Early start

M

Marty L.

Marty Lebwohl
So I'm browsing In a wine shop yesterday with my 5-year old son, Charlie. Charlie pulls a bottle of vinho verde off the shelf and asks me, "Dad, how about this bottle. Is it any good?"

I answer, "I don't know, Charlie, that's a bottle I'm not familliar with."

His response: "Well, who brings it in?"

The proprietor of the shop, who overheard all this, nearly fell on the floor.

I suppose I really should spend more time reading with my children and less time wine shopping with them, but I'll admit having shepped a bit of naches at the moment. Happy Thanksgiving, all.
 
Man, I guess I'm not taking them to the wine shop enough. Surprisingly, neither of my five year olds have said that to me yet. That's hilarious. All I usually get is "Are you done yet?" "Can we go now?" You'd think a five year old couldn't have fun at a wine store.
 
Marty, just wait till he asks you what that french tax label thing is doing on the bottle of burg you are opening for dinner.
 
I suppose I really should spend more time reading with my children and less time wine shopping with them
Click to expand...
No you shouldn't. Being able to distinguish between importer style and quality is a far more important life skill than literacy.
 
It is its own form of literacy.

And there are words on wine bottles. Can't figure out much without being able to read.
 
Well, walking is a preliminary skill too. But the importer distinction remains more important, in terms of navigating successfully through one's life. Anyway, there's no need to learn to read now that we have 24-hour cable news channels.
 
No reason to throw reading out of the curriculum. It doesn't take all that long to master for most kids and is necessary for important life activities like reading bulletin boards and blogs. Long division, on the other hand, occupies several years of the typical elementary school curriculum and is patently obsolete. We can easily use that time to teach our children essential wine-appreciation skills.
 
necessary for important life activities like reading bulletin boards and blogs
Click to expand...
It's fairly clear, however, that reading is not considered a necessary skill for posting to such fora.
 
I was once taught a pen-and-paper algorithm for extracting square and cube roots.

Couldn't do it now to save my life.

Frankly, probably couldn't do long division either.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I was once taught a pen-and-paper algorithm for extracting square and cube roots.

Couldn't do it now to save my life.

Frankly, probably couldn't do long division either.
Click to expand...
Maybe the root of the current financial troubles (present company excepted)?
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by SFJoe:
I was once taught a pen-and-paper algorithm for extracting square and cube roots.

Couldn't do it now to save my life.

Frankly, probably couldn't do long division either.
Click to expand...
Maybe the root of the current financial troubles (present company excepted)?
Click to expand...
Um, no.

The roots could all do their sums perfectly well.

It was more about the incentives and the natural selection.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
originally posted by SFJoe:
I was once taught a pen-and-paper algorithm for extracting square and cube roots.

Couldn't do it now to save my life.

Frankly, probably couldn't do long division either.
Click to expand...
Maybe the root of the current financial troubles (present company excepted)?
Click to expand...
Um, no.

The roots could all do their sums perfectly well.

It was more about the incentives and the natural selection.
Click to expand...
Don't know about natural selection part but the government push into ever higher rates of home ownership didn't help much. My point about the math is pointed more toward the homebuyers and affordability (not that it would involve square roots, just perpetual ever higher prices).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top