10-29-2011, 12:28 AM
Billy, I we are all agreed that kids will have the best chance at anything, if they have someone inspirational, or if it is all around. You may have noticed that whenever you hear of some child prodigy having written a symphony at age three, it turns out that Dad was a bit of a composer and maybe other members of the family. I think your circumstances as a child ask a different question: what should, or could, society have done to keep you on track?
I am a believer in learning by heart, but not at the expense of putting kids off for life. As Leanne says, it won't work if the teachers are themselves not interested, or uncomprehending; it just won't. I have the feeling--I don't really know, except from the way some teacher friends talk -- that this is an area of eduction, like maths, where a sense that it is complicated puts kids off almost before they start. The teachers' response seems to be to get the kids to write their own poems -- but never with any hint of structure. That underestimates children, I am certain. An hour a day would be a lot -- unless one expected people to do HOMEWORK!!!!!!
I am a believer in learning by heart, but not at the expense of putting kids off for life. As Leanne says, it won't work if the teachers are themselves not interested, or uncomprehending; it just won't. I have the feeling--I don't really know, except from the way some teacher friends talk -- that this is an area of eduction, like maths, where a sense that it is complicated puts kids off almost before they start. The teachers' response seems to be to get the kids to write their own poems -- but never with any hint of structure. That underestimates children, I am certain. An hour a day would be a lot -- unless one expected people to do HOMEWORK!!!!!!