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Originally Posted by costa200  I totally get that. The thing is, what if they decide that happiness is being a medical doctor and their grades aren't high enough to get in? Do you see where i'm coming from? A kid with good school results can chose to become a street bum if he wants to. A kid with not so good grades can't become a doctor just because he decides to because it will be next to impossible. |
I guess that I figure if someone who failed at school wants to become a doctor, there's no reason they couldn't. It would just take a lot more time and effort for them than for a kid who got good grades. I would far rather have a doctor who had to really earn their MD than one who was conditioned to get good grades from the time they were 4. IMO good grades do not = being a good doctor.
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Originally Posted by costa200 Have you read on the Montessori education method? It's very similar to what you did with your daughter. The results are mixed. Some kids excel at that environment but others are utter failures. It seems that the results are more extreme. Great students came out of it but also total zeros.
It's one of my favorite case studies. It shows something i've known since my school days. For a good student there is no need for formal classes. But many students would amount to nothing after years in that situation.
Lucky for you your daughter started studying. What would you have done if she hadn't? |
I've heard bits and pieces about Montessori but am not really familiar with the method.
I really think that many students have just given up and that, if they were allowed to pursue their own education from an early age, they'd be far better at it than they are after attending school. Formal schooling is a product of the industrial age born of the necessity of educating the masses, and I don't think that the focus is always on the best education for each child, but rather on pumpin' 'em out in a lot of cases. Some kids are lucky enough to get a certain teacher that they click with, or be the type of learner that learns despite the system, but I really think alternatives are better for a lot of kids.
If my daughter hadn't started learning? I really don't know what I'd have done. I never really considered that possibility. I kinda knew she WOULD I guess. I probably wouldn't have done anything though. I myself quit school in grade 11 and was out for 5 years to party and live it up, until at 21 I decided I wanted to get an education, and went back to high school as a mature adult, did correspondence, got my high school (won scholarships too) and then went on to get a BSc from university. 100% on my own. I could have been a doctor, too. So I would have probably figured that she would do something similar when she was ready.
I also don't think a lot of kids are ready for university at age 17-18 - I fully support those who want to take a break and not just plunge right into it after high school. Those 5 years were a huge part of making me who I am today.
