We consistently underestimate kids.
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We consistently underestimate kids.
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Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#2While I fully agree that we underestimate kids, I've got to say that my three-year-old spent a gleeful half hour riding up and down escalators back in March, and was sad when we said he had to stop. Little kids can be surprisingly smart and still be amused by simple, repetitive things that would bore adults out of their skulls.
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#3While I fully agree that we underestimate kids, I've got to say that my three-year-old spent a gleeful half hour riding up and down escalators back in March, and was sad when we said he had to stop. Little kids can be surprisingly smart and still be amused by simple, repetitive things that would bore adults out of their skulls.
Farmville, slot machines, Modern Warfare 3, and Halo 7 would all like to raise objections. Adults find amusement in similarly mindless tasks. Adults don't find escalators amusing only because a lifetime of experience has made them common. A trip to Atlantic City or Vegas on the other hand somehow turns losing money into entertainment.
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#4I'm having a similar experience with my 8yo and his arduino. The coolest thing is to watch him google and struggle (and persevere) despite not being able to read all that well.
Its also bizarre to be with someone who can read and understand the word "instantiate" but is mystified by "pizza".
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#5I've become interested in evolutionary psychology. Not at all expert, but when one considers the survivability of children in ancient (pre-historic) environments, seems logical that children increased the likelihood of survival by mimicking the adults they see; figuring out how to do the basics like feeding themselves, finding a safe place to sleep, taking cover during inclement weather, and generally assimilating adult behavior. The sooner they learned these skills, the better their chance of survival if they became separated from adults. Evolution selected for such behaviors.
That conclusion is a thought experiment, and I haven't dug up scientific evidence, so an anecdote: I once came home from work to find my 6 year old daughter in my closet. She had put on one of my shirts, a tie and my shoes. She was holding an old briefcase. When she saw me, she said, "daddy, let's go do some business!". I believe that kids have a genetically driven need to emulate their parents and that need is rooted in evolution and is much more profound than we realize. Regrettably, the modern parenting and schooling systems squelch that need.
Here's another anecdote: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/12070...
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#6Some children are quite smart - possibly smarter than some adults will ever be. Most are not as smart as the average adult, however, and some will never be. None of this is really surprising?
Whether one is dealing with an adult or child, there's no need to make assumptions about intelligence. I mean, some kids can spell and proof read better than adults, or at least type out the word "airport" correctly :)
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#7While I fully agree that we underestimate kids, I've got to say that my three-year-old spent a gleeful half hour riding up and down escalators back in March, and was sad when we said he had to stop. Little kids can be surprisingly smart and still be amused by simple, repetitive things that would bore adults out of their skulls.
I still get a small thrill from stepping onto a particularly long escalator (eg the one at Angel tube station in London, which is the 3rd biggest in Western Europe), but then again, my partner often says I'm essentially a five year old trapped in an adult's body.
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#8To be honest, I've seen kids doing better hack than that kid in the video using scratch... I don't think we are underestimating kids. If kids have natural talents to programming, then they will enjoy it. Don't push kids to do things just because it's cool to make it on their early resume.
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#9Some children are quite smart - possibly smarter than some adults will ever be. Most are not as smart as the average adult, however, and some will never be. None of this is really surprising? Whether one is dealing with an adult or child, there's no need to make assumptions about intelligence. I mean, some kids can spell and proof read better than adults, or at least type out the word "airport" correctly :)
Heh, corrected. Thanks.
Re: We consistently underestimate kids.
#10While I fully agree that we underestimate kids, I've got to say that my three-year-old spent a gleeful half hour riding up and down escalators back in March, and was sad when we said he had to stop. Little kids can be surprisingly smart and still be amused by simple, repetitive things that would bore adults out of their skulls.
Pretty much all I've ever wanted to do is walk down an up escalator (and vice versa) at just the right pace that I don't move. Then run a bit faster, slow down a bit, etc. All my earthly ambitions boil down to this.