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We consistently underestimate kids.

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Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#21

Post by protomyth »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #12
dandrews wrote: post #11

26 years ago I wrote a BAT file ("kristen") for the household MS-DOS computer, which would play Christmas carols whenever my two-year-old daughter typed her name on the keyboard and pressed the return key. She learned quickly to switch the system on, wait for the boot sequence to complete, and play music All By Herself. It was a revelation: kids as young as that don't have eye-hand coordination enough to scribble rec…

Thank you - I am going to buy a cheap laptop (maybe two to stop fighting) for each child. Question: What should go on there? Or should I go for the iPad and push the "educational" games

My brother's two year old "hogs" their iPad. The amount of read along books in the iBooks store is amazing.

I think an iPad is better than a cheap laptop because kids like to touch things and the direct interaction is amazing. Some of the books I read as a child like "The Monster at the End of This Book" are amazing interactive on the iPad.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#22

Post by squonk »

yesbabyyes wrote: post #18
squonk wrote: post #5

I'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 ad…

When she saw me, she said, "daddy, let's go do some business!" Did you?

I told her not to move and dashed for the camera. Then we talked about what she wanted to sell (ice cream) and who she wanted to sell it to (people from Germany [I was traveling there frequently at the time]).

I work from home when not traveling and we still talk about customers, partners and even some of the challenges that come up and what we're doing about them. Not sure exactly how it will manifest when she is an adult, but I am certain some good will come of the exposure.

You are absolutely right, don't discard those moments.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#23

Post by agumonkey »

dandrews wrote: post #11

26 years ago I wrote a BAT file ("kristen") for the household MS-DOS computer, which would play Christmas carols whenever my two-year-old daughter typed her name on the keyboard and pressed the return key. She learned quickly to switch the system on, wait for the boot sequence to complete, and play music All By Herself. It was a revelation: kids as young as that don't have eye-hand coordination enough to scribble rec…

Works for speech too, so I'd summarize it as "kids lacks interfaces". A neuroscientist said there's an adult/infant impedance mismatch, that caused wrong theories to develop. Kids would fail repetitive logic tests because asking the same question twice would be interpreted as being wrong so they tried another answer which made them look random. * sigh

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#24

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

repoman wrote: post #8

To 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.

When I was a bit older I made a primitive calculator in Delphi... you had to enter things in postfix notation, I think, because I couldn't figure out how to do the normal kind.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#25

Post by komiga »

noonespecial wrote: post #4

I'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".

Rightfully so; Italian is cryptic!

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#26

Post by slantyyz »

colomon wrote: post #2

While 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 think that we do both - underestimate and overestimate kids.

I think it's best to not have preconceived notions about kids, and take them for what they are, good or bad.

Too often, I see parents in my peer group communicating with small kids as though they were adults, expecting adult responses and then being surprised/disappointed when they get a kid's response.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#27

Post by firefoxman1 »

In 3rd grade I built a transistor radio for the science fair. I remember being so proud that I built it (and received 2 stations!), but my mom seemed to be way more proud of that meaningless blue ribbon.

That's the problem, I think. It seems too many parents encourage artificial achievement that can be quantified, like grades or ribbons, which keeps kids from truly exploring what they are capable of doing.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#29

Post by firefoxman1 »

In 3rd grade I built a transistor radio for the science fair. I remember being so proud that I built it, but my mom seemed to be way more proud of that meaningless blue ribbon.

That's the problem, I think. It seems too many parents encourage artificial achievement that can be quantified, like grades or ribbons, which keeps kids from truly exploring what they are capable of doing.

Re: We consistently underestimate kids.

#30

Post by firefoxman1 »

In 3rd grade I built a transistor radio for the science fair. I remember being so proud that I built it, but my mom seemed to be way more proud of that meaningless blue ribbon.

That's the problem, I think. It seems too many parents encourage artificial achievement that can be quantified, like grades or ribbons, which keeps kids from truly exploring what they are capable of doing.

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