Thanks all for the comments. I didn’t actually mean to post this yet (my first original post). I thought I had saved it as a draft and was coming back to flesh it out...and there it was with comments and all.
Despite (or because of??) the terseness of my original post, I received many excellent upvotable replies.
I was going to expound a little more on the two points.
How do I go about defining and achieving realistic goals of parenting?
This is the bigger question of the two since I feel more at sea with my 5 year old (also have a 2 year old, who’s much “easier”). Some of the resources listed look like good places to start.
How do I encourage my children have a rationalistic worldview? That’s something I’m more comfortable with but not really sure if I’m doing a great job.
Read to them. Lots, about everything. Confident readers will find school easier, enjoy learning outside of school, and stop them from associating reading with school and work. Get a set of children’s encyclopedias, if you can find good ones.
Do science with them. If they ask you how something works, ask them how they could figure it out. My little brother thought heavier things would fall faster: we went outside and tried it. Then we watched the YouTube video of the feather-hammer experiment on the moon.
Answer their questions, even when they have a million of them. Better yet, get them to figure out the answers to their own questions.
Watch commercials with them, once they’re old enough to watch tv. Explain how the commercials try to trick people (this is the easiest way to introduce biases, but don’t call them that.)
If they’ve won an argument, tell them so, and tell them why. If you win an argument, tell them why. “Go to bed because I said so” is unhelpful. “Go to bed because when you don’t, you’re tired the next day and won’t have any fun.” is helpful. You can (and should) make them go to bed.
Don’t tell them to “be rational”. Show them what it actually looks like. When you make decisions, explain your thought process to them, even if you have to oversimplify. When they make decisions, ask them about theirs.
Remember, if you’re even thinking about this, you’re ahead of 99% of the planet. Kids usually manage to turn out okay.
Thanks all for the comments. I didn’t actually mean to post this yet (my first original post). I thought I had saved it as a draft and was coming back to flesh it out...and there it was with comments and all.
Despite (or because of??) the terseness of my original post, I received many excellent upvotable replies.
I was going to expound a little more on the two points.
How do I go about defining and achieving realistic goals of parenting? This is the bigger question of the two since I feel more at sea with my 5 year old (also have a 2 year old, who’s much “easier”). Some of the resources listed look like good places to start.
How do I encourage my children have a rationalistic worldview? That’s something I’m more comfortable with but not really sure if I’m doing a great job.
Anyway, thanks again.
Can’t speak as a parent, but speaking as a child:
Read to them. Lots, about everything. Confident readers will find school easier, enjoy learning outside of school, and stop them from associating reading with school and work. Get a set of children’s encyclopedias, if you can find good ones.
Do science with them. If they ask you how something works, ask them how they could figure it out. My little brother thought heavier things would fall faster: we went outside and tried it. Then we watched the YouTube video of the feather-hammer experiment on the moon.
Answer their questions, even when they have a million of them. Better yet, get them to figure out the answers to their own questions.
Watch commercials with them, once they’re old enough to watch tv. Explain how the commercials try to trick people (this is the easiest way to introduce biases, but don’t call them that.)
If they’ve won an argument, tell them so, and tell them why. If you win an argument, tell them why. “Go to bed because I said so” is unhelpful. “Go to bed because when you don’t, you’re tired the next day and won’t have any fun.” is helpful. You can (and should) make them go to bed.
Don’t tell them to “be rational”. Show them what it actually looks like. When you make decisions, explain your thought process to them, even if you have to oversimplify. When they make decisions, ask them about theirs.
Remember, if you’re even thinking about this, you’re ahead of 99% of the planet. Kids usually manage to turn out okay.