Education is moving away from memorization and towards critical thinking. Obviously memorization will always be a part of school, but its role is becoming smaller and smaller. The amount of information in our world is growing exponentially. New ideas, technology, and ways of doing things are being created every day. Simply memorizing the facts will not cut it anymore; you could never keep up. Education has realized this, and is turning to teaching "how" and "why" as opposed to lists of facts. Students today need to be able to figure out answers instead of just recalling them.
What can you do to help your child prepare for this phenomenon so he will do well in school and ultimately in life? Make sure you ask your kids to evaluate things. Have them give their opinion, but then have them back it up with why they think their opinion is valid. Get them involved in solving puzzles. This will improve logic which in turn improves critical thinking. Instead of just telling your children things, have them think things through. Far too many parents are thinking for their kids. This does not benefit your child at all. Make sure you are interacting with your kids in such a way that they are stimulating their brains and learning to reason. This will be so helpful to them in school, but really, it is a life skill that kids cannot live without.
I agree that thinking through things is the way to go. Memorizing a few math facts helps too.:) My grandsons and I have some great conversations. I never really have to ask them to explain things. They always tell me exactly what they think and why. Plus, they love to ask questions. I found myself answersing all sorts of questions about hot water heaters since they saw one on a truck while in traffic. Later, they had their dad show them were theirs was located.
ReplyDeleteYeah, some things just have to be memorized. That will never change. But there's a lot of logic behind it. I always try to teach my students WHY math works the way it does. They need it memorized for quick recall, and they need to understand it for life long application. Everything needs to be well balanced in life.
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