What a great country we live in! How wonderful it is to be free! We talk a lot about the blessing of freedom in this country, especially around this time of year, and sometimes about the idea that freedom isn't free- it is bought with a price. People before us paid the price so that we can be a free nation, for which I am grateful.
We can take our freedom and we can sell it or give it away. We can sell it to Visa in exchange for stuff. The borrow is slave to the lender. We don't think of that when we swipe that credit card- "I am selling my freedom for a new washing machine, a dinner out, a vacation, etc" but that is exactly what we are doing. Or we can save our money for a bit, then pay cash for whatever it is that we want. If we have that cash, we have the freedom to do what we want with it instead of being slaves to credit card companies, car payments, unaffordable mortgages, etc. If we have an emergency fund, even a small one, we can avoid going into debt for a new transmission, a new furnace, or other things that come up that are hard to anticipate, and thus avoid giving away our freedom. If we as Americans truly value our freedom, we will not sell it or give it away by entering into unnecessary debt (which almost all debt is).
Speaking of money, we have the freedom to spend our money as we choose. We have an almost unlimited variety of products available to us to purchase. We see it in neat packages sitting on store shelves, with little clue as to where it comes from and what the production of it is doing to the earth, animals, and other people. With the freedom that we have to spend as we see fit, we have the responsibility to inform ourselves of what we are buying. As they say, every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of world we want. We as Americans have a lot of votes, since we have a lot of dollars compared to most of the world's population. Anyone who is reading this has a lot of votes, because if you have the internet, you have more money than most people. (Compare your income to the world here: http://www.globalrichlist.com/ Suffice it to say you are richer than you think!) Let's make our votes count. Let's know what we are voting for. Let's vote for the kind of world we really do want to see, not just buy what is convenient or appealing for whatever reason. That's like picking a politician by whether you like the way they look. We can go deeper than that. Let's make good use of our freedom to vote for products that benefit others and the planet.
We have these amazing bodies, hundreds of different parts working together in perfect harmony (or almost perfect harmony) to make us able to do so many things. And we have the freedom to do what we want with our bodies. In this country (and most other developed countries, now) we have the ability to give our bodies so many different kinds of fuel. We can have fresh vegetables any time of year. We have access to clean water, whole grains, and other healthy foods. We also have access to all kinds of junk food. We are free to choose. How well are we using that freedom?
We have the freedom of spending our time how we wish. Most of us require some of that time be spent making money to live on (moreso if we have sold our freedom to Visa ;) ) But what are we doing with the rest of it? Are we using it to bless others, or are we using it mostly to try to entertain ourselves? Some time for recreation is important, but we also need to be using our time for other good causes. Just as every dollar we spend is a vote, every minute we spend is also a vote. What do you really want out of life?
Freedom may be America's biggest blessing, but is also our hardest test. We have an imporant responsibility to use our freedom for the greater good of ourselves, our families, our communites, and the world.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
hands off the thermostat! Ten Alternatives to turning on the a/c
After a cold, wet Spring in my part of the country, we are now finally having summer. The warm weather is a welcome change, but all too soon, we start getting uncomfortably hot and wanting to turn on the a/c to cool down. I'm not someone who NEVER uses a/c (I'm glad it's there when I need it), but I think it can be too easy to turn on the a/c before trying a few other things. So here is my list of ten things to do when you'd like to turn on the a/c.
1. Accept that it's summer, and that in the summer, you can expect to feel hot some of the time.
2. Dress for it- long rayon skirts with comfy, 100% cotton t-shirts are my go-to outfit for a hot day. Wearing something long can be better than short shorts because it keeps your legs from sticking to chairs, etc. Babies and toddlers can get away with running around in just underwear or a diaper in the house. Avoid thick fabrics and synthetic fabrics, which don't breathe as well.
3. Run a cool, wet washcloth over your face and across the back of your neck. It will cool you down for a few minutes.
4. Drink cool fluids. Water is very refreshing with a little lemon juice and some sweetener if you like. Popsicles are great for helping you stay cool, too. We love to make our own popsicles out of juice, homemade pudding, etc.
5. It's so easy to focus on keeping the house cool- instead remember you only have to keep people cool. Unless someone has to be up there in the middle of the day, the upstairs doesn't have to be cool. Hang out in cooler places, like the basement if you have one. If there's nothing to do down there, do some decluttering. If you have a baby who needs to nap, consider having them nap in the basement if the upstairs is too hot.
6. Let someone else pay for your a/c- if you have an errand to run or a place to go that will be air-conditioned, go there in the hottest part of the day. Libraries and stores are great for this (be careful not to offset your a/c cost savings with purchases, and it goes without saying that going to a full-price movie [not dollar theater] will cost more than running the a/c would have :) ).
7. Get wet- go swimming, run through a sprinkler, take a cool shower, or just get your shirt wet and put it back on. Washing the car with the kids is a great hot-weather activity.
8. Use fans effectively. Run your ceiling fan so air flows down (this is generally counterclockwise). Put a box fan in a window when air outside is cooler than air inside (for example to cool down the house in the evening). You can even run your HVAC system's fan without turning on the air conditioning. Doing this constantly will use a lot of energy, but running it for just ten minutes or so can bring some cool air into your upper floor(s).
9. Avoid cooking. Eat copious amounts of watermelon. If it gets cool in the evening, do some cooking then so you only have to warm food up at meal time. If you need to cook during the day, try to use a crockpot (you can even put it outside to avoid any heat generation).
10. Go outside (in the shade). For some reason higher temperatures seem much more tolerable outside than inside, and shade makes a huge difference!
There are my ten best tips to reduce use of air conditioning. I know it's unrealistic to expect that everyone can avoid using a/c all the time, but hopefully these tips can save you some money and help save the earth at the same time.
1. Accept that it's summer, and that in the summer, you can expect to feel hot some of the time.
2. Dress for it- long rayon skirts with comfy, 100% cotton t-shirts are my go-to outfit for a hot day. Wearing something long can be better than short shorts because it keeps your legs from sticking to chairs, etc. Babies and toddlers can get away with running around in just underwear or a diaper in the house. Avoid thick fabrics and synthetic fabrics, which don't breathe as well.
3. Run a cool, wet washcloth over your face and across the back of your neck. It will cool you down for a few minutes.
4. Drink cool fluids. Water is very refreshing with a little lemon juice and some sweetener if you like. Popsicles are great for helping you stay cool, too. We love to make our own popsicles out of juice, homemade pudding, etc.
5. It's so easy to focus on keeping the house cool- instead remember you only have to keep people cool. Unless someone has to be up there in the middle of the day, the upstairs doesn't have to be cool. Hang out in cooler places, like the basement if you have one. If there's nothing to do down there, do some decluttering. If you have a baby who needs to nap, consider having them nap in the basement if the upstairs is too hot.
6. Let someone else pay for your a/c- if you have an errand to run or a place to go that will be air-conditioned, go there in the hottest part of the day. Libraries and stores are great for this (be careful not to offset your a/c cost savings with purchases, and it goes without saying that going to a full-price movie [not dollar theater] will cost more than running the a/c would have :) ).
7. Get wet- go swimming, run through a sprinkler, take a cool shower, or just get your shirt wet and put it back on. Washing the car with the kids is a great hot-weather activity.
8. Use fans effectively. Run your ceiling fan so air flows down (this is generally counterclockwise). Put a box fan in a window when air outside is cooler than air inside (for example to cool down the house in the evening). You can even run your HVAC system's fan without turning on the air conditioning. Doing this constantly will use a lot of energy, but running it for just ten minutes or so can bring some cool air into your upper floor(s).
9. Avoid cooking. Eat copious amounts of watermelon. If it gets cool in the evening, do some cooking then so you only have to warm food up at meal time. If you need to cook during the day, try to use a crockpot (you can even put it outside to avoid any heat generation).
10. Go outside (in the shade). For some reason higher temperatures seem much more tolerable outside than inside, and shade makes a huge difference!
There are my ten best tips to reduce use of air conditioning. I know it's unrealistic to expect that everyone can avoid using a/c all the time, but hopefully these tips can save you some money and help save the earth at the same time.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Scientist's assistant
I wrote this almost two years ago and am just adding it now.
I have landed a great volunteer position assisting a local scientist with some geology experiments. I don't have any particular qualifications for the job other than time and willingness. I suppose being related to this scientist helped land me the position. My job as his assistant involves many things.
First I find suitable locations for performing experiments. This means I get to find appropriate outdoor places we can go on warm, sunny days (though rainy or cold days will work in a pinch). I get to spend time outside, feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. The hours are flexible and can be changed to suit my schedule.
My second duty is to find suitable specimens for his scientific study. As it is geology, this means I look for rocks. He is currently working with many different types of rocks, mostly igneous as these are the easiest specimens to obtain in the locations in which we work. While he is performing his experiments, I am nearby, looking for more rocks.
The experiment he performs looks quite simple, but there is a lot to it. Rocks are propelled into the river- some larger rocks, some smaller rocks, flat rocks and round rocks, brown rocks and grey rocks and pink rocks. For scientific data to be considered reliable, experiments have to be repeated many, many times. Each rock can only be used once as retrieving the rock for a second go-around is generally not possible. Thus I need to find many, many rocks for experiments. This isn't too hard. We simply go to places with a lot of rocks.
One of my jobs as the assistant is to keep the scientist with whom I work safe. He gets so engrossed in the experiments he does that potential dangers are not always spotted. It is my job to keep a sharp lookout for dangers so that the scientist can concentrate on his work. Life experience, physical strength, attention to detail, and knowledge of the outdoors are all essential qualifications for my work.
Albert Einstein has been described like this: "He was also the stereotypical "absent-minded professor"; he was often forgetful of everyday items, such as keys, and would focus so intently on solving physics problems that he would often become oblivious to his surroundings. " The scientist for whom I work is quite similar in his personality. Thus I become responsible for some parts of daily life that he might otherwise take charge of himself. For example I have to remind him to eat and make sure that he wears sunscreen when he is involved in his experiments. I help him wash any mud off his hands when he is done and take him to the bathroom when he needs to go. I buckle him in his car seat when we need to drive anywhere.
Many of the places we go are rapidly-flowing rivers. I see a lot of scientists who have trouble finding assistants because there is some danger involved in the work. “Stay away from the river!” the assistants will say. It is not terribly dangerous, but many of the assistants do not seem to trust the scientists in the work that they do. The rivers and the experiments do look dangerous from a distance, but once we get up close, it does not feel dangerous.
I am greatly enjoying my volunteer work in the field of geology. Of course I love the outdoors and the opportunity to be in the sunshine and enjoy varied natural places. I do not know what the findings of this research may be (nor am I fully aware of even what the hypothesis is or question(s) this research seeks to answer) however I am certain that the process of experimentation is at least as important as the findings and that the work I am doing as assistant to a great scientist will be of great importance in the future.
Yes, to my two-year-old son, throwing rocks in the river makes for a very important scientific experiment! I am only glad to be able to help him in his work.
I have landed a great volunteer position assisting a local scientist with some geology experiments. I don't have any particular qualifications for the job other than time and willingness. I suppose being related to this scientist helped land me the position. My job as his assistant involves many things.
First I find suitable locations for performing experiments. This means I get to find appropriate outdoor places we can go on warm, sunny days (though rainy or cold days will work in a pinch). I get to spend time outside, feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. The hours are flexible and can be changed to suit my schedule.
My second duty is to find suitable specimens for his scientific study. As it is geology, this means I look for rocks. He is currently working with many different types of rocks, mostly igneous as these are the easiest specimens to obtain in the locations in which we work. While he is performing his experiments, I am nearby, looking for more rocks.
The experiment he performs looks quite simple, but there is a lot to it. Rocks are propelled into the river- some larger rocks, some smaller rocks, flat rocks and round rocks, brown rocks and grey rocks and pink rocks. For scientific data to be considered reliable, experiments have to be repeated many, many times. Each rock can only be used once as retrieving the rock for a second go-around is generally not possible. Thus I need to find many, many rocks for experiments. This isn't too hard. We simply go to places with a lot of rocks.
One of my jobs as the assistant is to keep the scientist with whom I work safe. He gets so engrossed in the experiments he does that potential dangers are not always spotted. It is my job to keep a sharp lookout for dangers so that the scientist can concentrate on his work. Life experience, physical strength, attention to detail, and knowledge of the outdoors are all essential qualifications for my work.
Albert Einstein has been described like this: "He was also the stereotypical "absent-minded professor"; he was often forgetful of everyday items, such as keys, and would focus so intently on solving physics problems that he would often become oblivious to his surroundings. " The scientist for whom I work is quite similar in his personality. Thus I become responsible for some parts of daily life that he might otherwise take charge of himself. For example I have to remind him to eat and make sure that he wears sunscreen when he is involved in his experiments. I help him wash any mud off his hands when he is done and take him to the bathroom when he needs to go. I buckle him in his car seat when we need to drive anywhere.
Many of the places we go are rapidly-flowing rivers. I see a lot of scientists who have trouble finding assistants because there is some danger involved in the work. “Stay away from the river!” the assistants will say. It is not terribly dangerous, but many of the assistants do not seem to trust the scientists in the work that they do. The rivers and the experiments do look dangerous from a distance, but once we get up close, it does not feel dangerous.
I am greatly enjoying my volunteer work in the field of geology. Of course I love the outdoors and the opportunity to be in the sunshine and enjoy varied natural places. I do not know what the findings of this research may be (nor am I fully aware of even what the hypothesis is or question(s) this research seeks to answer) however I am certain that the process of experimentation is at least as important as the findings and that the work I am doing as assistant to a great scientist will be of great importance in the future.
Yes, to my two-year-old son, throwing rocks in the river makes for a very important scientific experiment! I am only glad to be able to help him in his work.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The sock who doesn't want to go to church
"No go church!" This has become a common statement on Sunday mornings around here. I really can't say that I blame him. He has to get dressed up and go sit and be quiet and he knows it. Going to church is not optional around here, but I would like to make it as pleasant as possible.
Yesterday I invented a game. This wasn't a game to make my son want to go to church or to trick him into going to church, but rather to help him know that he is understood. I was trying to help him get his socks on for church and he didn't want to put them on. He said "no go church!" So I put the socks on my hands instead and had them talk to each other. The first sock said "It's time to go to church." The second sock said "No go church!" They went back and forth for awhile having a conversation that was typical of me and my son. He thought it was hilarious! For some reason when this was over my son was willing to get his socks on and go to church. I think if I had played this game with the intent to trick him into going to church it would not have worked. It was just a bit of comic relief, I suppose, from an otherwise tense time, and I hope it helped him feel understood.
Now he randomly brings me socks and says "No go church!" He wants me to put on the mini puppet show again and I gladly oblige. The sock who wants to go to church and the sock who doesn't want to go to church both go to church together on the feet of my son, who doesn't want to go to church.
Yesterday I invented a game. This wasn't a game to make my son want to go to church or to trick him into going to church, but rather to help him know that he is understood. I was trying to help him get his socks on for church and he didn't want to put them on. He said "no go church!" So I put the socks on my hands instead and had them talk to each other. The first sock said "It's time to go to church." The second sock said "No go church!" They went back and forth for awhile having a conversation that was typical of me and my son. He thought it was hilarious! For some reason when this was over my son was willing to get his socks on and go to church. I think if I had played this game with the intent to trick him into going to church it would not have worked. It was just a bit of comic relief, I suppose, from an otherwise tense time, and I hope it helped him feel understood.
Now he randomly brings me socks and says "No go church!" He wants me to put on the mini puppet show again and I gladly oblige. The sock who wants to go to church and the sock who doesn't want to go to church both go to church together on the feet of my son, who doesn't want to go to church.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A stupid homeschooling article
I wrote this a long time ago and am just posting it now:
This article bothered me.
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/homeschool4you.htm
The problem I have is that it acts like public school is the default, but you CHOOSE to home school (and at great personal sacrifice). So I made up my own. This is just supposed to be funny- please don't take it too seriously or get upset at me for criticizing schools. Here is my parody of the article at the above link:
Making the decision to send your kids to public school is usually very difficult and not one to be taken lightly. It is a personal decision that I can't make for you, but maybe I can help in the thought process. When making the decision, consider these things:
Time commitment - Public schooling tends to dictate your whole day. It is more than just pick-up and drop off times. Once you pick your kids up, get them a snack, help them with homework, and have dinner your whole day is pretty much shot. Making cinnamon rolls in your pajamas in the morning is limited to a few select days that the school allows you with your child. You cannot go to the zoo, museum, etc, at times when it is not crowded. School dictates wake-up times (no letting kids go by their own schedule) and bed times (so you can get up early for school). And it's not just a commitment of your time. A child who goes to public school from kindergarten through twelfth grade will spend roughly 14,000 hours of his or her childhood in school, not even counting transportation to and from school or any after-school activities. This is a big commitment, and up to you as a parent to decide if this is time well-spent.
Personal sacrifice - The public school mom gets little time with her kids. You don't get to watch them figure out how to do fractions or learn to read for the first time. You don't get the joy of reading a hundred pages of a book together, snuggled on the couch on a rainy afternoon.
Financial strain - Public school is supposed to be free, however a parent will usually need to be around for random days off school and summers, in addition to snow days, sick days, etc. If you are used to two incomes, this may be difficult. Or there is after school care, which is expensive. Also there are camps, sport participation, supplies, and science projects that all cost money, yet you do not get to dictate how that money is spent, so you may not feel that the use of that money is of particular benefit to your child. Additionally, kids at public school may feel pressure to wear certain brands of clothing that are quite expensive. Of course you can always refuse to buy them, but this may cause tension in your relationship with your child or in their relationships with their classmates.
Socialization - You will no longer have any choice about who your children socialize with. They will come home with bad words, bad jokes, inappropriate stories, and knowing the plot of TV shows you don't let them watch (and don't imagine why any parent would). Most of their socialization time will occur largely unsupervised, as one teacher cannot supervise 30 kids at recess very well. So if a child is having trouble sharing or is bullying another, there will not be an adult readily available to help. With all that time away from home, sibling relationships and relationships with parents may suffer. Much of the time your children spend in school they will not be socializing at all, but sitting in class and, if they are allowed to talk at all, they must only say certain things about certain subjects.
Household organization - Kids who go to public school are not as respectful to their parents and may be very resistant to chores. Also you won't be able to make cleaning up as much of a family project, and won't get as much of a chance to teach your kids how to clean and organize.
Both parents in agreement - It is important that both parents agree to send kids to school. It is very difficult if one parent is against it and constantly worried about what the child is learning at school, both as a part of the curriculum and the extraneous lessons in how to treat people.
Is your child willing? - A willing student is always helpful. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against going to school, you might have a hard time of it.
One year at a time - It isn't a lifetime commitment - most families take one year at a time.
Intimidated by helping kids with homework? Since you didn't pick the curriculum, you may not know much about, say, the life cycle of the fruit fly. The curriculum is completely out of your hands, so you get no say in what your kids learn. Be sure to talk to the teacher if you don't like what your kids are learning, though it may be futile as curriculum requirements are generally not made on a local level.
Are you willing to make the personal and family sacrifices that public schooling requires? If so, give it a year and see how it goes.
This article bothered me.
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/homeschool4you.htm
The problem I have is that it acts like public school is the default, but you CHOOSE to home school (and at great personal sacrifice). So I made up my own. This is just supposed to be funny- please don't take it too seriously or get upset at me for criticizing schools. Here is my parody of the article at the above link:
Making the decision to send your kids to public school is usually very difficult and not one to be taken lightly. It is a personal decision that I can't make for you, but maybe I can help in the thought process. When making the decision, consider these things:
Time commitment - Public schooling tends to dictate your whole day. It is more than just pick-up and drop off times. Once you pick your kids up, get them a snack, help them with homework, and have dinner your whole day is pretty much shot. Making cinnamon rolls in your pajamas in the morning is limited to a few select days that the school allows you with your child. You cannot go to the zoo, museum, etc, at times when it is not crowded. School dictates wake-up times (no letting kids go by their own schedule) and bed times (so you can get up early for school). And it's not just a commitment of your time. A child who goes to public school from kindergarten through twelfth grade will spend roughly 14,000 hours of his or her childhood in school, not even counting transportation to and from school or any after-school activities. This is a big commitment, and up to you as a parent to decide if this is time well-spent.
Personal sacrifice - The public school mom gets little time with her kids. You don't get to watch them figure out how to do fractions or learn to read for the first time. You don't get the joy of reading a hundred pages of a book together, snuggled on the couch on a rainy afternoon.
Financial strain - Public school is supposed to be free, however a parent will usually need to be around for random days off school and summers, in addition to snow days, sick days, etc. If you are used to two incomes, this may be difficult. Or there is after school care, which is expensive. Also there are camps, sport participation, supplies, and science projects that all cost money, yet you do not get to dictate how that money is spent, so you may not feel that the use of that money is of particular benefit to your child. Additionally, kids at public school may feel pressure to wear certain brands of clothing that are quite expensive. Of course you can always refuse to buy them, but this may cause tension in your relationship with your child or in their relationships with their classmates.
Socialization - You will no longer have any choice about who your children socialize with. They will come home with bad words, bad jokes, inappropriate stories, and knowing the plot of TV shows you don't let them watch (and don't imagine why any parent would). Most of their socialization time will occur largely unsupervised, as one teacher cannot supervise 30 kids at recess very well. So if a child is having trouble sharing or is bullying another, there will not be an adult readily available to help. With all that time away from home, sibling relationships and relationships with parents may suffer. Much of the time your children spend in school they will not be socializing at all, but sitting in class and, if they are allowed to talk at all, they must only say certain things about certain subjects.
Household organization - Kids who go to public school are not as respectful to their parents and may be very resistant to chores. Also you won't be able to make cleaning up as much of a family project, and won't get as much of a chance to teach your kids how to clean and organize.
Both parents in agreement - It is important that both parents agree to send kids to school. It is very difficult if one parent is against it and constantly worried about what the child is learning at school, both as a part of the curriculum and the extraneous lessons in how to treat people.
Is your child willing? - A willing student is always helpful. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against going to school, you might have a hard time of it.
One year at a time - It isn't a lifetime commitment - most families take one year at a time.
Intimidated by helping kids with homework? Since you didn't pick the curriculum, you may not know much about, say, the life cycle of the fruit fly. The curriculum is completely out of your hands, so you get no say in what your kids learn. Be sure to talk to the teacher if you don't like what your kids are learning, though it may be futile as curriculum requirements are generally not made on a local level.
Are you willing to make the personal and family sacrifices that public schooling requires? If so, give it a year and see how it goes.
The short attention span myth
Dave Ramsey says if you spread a lie loud enough, long enough, and often enough, eventually it becomes accepted as truth. I was going to call this post the short attention span lie, but that sounded a bit harsh and I don't think it's actually intended that way, so we'll stick with myth.
I hear all the time that children have short attention spans. I can't be the first person who has figured out that this is completely false. In fact, I as the parent am the one with the short attention span. I am the one who is ready to leave the park first, who gets tired of feeding grass to horses after 30 stalks or so, who doesn't want to read the dinosaur book "one more time". I have to make myself wait patiently for an hour while my son sits inside the cab of a currently unused excavator or wait by the river while my kids throw 217 rocks in, one at a time, for forty-five minutes. And the next time we go out they want to do it again. There is nothing short about my kids' attention span.
What children seem to lack is the ability to be extrinsically motivated to pay attention for an extended period of time to something that is not inherently interesting. That is, most kids I know will engage in an activity that a trusted adult suggests or chooses for a period of time to see what it is like. If it does not capture their attention, if it is not exciting to them, they will not be motivated to "sit still" and "pay attention" to please an adult, to avoid calling attention to themselves, or even for the hope of reward or the fear of punishment.
As a child my husband escaped the diagnosis of A.D.D. because he was able to pay attention to things that were intereresting to him. He found school boring, but this is not a disorder. It is a sign of a mind at work.
Kids pay attention to what is interesting to them. They are capable of sitting still for long periods of time to watch a caterpillar crawl on a leaf but not to listen to an adult talk about caterpillars. Their brains must be made this way for a reason. What is interesting to children helps them learn the best. The period of childhood is so short and so important for learning that kids are hard-wired to engage in activities that help them learn best, which are activities of their own choosing and that they can control. They are also likely to be activities that are real. The younger the child, the more real the activities need to be.
I am not sure why someone decided to say that kids have short attention span or why so many others choose to believe it. It seems to me to have something to do with the kinds of developmentally-inappropriate learning that is expected in almost all schools. In schools children are separated from the real world and expected to learn through models and symbols, which are generally not as educational or as interesting as the real thing. They are also expected to learn the same things at the same time as not only the children in their class, but increasingly in a time of standardized curriculum, children all across the country. If a child or group of children becomes interested in oceans and fish, but that is not in the curriculum for that grade, the teacher cannot teach it. Instead the children must wait until it is in the curriculum and then they have to learn it, whether they are interested in learning it anymore or not. It is the trial period during which a child is willing to engage in an activity in order to find out if it is interesting that is short, not the attention span itself.
So instead of saying that children have short attention spans, I believe it is more accurate to say that people (not just children) have trouble paying attention to things that they do not find interesting. As we get older we find ways to force ourselves to pay attention and extrinsic motivation becomes more meaningful (if you do not pay attention to what is said in a work meeting about some policy changes, you risk doing it wrong and possibly losing your job). Being able to force ourselves to pay attention to something that is not inherently interesting is a great skill to have, and one that children will develop in time. But while they are little, the more they can choose their own activities and the more we let them do, the less we come up against what seems to be a short attention span.
I hear all the time that children have short attention spans. I can't be the first person who has figured out that this is completely false. In fact, I as the parent am the one with the short attention span. I am the one who is ready to leave the park first, who gets tired of feeding grass to horses after 30 stalks or so, who doesn't want to read the dinosaur book "one more time". I have to make myself wait patiently for an hour while my son sits inside the cab of a currently unused excavator or wait by the river while my kids throw 217 rocks in, one at a time, for forty-five minutes. And the next time we go out they want to do it again. There is nothing short about my kids' attention span.
What children seem to lack is the ability to be extrinsically motivated to pay attention for an extended period of time to something that is not inherently interesting. That is, most kids I know will engage in an activity that a trusted adult suggests or chooses for a period of time to see what it is like. If it does not capture their attention, if it is not exciting to them, they will not be motivated to "sit still" and "pay attention" to please an adult, to avoid calling attention to themselves, or even for the hope of reward or the fear of punishment.
As a child my husband escaped the diagnosis of A.D.D. because he was able to pay attention to things that were intereresting to him. He found school boring, but this is not a disorder. It is a sign of a mind at work.
Kids pay attention to what is interesting to them. They are capable of sitting still for long periods of time to watch a caterpillar crawl on a leaf but not to listen to an adult talk about caterpillars. Their brains must be made this way for a reason. What is interesting to children helps them learn the best. The period of childhood is so short and so important for learning that kids are hard-wired to engage in activities that help them learn best, which are activities of their own choosing and that they can control. They are also likely to be activities that are real. The younger the child, the more real the activities need to be.
I am not sure why someone decided to say that kids have short attention span or why so many others choose to believe it. It seems to me to have something to do with the kinds of developmentally-inappropriate learning that is expected in almost all schools. In schools children are separated from the real world and expected to learn through models and symbols, which are generally not as educational or as interesting as the real thing. They are also expected to learn the same things at the same time as not only the children in their class, but increasingly in a time of standardized curriculum, children all across the country. If a child or group of children becomes interested in oceans and fish, but that is not in the curriculum for that grade, the teacher cannot teach it. Instead the children must wait until it is in the curriculum and then they have to learn it, whether they are interested in learning it anymore or not. It is the trial period during which a child is willing to engage in an activity in order to find out if it is interesting that is short, not the attention span itself.
So instead of saying that children have short attention spans, I believe it is more accurate to say that people (not just children) have trouble paying attention to things that they do not find interesting. As we get older we find ways to force ourselves to pay attention and extrinsic motivation becomes more meaningful (if you do not pay attention to what is said in a work meeting about some policy changes, you risk doing it wrong and possibly losing your job). Being able to force ourselves to pay attention to something that is not inherently interesting is a great skill to have, and one that children will develop in time. But while they are little, the more they can choose their own activities and the more we let them do, the less we come up against what seems to be a short attention span.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
A firefighter birthday, or maybe not
How thrilled I was when dd (turning 4) said she wanted to have a firefighter-themed birthday. I thought of all the fun we could have and how we could buck the gender stereotypes all at the same time. She sat on my lap and we looked at firefighter themed birthday party plates , napkins, and decorations on the internet (after I had given a resounding "no" to all of the over-commercialized licensed character party themes we saw). We talked about our plans. I went to nurse ds (almost 1) down to sleep, thinking how proud I was of a daughter who could choose her own interests independent of stereotypes, and she and Papa continued to make plans. When I came back, I was a little disappointed to discover she had changed her mind and was considering ponies or princesses (ugh. again. We did princesses last year).
My daughter is interested in both the stereotypical "boy" things and the stereotypical "girl" things. Mostly things weigh a little more in the princess direction, though I refuse to buy anything commercialized (no Disney princesses, no Barbie, etc, and she knows it. I told her it gives girls the wrong idea about what they should be like). I do buy her frilly, lacy, pink stuff when she wants it and go out of my way to find and make cool stuff that is not commercialized as well as princess stories that have a feminist slant).
As much as I say, though, that I want to encourage her interests, whatever they may be, I get a little excited every time she chooses something that is stereotypically "boy". I guess I think somewhere that when she chooses mostly princesses and frills, that she has been told she should do that because she's a girl, but when she chooses fire engines and trains, she must be choosing her own interests. Even though she's never been to school, doesn't watch television, and most of the other kids she is around a lot are encouraged to follow their own interests, she is picking up on the stereotypes. I just hope she has the strength to follow her own dreams and not let society sway her. If she ultimately chooses more stereotypical "girl" stuff, I hope it will be because she wants to and not because she feels that is what is given to her.
My daughter is interested in both the stereotypical "boy" things and the stereotypical "girl" things. Mostly things weigh a little more in the princess direction, though I refuse to buy anything commercialized (no Disney princesses, no Barbie, etc, and she knows it. I told her it gives girls the wrong idea about what they should be like). I do buy her frilly, lacy, pink stuff when she wants it and go out of my way to find and make cool stuff that is not commercialized as well as princess stories that have a feminist slant).
As much as I say, though, that I want to encourage her interests, whatever they may be, I get a little excited every time she chooses something that is stereotypically "boy". I guess I think somewhere that when she chooses mostly princesses and frills, that she has been told she should do that because she's a girl, but when she chooses fire engines and trains, she must be choosing her own interests. Even though she's never been to school, doesn't watch television, and most of the other kids she is around a lot are encouraged to follow their own interests, she is picking up on the stereotypes. I just hope she has the strength to follow her own dreams and not let society sway her. If she ultimately chooses more stereotypical "girl" stuff, I hope it will be because she wants to and not because she feels that is what is given to her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)