I was at a friend's house years ago and his firstborn was three. He was walking and talking but he wasn't building - Dad wouldn't let him use those MegaBlocks alone. Kid said "Dad, could you build a house?" So Dad built a house. It was obvious that Dad did the building and Son did the requesting and the watching. Trained to be passive.
TheBoy came to me last night with a piece of paper and said "Quiero hacer un avion, Papi. Mostrame como hacer." So I showed him some folds to make paper airplane. He took it upstairs, unfolded it, and tried to do it again using another piece of paper but he couldn't so I guided him through it again when he requested it. I won't do it for him unless he really can't do it himself.
My Dad is now a Grandfather to my children and seven others. It's interesting to see him educate. He's never said it, but it seems that his entire philosophy of education and raising children is all about exposure. Provide the toys or the tools or the time and the kids will learn a ton - not like the literal ton(s) of rocks he has collected and scattered around the house - but a tonne nonetheless.
If only our students could persist past the classic freshman weed-out classes. Maybe we'd have more engineers if they knew how to overcome failure by making it a common thing earlier in their lives.
Although I give them everything, that just allows them to free their minds to work on the process and the bigger ideas. The official math can come later.
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