It would slow it down, although I don’t think that matters much - if kids have a good foundation for learning they can easily make up for lost time when specialising at university. But you’re right that I probably just enjoy philosophy more than maths. I suppose in an ideal world there would be different options for kids with different needs to choose from. And certainly a good teacher is most important of all - everyone seems to have that same experience of one or two rare teachers who showed them that education didn’t have to be confusion and drudgery.
I have the feeling that the current generation of kids are nicer, or have a nicer social atmosphere, than when I went to school (I’m a millenial). My school had a really hierarchical and cut throat kind of atmosphere even among the students themselves, and I wonder how much of that was a reflection or product of the system we were put into by the teachers.
I agree that letting kids chose what to study is a good thing but I think that’s more for older kids for a number of reasons.
1 - they need some experience with the subject to know if they like it and it would be a shame if they gave up on maths or history entirely because of a bad impression at the very beginning stage when if they got to know the subject better they might love it
2 - young children if left to their own devices probably won’t do the early childhood work they need to. Children mature as they age and I would argue it’s abusive to give them responsibility for their decisions before they are old enough to make them properly
3 - society and the children themselves do need them to have a baseline level of knowledge in various subjects.
It would slow it down, although I don’t think that matters much - if kids have a good foundation for learning they can easily make up for lost time when specialising at university. But you’re right that I probably just enjoy philosophy more than maths. I suppose in an ideal world there would be different options for kids with different needs to choose from. And certainly a good teacher is most important of all - everyone seems to have that same experience of one or two rare teachers who showed them that education didn’t have to be confusion and drudgery.
I have the feeling that the current generation of kids are nicer, or have a nicer social atmosphere, than when I went to school (I’m a millenial). My school had a really hierarchical and cut throat kind of atmosphere even among the students themselves, and I wonder how much of that was a reflection or product of the system we were put into by the teachers.
I agree that letting kids chose what to study is a good thing but I think that’s more for older kids for a number of reasons.
1 - they need some experience with the subject to know if they like it and it would be a shame if they gave up on maths or history entirely because of a bad impression at the very beginning stage when if they got to know the subject better they might love it
2 - young children if left to their own devices probably won’t do the early childhood work they need to. Children mature as they age and I would argue it’s abusive to give them responsibility for their decisions before they are old enough to make them properly
3 - society and the children themselves do need them to have a baseline level of knowledge in various subjects.