In response to John’s newsletter title, “Do our Children Learn Differently,” I had a couple of comments to make.Â
Although I agree that the children of today learn differently than of children past, I don’t completely agree with it. I honestly believe that some children would have been much better off in the 70′s and 80′s had there been more technology. My brother is a prime example of this and I know that he is not the only one out there. I learn by repetition, I learn by “doing” rather than by reading how to do, I learn by someone teaching me. My brother learns in much the same way that my youngest son does and that is by simply “watching” something being done and then going off and doing it himself and “figuring it out”. My brother would have never attended one day of public school if T4L had been around when he was young.Â
I believe that with technology comes more options, I believe technology helps kids grasp things differently but the concepts are still the same only now instead of my mom saying to me and my brother “Go look it up in the encyclopedia”, I find myself saying “Go google that”….. While I believe that children do process things a bit differently, bottom line is learning styles are learning styles and just because my children have the wonderful opportunity that they have does not mean that they learn any different that we did; they just have more options.
My next point is about technology taking place of sports and outside. I totally agree that my children do not head outside as soon as they are done with their school work the way that we did growing up. We live on 70 acres and my kids should be outside exploring ALL the time with what they have available to them. I do agree that on occasion I have to “force them” outside or have to join them when they do go outside so we can hike or what ever. With that being said, my family spends very little time watching tv. We are a computer family and we sit in the same room, each with our computers and enjoy each other’s company whether it be in an online game or doing our own thing “chatting”. We spend the summers swimming in our pool and when company is here spend most of the time outside. Yes, we do own (collectively in our family) every video game system available (with the exception of the ps3) but that also is (for the most part) done together. So I guess that even though my kids don’t always “volunteer” to go outside, that is the way it is now and even though I dislike it, sometimes it is easier to accept it. As a side note, my boys play soccer, roller blade, do karate and are cub scouts. They are very active kids and even though I think they spend to much time on line, there are far worse things that they can be doing…… What would I change? Probably them “wanting” to go out and play…  Is that going to happen? We are working on it. 
:)
The last comment I have is about “putting the gameboys down in the car”. Each of my boys have a game boy (you shocked?) and they will probably get a better hand held system this year for Christmas. (shocked again?) I don’t always agree that children should have game boys and when I see children at family functions, family activities or something like that it makes me angry. I do think that there is nothing wrong with my kids playing their game in the car and because we are home schoolers we cram learning into every bit of their lives….. Even in the car I am throwing something “educational” at them… I would rather them spend a little bit of time zoning while driving down the road than sitting in their rooms playing! Of course, my kids don’t abuse their game boys and can really “take them or leave them” so it is really not an issue for us but honestly everything we do revolves around their education and something being learned, discussed or shared so giving them some time in the car to just zone is not such a bad thing for our family……
Thanks for the newsletters John, I enjoy them!
Tracy
October 1, 2007 | 3:13 pm1
“Homeschoolers never touch a video game”… That single thought has kept my family “hidden” for so very long. It was not until we met and became friends with Kat’s family that we could finally open up and be more of who we were. We live in a very rural community which is home to homeschooling families that do so for religious reasons only. We are not a normal home schooling family but for my children’s benefit we have mingled for the last 5 years with families that would not normally approve of our lifestyle. Everything in moderation is our key with a very wide assortment of activities that include (but are not limited to) woods/metals/shop classes with my father (a master carpenter and overall a “hands on” guy) Arts/crafts and cooking with both their grandmother and myself, science with their father and physics/religion and life lessons with their Godfather.
We are not a “normal” homeschooling family but we strive very hard to “fit-in” with both traditional public school and other homeschooling families. I’m sure that there are more of us out there… someplace… For now we are happy to have one family who accepts us totally for who we are, what we stand for and how we are raising our kids! Life is really to short to worry about anyone else anyway…
I’m happy that we are able to show you a bit of who we are and what we do…..
Tracy
October 1, 2007 | 2:03 pm2
Although you and I agree for the most part there is one point that I strongly disagree with. There are no type of electronics allowed in bedrooms. Radio is the only thing you will find in my boys room. My husband and I would never allow tv, dvd, computer or game systems to be in the bedroom. We decided early on that our children would always be in the same room or nearby. We too have wireless but have stuck to desktop machines for now. Even when laptops are introduced to our home they will not be allowed out of the common areas. It is not so much a safety issue with us right now because of the age of our children but simply because we enjoy them being around. I am sure that eventually I will want to “watch over them” (not that we don’t now but they do not stray to much from their on line games, T4L, simple game sites and research right now) and what they are doing but by that time (when they are teenagers? getting more into areas that we are not comfortable with) they will be so used to us being able to see and hear what they are doing that I don’t know that will be an issue. We shall wait and see.
I like that the four of us each have our own areas but also are together in whatever we are doing.
I like your idea of parenting in an electronic age and hope to see that move forward. I am not sure what I can add to it, I have never been a parent with out electronics. I know it is aging me but we had a 3 channel B&W until I was in HS and got our first VCR when I was a junior. Although I look back at those times fondly for myself, it is not the way of the world and I am glad that my kids have had their fingers on a keyboard since before they could walk.
One last comment about this is about the tv. Although the kids do watch on their own, they are close by. They enjoy mostly discovery, the weather channel and a few select cartoons. Prior to all four of us getting computers we were a TV family… I hated it being on but was just as guilty of abusing it as my children were. I have forgotten to pay the bill on occasion and because some days it never gets turned on for any reason it has gone unnoticed. Collectively we spend so little time with a TV on and also enjoy “family” times watching and discussing some of the same shows. I am happy that my kids are now growing up without the need for TV. I don’t necessarily trash people that always have it on but am glad for the music that is always playing in the background of our home so much more now.
Terie
October 1, 2007 | 1:54 pm3
This string of comments is very interesting because there are many people who think that home schoolers never even touch video games (not me by the way).
Let’s see, over the years we have acquired a Super Nintendo which isn’t working anymore, another Nintendo type game which is rarely used, a Gamecube..again never used and finally my 16 year old bought a Wii with his own money and that is only played on weekends when the kids are done their chores and ready for some downtime–it was great when it was too hot outside. My 13 yo daughter has a handheld which is really only used on long trips and my 5 yo has a V-Smile..again great on car trips. OK..that’s it for video games. Aside from the computers of which we have the family PC, my son has this cute imac laptop which we all use and one more PC in my son’s room. I don’t worry about the privacy/security issue because he rarely uses that one, it’s mostly used by Natalie to play games or go on T4L when I’m upstairs doing chores.
I think kids today learn with more hands-on activities because of technology. However, because of technology, my kids don’t really know how to go to the library to research a topic. Pretty amazing I think because I knew no other way. I think its great, however, technology really helps us teach our kids in a more efficient way. My 13yo, Emily, is very inquisitive and I think it’s so great to say “let’s look it up online” and voila! we have the answers were looking for.
Kids learn in everything they do, as long as we help them make the right choices, of course. Cooking with my kids, helping dad make Windsor chairs, and yes, even watching certain TV shows, etc. I guess my point is, just like in nutrition and fitness, everything in moderation goes a long way.
Terie
john
September 30, 2007 | 3:50 pm4
LEARNING DIFFERENTLY…. My article quoted Marc Prensky who argues that the rapid pace of TV & films & advertisements in the last decade (news with scrolls, rapid changing of images etc) coupled with the impact of using the computer has produced kids with minds that are just wired differently than of previous generations. This premise came argues that these kids are more than just fluent with the new technology, they have become “wired” for it. He also pushes the “Engage me or Enrage me” concept which is that todays kids would benefit from a more enlightened stimulating and interactive type of education than the old-style that is still dominant. And it argues that most students today find the old-style teaching to be not just boring but insulting.
I agree that the technology has opened up all sorts of new ways to teach and learn which I think we have just begun to explore.
john
September 30, 2007 | 3:41 pm5
Hi Tracy. Wow, I’m not sure where to start.
TECHNOLOGY AT HOME. I struggle like most parents with how best to integrate technology into our lives.
In terms of consoles, we have a few. I try to only buy games that are multiplayer games and I tend towards the cartoony (rather than the realistic or violent). My family might have set the record for number of hours spent playing bomberman (which is only fun when played in groups) but we are big on Nintendo Party and Super Smash Bros. Ok, we’re a little retro…
Computers. We have alot of computers. I think I goofed when I set up a wireless network since the kids tend to gravitate into their own rooms (we have portables mostly). I’m thinking of disabling the wireless router and providing the net only in a family room both for community and safety reasons.
Portable electronics. I find the portable game machines and the Ipods and iphones are disasterous for family time. I won’t allow headsets or electronics when we’re together and I consider it to be family time. I love it when we all listen to the same book-on-tape but with the wide spread of children’s ages, this is rarer than I’d like. I’m more than a little nutty about this but I don’t get to spend enough time with the kids so I treasure it.
We mostly use the TV for rented videos (netflix) which we watch in groups. The kids never sit around and watch TV on their own.
At some point, I want to put together a community which focuses on these questions. In fact, I started once putting together: http://www.parenting-in-an-electronic-age.com but didn’t get real far.