Javilk writes:
> There was just a piece on a debate, showing that some kinds of music
> boost kid's IQ's at least temporarily. The schools are debating whether
> this suggests we ought to teach music in school or not. Many say that
> there isn't the time, nor the money to do so in this increasingly complex
> society, that we must concentrate in teaching facts to the children.
> Music or computers? Which would you have them learn?
Not sure which research you're talking about, but many years ago
researches conducted a study where they played complex classical music
(mozart, et. al.) to students before tests. College students tended
to improve their math scores for an hour or so after hearing the
music. Last I heard there was a hypothesis that toddlers might gain
permanent improvements from continued exposure to such music, but
obviously researching that is a long-term exercise. Have they come to
any conclusive results?
In general, I try to get my friends to play classical music for
their babies. I also suggest that parents play close attention to how
much time very young children (under 7 years old) spend reading and
watching TV, or any eye-straining exercise. Scientific American a few
years back had an article on the current theory that our eyes go
through an adaptive stage in early childhood, which is why in hunter
societies, for example, people tend to be far-sighted, while in other
cultures (for example China, where parents commonly get VERY obsessed
with their children studying hard from a very young age) people tend
to be near-sighted.
And while I'm at it, last year a study was concluded that
indicated that children who are breast-fed for at least 18 months
after birth end up being all-around healthier, better adjusted,
smarter, more physically fit, etc.
I've also heard that your relationship with your child will be
largely determined by how much you interact with the child before the
age of two. Particularly for fathers, but then again in our culture
fathers tend to have less interaction with infants by default.
The Jesuits used to say "Give me a child until he is seven, and
after that you can do anything you want to him, but he'll be mine for
life." Meaning most of the critical thinking skills are developed
early on.
A friend with a PhD in sociology tells me that overwhelmingly the
key factor in how well your child does is how much time and energy you
personally give them (this was in response to a comment I made that I
wanted some day to have a large family). It's also an oft-repeated,
hm, fact may be too strong, leading theory perhaps, that the
student-teacher ratio is overwhelmingly the most important factor in
determining how well the students in a school do.
Really makes you think, hm?
Steven J. Owens
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
____________________________________________________________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now
Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants
If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done
directly from our website for all our lists.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
