England UK

"Cynic" <cynic_999@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:907ro116ug0a2ij0p5up4gie4ojf91ldlh@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:45:50 -0000, "Billy H"
> <nospam.nanteshoward@nanteshoward.f9.co.uk.nospam> wrote:
>
>>> The disadvantages of home-schooled children missing out on social
>>> interaction is overblown. Most children have only a small number of
>>> their peers with whom they socialise, and such friends can be made
>>> outside a school environment.
>
>>I disagree with this point. The social interaction of classrooms, school
>>playgrounds and any social events the school, nursery, infant or primary
>>organise encourage an early development of relationships and experiences
>>the
>>children can carry for their entire lives. I remember some of my early
>>school days (some more clearly than later school days) and these memories
>>were written before I developed an 'attitude', now I can draw on them...
>
> School is only *one* place where such interaction takes place - and it
> is not always the most desirable type of interaction either. Sure, a
> parent doing home education has to also ensure that the child is
> exposed to social environments. This can be in the form of sports
> clubs or youth groups. Once the child has formed some friendships
> with children who live nearby the social interaction will continue
> naturally outside the formal environment.

I wouldn't disagree but I would say there is an arguement which could be had
with parties discussing the pros and cons of school versuses home centred
early development.

One thing I would say is be careful who the children do become associated
with because the people they spend time with can (and probably shall)
influence how 'easy' and 'well' the children get along in later life.
Friends can make life easy or hard for a person... (as can family).


>
>>A further point is I remember reading somewhere how if a child is not
>>introduced to a concept before an early age (4 years old if I recall
>>correctly) the child will not develop a mind receptive to the concept in
>>later life. This does not say a lot for schools at the age I refer to but
>>the learning process PDR is reinforced when the kids get into schools.
>>hmm,
>>maybe I'm off track.
>
> You are possibly getting confused between two different things. There
> are *very* few things that *cannot* be aquired after a certain cutoff
> stage, and those are anyway things that are almost always acquired in
> the home environment before the child starts school. Many other
> skills are easier to aquire earlier rather than later, but can still
> be learnt by adults (e.g. learning to play the piano). They are also
> generally things that are not part of the normal school curriculum.
>
> There are however concepts that cannot be aquired before a certain
> stage of development has been reached (but can be acquired at any time
> thereafter). This can have an effect in the opposite sense to what
> you are saying. A parent who is keen for the child to advance may try
> to teach concepts before the child is capable of aquiring them. That
> can lead to frustration all round and have a very pronounced negative
> effect on the child. Try explaining to the average 5 year old that a
> pint of water in a glass is the same quantity as a pint of water in a
> large bowl and you will be met with total bewilderment - the concept
> of spatial volume is simply something that the child's brain is not
> yet able to comprehend in any form whatsoever. Very young children
> are unable to tell lies. This is nothing to do with any moral sense,
> but is a consequence of the inability of the child to understand that
> one person can have knowlege of events that other people do not also
> know about. The young child assumes that everything that s/he has
> seen or heard is known by everyone s/he meets - so telling a lie would
> be pointless. Which is not to say that everything a child says is
> true - at that age many experiences are misinterpreted, and a child
> can easily be convinced that something has happened that really has
> not.

That last point I was making was something I was tyring to recall having
heard it a long time ago. I could have it wrong. I take on board what you're
saying and it makes sense, it's quite difficult to reason otherwise.


>
> --
> Cynic
>
>
>