Archive for December, 2007

Over-Educated Toys

My daughter received numerous toys as presents for the holidays from friends and family. (Not from me. I bought her books.) I appreciate that — and I especially appreciate the care with which some of the toys were chosen. Despite being in the first year of her life, she is going to have an interesting time of growing up with so many people actively looking out for her education. But while some of the toys have obvious educational value — and by that I mean books, coloured blocks with shapes, numbers, and letters, and even the (most excellent) “bug bottle” a soft-sided container with a small collection of plush insects inside (actually meant to impress her entomology-enthused father) — some of the toys just try too hard.

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Full text from December 28, 2007 by Brad
Filed as: Encounters of the Mind

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Home for the Holidays

With only a few days until Christmas my mind is aflutter with the nuances of balancing three things: (1) Appeasing an extended family who looks to their own deeply spiritual essence for the holidays, (2) keeping my daughter’s first “Visit from Santa” special, but still low-key and (3) my own skeptical need for some secular seasonal substitutes. For those veering away from superstition, the holidays can be a troubling time; For skeptics with family and kids, it is a heart-wrenching time of year altogether.

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Full text from December 21, 2007 by Brad
Filed as: Skeptical Mindsets, Thinking Back

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On Writing a Blog Like This…

I’ll admit it. I started this thing with grand delusions of peppering a skep-themed domain with well thought-out essays and articles on raising critically thinking kids. It’s not that such a blog is a bad idea — it’s still a great idea — but the concept of finding the time to do so AND still be a good dad is nearly contradictory. Besides, I’m no expert.

I’ve been slow in posting much since my initial few shots at writing, and that has been both deliberate and circumstantial; I’ve been busy raising a daughter, a task that allows little time for reflective writing but much for contemplative thinking. As a result, I’m going to take this blog in a very different stylistic direction from now on, and into the new year. And, seeing as I have a readership that could be counted on one hand, I don’t think that will be upsetting to too many people.

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Full text from December 21, 2007 by Brad
Filed as: Meta-Skepdad

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Avoiding Logical Fallacies, Index

As a father seeking to improve his own critical thought processes and as a decidedly novice skeptic I find it is becoming increasingly important to add structure to my existing repertoire of critical thinking and arguing skills. I know I tend to manage my own scientific reasoning, critical thought, and logical frameworks with some degree of confidence and ease — but formally I have yet to define these and understand them for what they are. This is important, especially if I expect to step in the role of educator to my kid and teach her those same skills.

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Full text from December 10, 2007 by Brad
Filed as: Skeptical Mindsets

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Smart Kids Play the Banjo

I caught a show this past weekend on the National Geographic channel that was documenting the ‘long tail’ kids, quasi-genius children on the far north side of the bell curve who display incredible abilities to perform at adult levels despite a very young age. The example in this particular episode was that of a young, eight-year old pianist who’s abilities to tickle the ivories seemed only limited by the small size of his hands. (At the time of filming, he was just at the point of playing a full octave, his hands stretching across — at their limit — eight keys of the piano. I can appreciate, despite being quite amateur on the piano myself, that an octave is a trivial task for an adult with average-sized paws, but a limiting factor smaller hands.) Admittedly, the parental pressure to perform seemed to be at times a little overbearing, but even a nagging mom can’t push an average kid to practice a musical instrument for four to six hours per day, as this young boy was inclined to do.

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Full text from December 3, 2007 by Brad
Filed as: Encounters of the Mind

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