Once, a long time ago (too long ago to find a citation or link for you) I read an article that said lower-income children do worse on standardized tests because those tests use language that the children have not been exposed to. I can’t remember enough of the article to remember if I agreed or disagreed with the whole theory. The only example that sticks out in my mind was that a test that asks “Cup is to Saucer as Hammer is to ______.” If a child has never seen a dainty teacup and saucer set, he/she could never answer this question correctly. Grow up in a household that drinks only from coffee cups and you would get this one wrong, according to the theory.
I thought about this today when I gave the kids each a bar of soap shaped like a Halloween character. Geetle got a ghost soap; Pookie got a Jack-o-lantern. We have taught the kids about hand-washing; they are quite good at dispensing one squirt of foam soap and then washing their hands. We have a liquid soap dispenser by every sink. So, of course, when I gave Pookie the Jack-o-lantern bar of soap and told him to wash his hands, is first response was to push the Pumpkin stem and wait for the soap to squirt out. He waited and then looked up at me, confused. I showed him how to use the bar of soap, but he did not like it, because it did not immediately make bubbles and seemed like alot of work.
We go to great lengths to make sure our kids are exposed to the wide variety offered by life. But it appears that there are some things that we have overlooked. Which makes me wonder, is it possible to expose a kid to everything? I guess that is where movies and books come in. They should fill the gaps.
Have you ever thought about that? I knew my kids would never dial a rotary telephone or use a paper card catalog, but I did not realize they are in danger of never using bar soap or knowing that you *can* make your own bread and pickles. I rarely buy whole chickens, because BAGD can’t eat it and its easier to buy pre-cut chicken breasts in smaller sizes. Do the kids know that you can buy a whole chicken? Have the kids ever seen a mercury thermometer, since we use a digital one? Will they know that it is possible to open a garage door without an electric opener, that’s why the handle is on the front? Will they ever use a road atlas to plot a route, or will they Google Map everything? When we gave Geetle the disposable camera to take pictures of the County Fair, even at age 4 she realized that it would be alot quicker to use the digital (”computer”) camera.
Wow, we have alot of work to do. I think the only real answer to the problem is to do your best to expose your kids to new things BUT also make sure your child reads constantly and watches a wide variety of movies and television shows, for their entire life. No one input source could possibly teach a child all that they should know. Choose the resources wisely, but make sure they are varied.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
They could have seen a whole chicken last Saturday:) Instead of taking three bites out of a leg, Geetle could have done the same to a part of the chicken that Papaw doesn’t like.
As Papaw pointed out, it is alos not your job to expose them to everything. Other people expose them to things as well and the teachers expose them to other things. Sheesh, you’re a good mom, give some of the responsibility of teaching to life in general.
I had a friend in high school, way back in eighties, that had never used a manuel can opener. She had only had electric ones.
Her son, four years old, recently freaked out at Grandma’s because they don’t have Tivo and he thought that he was in trouble when a commercial came on.
I remember going to a neighbor’s house as a kid and being completely blown away that you don’t need a microwave to make hot dogs!…I was like “Uh, where ARE you going with my hotdog…Why are you PUTTING IT IN BOILING WATER!!!” I remember exclaiming that they were going to ruin it!
I hear kids are having trouble learning to tell time too…now that so many clocks are digital. And spell check is ruining college writing…or so my father, a retired professor, has always said.
And we all remember when Alabama, Chicago, and Boston weren’t just cities and state but bands as well…well, that was just a laugh, but you know what I mean.