Do you know what a Narwhal is? I never did until my little son had me read a book to him about whales. They are a whale species with a horn on their head, a sort of unicorn whale! I had never heard of them in the first 50 years of my life. And yet, my son grew up knowing about their existence.
I was at the gym a few weeks ago and a guy changed the channel to Jeopardy. Not really gym material but I just did had a few more sets and out I would go. The question that came up was about ancient Babylonia. Something about a law maker. I knew the answer was Hammurabi. How did I know? Because I helped my son write a paper about him! I had never heard that name before. And this is the guy that started the legal system we use today, Hammurabi’s Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history!
There is a wonderful fiction book called Bud, Not Buddy. All the 6th graders are reading it! What a great book! And yet another piece of literature that I never knew existed.
And Ringo Starr! Did you know he and George Carlin, the racy comedian, were both narrators for various Thomas the Tank Engine DVD’s! I would never have known if I did not have a son!
It all started in 1st or 2nd grade when the Math lessons my son was receiving were beyond my ken. I knew I could not help him, I knew that if I taught him to solve math problems the way I was taught to solve math problems, he would fail the class. The curriculum is such that they think they can teach the kids the concept of 10’s, 100’2, etc.. and math will be clearer. I thought they might be wrong, and I was right. This did not help my son who ended up having to learn how to stack to solve math equations. Our school system is flawed, bit I learned my lesson, I have to let it go!
And just the other day he had to get the area of a trapezoid! He went on the computer to find out how. And then we both argued with him that it was wrong! So I had to listen to the tutorial on the Internet.
The bottom line, I have to trust my son is learning, and knows what he is doing. We can occasionally assist, but for the most part he doesn’t want our help, especially because we do not have a good track record of being correct!
I am with you in thinking the math system has flaws but as parents and grandparents we have to try to learn their way.
This is a really nice and very true post, but what struck me funny is that I just taught my 3 yr old what a narwhal is. She has this book called “Baby Beluga” and it’s got a narwhal in it
I did not know these things either. I never considered myself stupid but this makes me question myself. I really agree with you about our school system. It leaves alot to be desired. Thank you for sharing