> it's important at the beginning to do the chore together This is very important. Kids are clever and surprisingly capable when they are able to gain some fir

> it's important at the beginning to do the chore together This is very important. Kids are clever and surprisingly capable when they are able to gain some firsthand experience. The problem is they don't actually have that experience. Humans learn by observing and imitating; working together on the same task lets them easily observe in detail from an experienced role model. Immediate feedback lets them rapidly iterate their attempts to imitate their observations. Victor Wooten gave an outstanding TED talk[1] on this topic[2]: > If you think about how you learned [to speak English], you realize you weren’t taught it. People just spoke to you. But the coolest thing is [...] you were allowed to speak back. > Now if I take the music example, in most cases, our beginners are not allowed to play with the better people. You’re stuck in the beginning class. You have to remain there a few years, until you are elevated to the intermediate and then advanced. [...] > But with language, to use a musical term, even as a baby you’re jamming with professionals, all the time — to the point that you don’t even know you’re a beginner. No one says, “I can’t talk to you until you got to go over there. When you’re older, then I can speak to you.” It doesn’t happen. No one tells you what you have to say. You’re not made to sit in a corner and practice. You’re never even corrected when you’re wrong. > Think about it, when you’re 2, 3 years old and you say a word wrong over and over, no one corrects you. If you say it wrong enough times, instead of correcting you, your parents learn your way. And they start saying it wrong too. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0 [2] obviously his talk is primarily about music education, but his observations about how kids learn should apply to most topics