Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#31

Post by GiraffeNecktie » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:32 PM UTC

I would just forget about computers and programming completely and focus on the building blocks by a playful approach to solving day-to-day problems with logic and reasoning. Like how do we decide which things belong together? You can also play progressively more complicated iteration games like for-each-time-this-happens-let's-do-this-this-and-this! Or make complicated rube goldberg devices out of household objects and then debug why they don't work.

Computers would be just a distraction from the real work of building a foundation in cognitive skills.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#32

Post by ax0n » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:32 PM UTC

The number one thing to do as he grows: allow his curiosity to flourish, even if it means letting him hurt himself a bit. Some learn better through words. Some learn better through visuals. This is mostly rote memory stuff, and it's crap. Everyone learns better through experience, and experience builds both memory and extrapolation. He might only be six months old, but he's already got a keen brain for gathering data and deducing outcomes. It's intrinsic to human nature, and it's commonplace to stifle it with too many boundaries. Don't. I'm not saying you should throw caution to the wind, but don't be as protective as the societal norm says you should be.

Allowed to be curious, he'll get critical thinking skills, passion for exploring the unknown and street smarts out of the deal. He'll immediately be better at anything he sets his mind on than those who have been forced into learning only through written and verbal means.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#33

Post by wvenable » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:36 PM UTC

a-priori wrote: post #23

jph wrote: post #13

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication. The best videos (IMHO) are from "My Smart Hands" at http://mysmarthands.com/ The founder has free videos on YouTube, an iPhone app, and a new Android app (which I use).

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication. Is there any evidence that this actually has any benefit?

Children are able to gesture long before they have the physical skills to speak. So, if you teach them some basic signs, they'll be able to communicate their needs months before they'd be able to speak them. As for whether it helps learning in general, I don't know.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#34

Post by jph » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:38 PM UTC

a-priori wrote: post #23

jph wrote: post #13

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication. The best videos (IMHO) are from "My Smart Hands" at http://mysmarthands.com/ The founder has free videos on YouTube, an iPhone app, and a new Android app (which I use).

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication. Is there any evidence that this actually has any benefit?

Yes.

Dr. Marilyn Daniels at Penn State University has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction. Her studies demonstrate that adding visual and kinesthetic elements to verbal communication helps enhance a preschool child's vocabulary, spelling and reading skills.

This citation and many more studies are listed on http://sign2me.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=vie...

The most recent meta-study (as far as I know) has this to say...

Doherty-Sneddon concludes by arguing there are three different levels of support for the benefits of baby signing: indicative, if not evidentially strong, evidence from baby signing research; related evidence from deaf sign and hearing gesture/language research; compelling anecdotal support from families who have embraced the approach.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language_in_infants_and_to... Wikipedia has a Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.

Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.

Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.

Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.

Other researchers have found evidence that sign language supports early literacy skills.

Felzer, L. (1998). A Multisensory Reading Program That Really Works. Teaching and Change, 5, 169-183.

Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273.

Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press.

Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4'th Cardiff Wales).

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#35

Post by KoZeN » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:38 PM UTC

wglb wrote: post #16

KoZeN wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed and this is something I started whilst he was still in the womb!

I claim that my daughter recognized me by voice at birth when I first spoke to her.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I'm with you on this. I'm certain my little dude recognised my voice when he was born.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#36

Post by addoway » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:38 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #7

Read to him when he is young, with him when older. It is the most stupidly effective academic intervention I'm aware of.

Absolutely. Play some soft music sometimes classical, even Enya while pregnant as well, but reading is very important.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#37

Post by systema » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:39 PM UTC

michael_dorfman wrote: post #11

I'd be careful in this line of thinking, if I were you. Projecting wishes and expectations onto one's children is common, and counter-productive. I was very excited when my daughter, around the age of 10, showed interest in programming. I showed her Scratch (from MIT), but I think my enthusiasm scared her off-- and she dropped it quickly. I regret that I didn't play it a bit cooler.

Yes, I tried to do the same, with my youngest when she was about 13 (and with Perl), but she quickly dropped it all, due to my enthusiasm.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#38

Post by qiqing » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:41 PM UTC

apl wrote: post #3

> He's 6 months old currently so I have plenty of time! You do indeed. Don't forget that. You have at least 8 years left before your kid should start doing this kind of thing. Just let him use a computer in a completely natural way, don't force anything on him. Programming is decidedly different from, say, playing the violin! Also, less importantly, skip the shitty languages phase. It's not necessary to go through Pa…

++ on Python. There is also a nice Python-for-kids textbook for ages 8+ http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kid...

And ++ on not letting your own enthusiasm scare him off. My mother started me on piano when I was 2 years and 10 months by playing herself and not letting me play (she already taught me to read music using flash cards). Depending on the kid, reverse psychology works pretty well.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#39

Post by systema » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:41 PM UTC

steveklabnik wrote: post #10

apl wrote: post #3

> He's 6 months old currently so I have plenty of time! You do indeed. Don't forget that. You have at least 8 years left before your kid should start doing this kind of thing. Just let him use a computer in a completely natural way, don't force anything on him. Programming is decidedly different from, say, playing the violin! Also, less importantly, skip the shitty languages phase. It's not necessary to go through Pa…

> don't force anything on him. This is absolutely true. One of the risks that you take when you have a child is that he'll turn out totally different than you. My father was a farmer, and so we're from basically two different worlds. He could never understand why I wanted to be on the computer on the time, I couldn't understand why he wanted to be outside all the time. But since neither of us tried to force each othe…

Certainly, Ruby is a fine first option. I'd recommend any Lisp derivative, or Javascript also.

I see no reason to learn Pascal, or BASIC, nor do I see its effectiveness.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#40

Post by KoZeN » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:42 PM UTC

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #31

I would just forget about computers and programming completely and focus on the building blocks by a playful approach to solving day-to-day problems with logic and reasoning. Like how do we decide which things belong together? You can also play progressively more complicated iteration games like for-each-time-this-happens-let's-do-this-this-and-this! Or make complicated rube goldberg devices out of household objects…

Logic & reason are the foundation for almost everything we are hoping to teach him but as far as technology is concerned we really want to encourage him to understand how things work as well as how to use them so I suppose that is what drove me to seek the opinion of the HN collective.