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Getting off topic, since I just wanted to point out that screens CAN be good, and the more research lumps all "screen time" together the less research there is

by klik99 7y ago

Getting off topic, since I just wanted to point out that screens CAN be good, and the more research lumps all "screen time" together the less research there is into HOW they can be better. But we didn't push it or anything - my older one was just into the endless alphabet app, and that basic desire to be an expert on something made him point it out - my younger one always to keep up with the older one. I doubt I would have forced them to do it if I wanted it as a goal - I just try to encourage them to get deep on what they're already showing an interest in at this point. And that usually just takes praising the work they put in (and not the results), and answering any questions they have. (edit) And yeah, there's no long-term differences, as a friend said "every adult knows how to st in a toilet". I say in another comment - advancement is more a random walk than a linear progression, in adulthood as well as toddlers.

jacobolus 7y ago
Fair enough. There’s certainly nothing wrong with knowing the alphabet. I’m just a bit jaded and fed up with a parenting culture / education system that focuses on rushing toward specific arbitrary milestones and memorizing lots of trivia, instead of trying to immerse little humans into a culture where skills and tools are learned through practical use and competence grows slowly over time. E.g., in a different domain, it isn’t going to especially help anything if a kid takes their first steps at 9 months, and all of those special-purpose baby walker tools are essentially useless, but the kid who has tremendous core strength/stamina because they get lots of exercise crawling all around is going to come out ahead of average even if they don’t start walking until 14 months.
- klik99 7y ago
  Totally agree - and, generally, the adults I know who were raised this way may be super talented but have so little creativity - at music school I knew this Korean violinist who was just amazing classical player, she could tell you the pitch of the brake squeal on a subway, but watching her try to improvise was painful. There's a lot of pressure from other parents to compare kids, I think that's how that culture perpetuates at least here in the US. I just don't play that game. (edit) This is also why I hate standardized testing which places kids is "advanced" and "normal" (implicitly slow) classes - everyone develops at their own rates, but the system implicitly assumes that early advancement rates are indicative of future advancement rates, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  - patmorgan23 7y ago
    I think the music one has to do with how she was taught music. lf she was taught from sheet music early on that can greatly impact the ability for someone to improvise. If they where taught the basic technique of the instrument and then given time to free play and figure out songs by earn /experiment they'll have much better improvisen skills.

by klik99 7y ago

jacobolus 7y ago

Fair enough. There’s certainly nothing wrong with knowing the alphabet. I’m just a bit jaded and fed up with a parenting culture / education system that focuses on rushing toward specific arbitrary milestones and memorizing lots of trivia, instead of trying to immerse little humans into a culture where skills and tools are learned through practical use and competence grows slowly over time. E.g., in a different domain, it isn’t going to especially help anything if a kid takes their first steps at 9 months, and all of those special-purpose baby walker tools are essentially useless, but the kid who has tremendous core strength/stamina because they get lots of exercise crawling all around is going to come out ahead of average even if they don’t start walking until 14 months.

klik99 7y ago
Totally agree - and, generally, the adults I know who were raised this way may be super talented but have so little creativity - at music school I knew this Korean violinist who was just amazing classical player, she could tell you the pitch of the brake squeal on a subway, but watching her try to improvise was painful. There's a lot of pressure from other parents to compare kids, I think that's how that culture perpetuates at least here in the US. I just don't play that game. (edit) This is also why I hate standardized testing which places kids is "advanced" and "normal" (implicitly slow) classes - everyone develops at their own rates, but the system implicitly assumes that early advancement rates are indicative of future advancement rates, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- patmorgan23 7y ago
  I think the music one has to do with how she was taught music. lf she was taught from sheet music early on that can greatly impact the ability for someone to improvise. If they where taught the basic technique of the instrument and then given time to free play and figure out songs by earn /experiment they'll have much better improvisen skills.