjwilk00 8y ago
Agreed. The elephant in the room is that school is rather unnatural and modern kindergarten is overly structured and academic. [1,2] Humans are just highly intelligent animals. Kids acting like animals when they are 5 years old is not unnatural. [1] https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Does-kindergarten-have-too-much-work-and-not-11084377.php https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/... [2] https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/what-happened-kindergarten/ https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-conten...
- jakecopp 8y ago
  I went to a Steiner school for kindergarden and the focus is completely on play and hands on outdoor activities. I have fond memories of messing around with hand drills in the playground! https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/steiner-education/early-childhood/ https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/steiner-education/early-...
bayesian_horse 8y ago
Been tried. Like a couple hundred million times over, both in studies and by parents trying to figure out what do with an ADHD child. It's not like parents aren't motivated to change their children's behavior to be more manageable...

When we sit children down to do low-grade, menial clerical tasks for eight hours a day with minimal breaks, what do we expect?

vibrio 8y ago
When we sit adults down to do low-grade, menial clerical tasks for eight hours a day with minimal breaks, what do we expect?
bayesian_horse 8y ago
Adults who can perform knowledge work and have sufficient impulse control. I believe that sitting children down for a couple of years, compulsory, is a strong factor in what we call civilization and the overall decrease in violence. You can think of it a bit like Zen's "just sitting" meditation practice, if you want.

mholmes680 8y ago

I believe that's the guiding principal behind Creative Curriculum: https://www.creativecurriculum.net/ https://www.creativecurriculum.net/ My kids' daycare has adopted it. It seems perfect for my daughter who seems self-driven, but maybe too open-ended for my son (who we pushed ahead..so far - mid-november bday with 10/31 cutoff). Or maybe better: https://www.montessori.com/montessori-education/ https://www.montessori.com/montessori-education/

nixpulvis 8y ago

I can't say that nobody gets some benefit from the drugs, but having grown up with some friends on them in elementary/middle school I can safely say it's a serious thing to be on, and it's not to be taken lightly. EDIT: I'm talking about drugs like Ritalin.

tylerjwilk00 8y ago

Agreed. The elephant in the room is that school is rather unnatural and modern kindergarten is overly structured and academic. [1,2] Humans are just highly intelligent animals. Kids acting like animals when they are 5 years old is not unnatural. [1] https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Does-kindergarten-have-too-much-work-and-not-11084377.php https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/... [2] https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/what-happened-kindergarten/ https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-conten...

jakecopp 8y ago
I went to a Steiner school for kindergarden and the focus is completely on play and hands on outdoor activities. I have fond memories of messing around with hand drills in the playground! https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/steiner-education/early-childhood/ https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/steiner-education/early-...

bayesian_horse 8y ago

Been tried. Like a couple hundred million times over, both in studies and by parents trying to figure out what do with an ADHD child. It's not like parents aren't motivated to change their children's behavior to be more manageable...