Comment on Well you see, uh...
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
If I were a parent I wouldn’t answer questions like these.
Instead i’d ask “why do you think it is?” and use that as a teaching moment about how to do research and how to test a hypothesis.
protist@retrofed.com 1 day ago
“Dada, can you teach me how to read?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
I mean I think i’ll be a more gentle mom than that, but essentially, yeah. Kids are actually super great at learning. If they already show interest in something, they just need support and guidance, not someone to do it for them.
protist@retrofed.com 1 day ago
You definitely want to encourage your child to learn independently and be curious, but it’s important to remember they’re starting from a place of knowing absolutely nothing.
I had some friends who thought it was important to let their (very young) kids have agency and basically make all their own decisions, but they had no framework within which to know what choices to make. Their oldest is doing better now, but went through several years of pretty bad anxiety and tantrums, and I have no doubt their technique contributed to this.
This is just an anecdote, I know, but I think kids need to have their questions answered flat out unless you know they either already know the answer or have the tools prepared to figure it out independently
SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
I tend to think if they’re old enough to ask the question they’re old enough to (attempt to) puzzle out the answer. Obviously there can be too much of a good thing, but I think on average most parents hand-hold too much (the ones that aren’t simply neglectful)