Comments on: critical thinking http://www.principledmom.com/2007/04/critical-thinking/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:34:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Dana http://www.principledmom.com/2007/04/critical-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-230 Dana Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:00:23 +0000 http://principledmom.homeschooljournal.net/2007/04/27/critical-thinking/#comment-230 It all depends on which facts you highlight. My daughter may or may not be able to do very well on such a thing. But then, she can identify quite a number of birds and tell you about their habitat, breeding, behavior, etc. She understands what is going on around her...why bread rises, why our goldfinches are suddenly brilliant, etc. Gradually we will expand her horizons as she gets older, but we start with what she concretely can observe on a daily basis. The problem is that the list of facts presented on such shows probably are virtually meaningless in the real world. And they can be exchanged with virtually any other list of facts. I'm sure your daughter knows what she needs to know...and if she understands that, she is far ahead of someone who has mastered any given list of facts. If that makes any sense. I'm listening to a program at the same time, so I may be getting a bit muddled. It all depends on which facts you highlight. My daughter may or may not be able to do very well on such a thing. But then, she can identify quite a number of birds and tell you about their habitat, breeding, behavior, etc. She understands what is going on around her…why bread rises, why our goldfinches are suddenly brilliant, etc. Gradually we will expand her horizons as she gets older, but we start with what she concretely can observe on a daily basis.

The problem is that the list of facts presented on such shows probably are virtually meaningless in the real world. And they can be exchanged with virtually any other list of facts. I’m sure your daughter knows what she needs to know…and if she understands that, she is far ahead of someone who has mastered any given list of facts.

If that makes any sense. I’m listening to a program at the same time, so I may be getting a bit muddled.

]]> By: Andrea http://www.principledmom.com/2007/04/critical-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-231 Andrea Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:44:35 +0000 http://principledmom.homeschooljournal.net/2007/04/27/critical-thinking/#comment-231 You know, I saw Jeff give an interview about this, and he was trying to poke fun at the fact he must've learned all this stuff in school but can't remember it now, so what was the point? As a joke it fell flat, but as a statement to the point of public education, I hope it enlightened someone. (We aren't crazy over the show either.) You know, I saw Jeff give an interview about this, and he was trying to poke fun at the fact he must’ve learned all this stuff in school but can’t remember it now, so what was the point?
As a joke it fell flat, but as a statement to the point of public education, I hope it enlightened someone.

(We aren’t crazy over the show either.)

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