tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post2545128602266750539..comments2024-03-19T01:39:38.173-04:00Comments on Half an Hour: My (Academic) UpbringingStephen Downeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-61617474968676482372007-03-08T00:42:00.000-05:002007-03-08T00:42:00.000-05:00Thanks for reminding me (a parent of two young chi...Thanks for reminding me (a parent of two young children) that my own liberal education and love of learning originated in the rich and open learning environment my parents welcomed me into. Humble in grandeur (especially compared to the State University were I now work), my childhood home featured books, tools, technology, plants, and all manner of 'cool instruments & gadgetry' --My father was deeply into building and flying remote control model airplanes. Other regular and key events included civic involvement, mentorship and strong encouragement to ask questions when I had them AND encouragement to seek innovation when answers were lacking. <BR/><BR/>Your article was just the nudge I needed to take a look around me and make sure I am doing my best to pass the same gift to my children. <BR/><BR/>On a humerous note I'm so very tempted to bastardize this piece as a means for convincing my wife to allow me to buy the robotic dinosaur that both my son and I have been contemplating. Perhaps we'll raid grandad's collection of servos and radio transmitters to build our own instead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-76477711709396869172007-02-27T05:33:00.000-05:002007-02-27T05:33:00.000-05:00What a wonderfully supportive home you seem to hav...What a wonderfully supportive home you seem to have had, Stephen. A far more conducive environment than the coercive pressure to perform that Steve Hargadon describes.<BR/><BR/>My own was very different again - maybe I will post on that separately. However, I will just mention the issue of reading, since we have some overlap there.<BR/><BR/>My mother was an inveterate bookworm, having taken solace in books in her youth as a lonely misfit. Our house was also full of books - although probably not the classics you describe. At the age of 7, I read the Gerald Durrell's children's book: Donkey Rustlers. I enjoyed it greatly and spotted several other books by the same author on our bookshelves. I began devouring them and was soon lost in his adventures, with no inkling that these were aimed at an adult audience. My teacher found out what I was reading and sent a note home to my mother to ask her not to allow me to read such inappropriate material. Considering that I was in a stream for gifted and talented kids with teachers who were usually very forward thinking, my mother was surprised to say the least. She refused.<BR/><BR/>I stopped enjoying Durrell after a while, when his drivers seemed to change, but I have remained a voracious reader to this day, and I have my Mom to thank for it.<BR/><BR/>I have always said that if you love to read, there is no closed door that you can't challenge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com