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If you, as a (presumably) successful graduate of a public school system, can't understand the textbooks and other modern resources well enough to help your own
by vollmond 6y ago
If you, as a (presumably) successful graduate of a public school system, can't understand the textbooks and other modern resources well enough to help your own child learn basic chemistry, what did you actually get out of your public school education? And why would you want to send your child to spend years of their life there?
It's one thing to thoughtfully decide that it is best for your family to outsource education for various reasons. It's quite another to think that it is, by default, impossible to do it yourself.
- virgilp 6y agoBecause just because I'm a computer scientist doesn't mean that my child can't be a doctor or chemist. I haven't touched organic chemistry in 20years+ ... is it really surprising that it'd take me a lot to understand? I don't have the same amount of time to invest in (re-)learning everything. > It's quite another to think that it is, by default, impossible to do it yourself. It's not, if they chose the same career path as I did, or my wife did. But I don't see how we could plausibly expose them to different options. Case in point - the older child plans to study architecture; the exam involves quite specialized drawing skills. Both of us would have extremely limited knowledge to guide her.
- pwthornton 6y agoYour average high school chemistry teacher has a chemistry degree. They didn’t just take one class in chemistry in high school and become an expert. This is a ridiculous comparison. There are a lot of things I took a class or two in that I am not qualified to teach. Most people are not qualified to teach most subjects at s high level. I’m a professor and there are only certain topics that I am an expert in. I could tech myself high school chemistry again, but it’s been a few decades.