Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 467 posts

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#271

Post by causality0 »

visarga wrote: post #137
causality0 wrote: post #17

hit his parents, hit his brother, broke things, and spat a cup of juice all over my laptop. Barring some kind of psychiatric problem like ODD, that's a significant failure of discipline, the responsibility for which lies squarely on the shoulders of the parent. I would not trust any kind generalized behavioral prediction from someone who can't keep a five year old from striking their siblings and intentionally destro…

How would you propose to keep a 5 year old from doing anything except for shadowing their every move all day long? Would that work?

Clear, consistent rules with consistent consequences. When my son was five he never hit his sister but he did hit his friend, which resulted in his first and only spanking and an apology to the kid and his mother. I'm not saying you or any parent can fix all discipline problems, but you can draw one or two lines your kids know absolutely they cannot cross.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#272

Post by war1025 »

My wife said the years she was home schooled they did school for about two or three hours a day because that was all that it really required.

I wonder if virtual school would be better shooting for that model.

Get rid of the "dead time". Just teach the lessons and adjourn.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#273

Post by miles »

learc83 wrote: post #97

Kids can't learn all day long in a classroom. I don't know why we expect them to be able to do it remotely. School has always been 1/3 learning 2/3 baby sitting. When my parents were kids, they only went to kindergarten for half a day.

> Kids can't learn all day long in a classroom

John Taylor Gatto is an award-winning public school teacher who was honest and brave enough to concur with you:

The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher https://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#274

Post by throwaway45349 »

trhway wrote: post #134
toper-centage wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately that is incompatible with 30 children in a classroom being managed but a single underpaid teacher.

so, who is up for a startup - an AI-agent as a teacher, each child gets his own teacher, or several simultaneously, basically personalized Muppet show guiding the child through the intricacies of 1+1=2 and how to write "mom". For the older students - some FPS (multi-played by the whole class or school against school) with math and other problems to unlock new more powerful weapons/etc. should work too - anybody who d…

Lol if you think kids will peer pressure other kids into doing their "FPS maths homework" then you're seriously out of touch.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#275

Post by pm24601 »

t0mbstone wrote: post #172
jeffbee wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can pause education but a child is a learning machine and they aren't going to stop learning just because you stop teaching them. They'll just learn in unstructured ways without direction.

Is that really such a bad thing? I mean, that's pretty much the entire point of Montessori school and various "lifestyle of learning" types of educational programs I think huge swathes of the information that we force feed our children in school is mostly forgotten or un-used. I was homeschooled as a kid, and my parents let me basically stop school at the age of 11. I was interested in computers, and by the age of 13…

> I mean, that's pretty much the entire point of Montessori school and various "lifestyle of learning" types of educational programs

> Kids are a lot more resilient than people give them credit for, and the most sure-fire way to make kids hate learning is to force them to do it.

We dropped Montessori precisely because they don't force kids to learn.

My mom is a teacher.

We visited over christmas when our eldest was in 2nd year in Montessori. Mom evaluated our child and told use that she was 1+ behind in development. Our child was uninterested in learning and the teachers were not "forcing" her to learn.

When we visited

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#276

Post by 9nGQluzmnq3M »

UnpossibleJim wrote: post #248
Shared404 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well clearly you are incorrect because all of the smart people said we have to test to make sure that the kids are learning and we can only make sure that the kids learn by sitting them down and making sure they know the trivia for the test to make sure their learning, because the smart people said the test will make them learn, by making sure their learning. /s On the bright side, for every one of the above administ…

You make fun of the educational structure, but it's base structure can clearly succeed if given the right support from the family and the correct budget. Japan has done exceedingly well (though a little over stressed - there can be balance) with a very similar base model. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Japan I understand that bashing all things American has become en vogue, but some things have just becom…

Elementary school in Japan is OK. It kind of goes off the rails after that though, with success in life largely dependent on a few exams, the content of which is not properly taught in school so everybody with the slightest ambition has to go to cram school (juku) to make up for it.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#277

Post by war1025 »

asldkjaslkdj wrote: post #263
philsnow wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the state, education isn't compulsory until 6 or 7 years. Would it be an option for you to just hold off on the structured approach for another 6-12 months and let her play?

That's a scary prospect considering all the studies and news articles that say that putting your kids in school as early as 4 can result in life-long benefits. It's hard to be a parent these days, you feel like nothing you do is ever "right".

> putting your kids in school as early as 4 can result in life-long benefits.

Giving a shit about your kids is mainly what results in life-long benefits.

The sad truth is a lot of parents either don't care about their kids or care about them only as a proxy of how it reflects back on them.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#278

Post by 9nGQluzmnq3M »

philsnow wrote: post #253
vinbreau wrote: post #178

My daughter started Kindergarten and we're doing remote learning. She' almost 5 years old and can work a computer for the things she needs. But she can't work a zoom meeting. So I am a teacher's asst. from 8am until 2:30 pm. It's exhausting and sometimes I take a 2 hour nap afterward. It's hard on her because until a few weeks ago she would wake up, come into my office with me and watch shows on a laptop, maybe play…

Depending on the state, education isn't compulsory until 6 or 7 years. Would it be an option for you to just hold off on the structured approach for another 6-12 months and let her play?

Young kids are not great at playing by themselves. Pretty much the only way to get a preschooler who can't read yet out of your hair for an extended period of time is to give them an iPad or TV.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#279

Post by 9nGQluzmnq3M »

asldkjaslkdj wrote: post #263
philsnow wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the state, education isn't compulsory until 6 or 7 years. Would it be an option for you to just hold off on the structured approach for another 6-12 months and let her play?

That's a scary prospect considering all the studies and news articles that say that putting your kids in school as early as 4 can result in life-long benefits. It's hard to be a parent these days, you feel like nothing you do is ever "right".

Citation needed. Most research I've seen says that it's the socialization and free play aspects that are important, not the academic content.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#280

Post by war1025 »

Shared404 wrote: post #228
actfrench wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of US kids are forced to sit still whether they're in front of a screen or in a physical classroom. Typically it's better in preschool, but many kindergarteners only get 20 minutes a day to play if that. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/learning/do-kids-need-rec...

At an elementary school near me they would only get to do recess on Fridays, and that's assuming they behaved.

The more I hear about public schools the more I understand the outrage against public education.
Post reply on HN