Comments on: Indispensable Skills

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 01:38:40 +0000

It will be just my perception, but I felt that practically everyone’s comments here had a ‘gunning for’ the idea that a child can learn without ‘parental direction’.
I just want to say I love the idea of cohersion free growing up – and the most natural thing in the world to a child is Play! Therein the True learning occurs, the other ‘education’ we ( society) inflict on them is just so many over-coats that they may spend the rest of their lives trying to take off!

By: Mary Johnson

Mary Johnson — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:09:08 +0000

James,

I’m responding to your post via video message. I want to know a little bit more about how you try to facilitate your child to self educate himself.

Mary Johnson

[James' Reply: What specifically would you like to know?]

By: lobocode

lobocode — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:10:58 +0000

Only one was missing: Ability to love himself. Who can not love yourself, is not able to love others.

By: AlexR

AlexR — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:06:27 +0000

Very nice article.
I’d like to meet your son one day… maybe before he’s gonna be an adult

Alex

By: Michael Bolton

Michael Bolton — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:43:04 +0000

I’m interested in how your list of precepts on parenting maps to management. Pretty strongly, it seems to me.

—Michael B.

By: Allen Johnson

Allen Johnson — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:08:34 +0000

Reminds me of the Rudyard Kipling poem ‘If’.

I would add one more, which I think is harder for kids (and some adults):
Ability to see potential long term risks and rewards of a decision.

This covers things like your reading example and typing, which may be not fun at all to learn (at least in the beginning) but have large rewards later.

By: bart knaackk

bart knaackk — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:31:01 +0000

Impressive list. My biggest concern is: how many would be able to actually acquire all of these… Interesting experiment: take out any one from the list and see where it goes ‘wrong’…. Seems to be an axiomatic approach as if I would try to proove completeness, but is more of a self check to see what such rule would do to you

I am wondering if I would add: the ability to understand the consequences of ones actions and deal with them to it.

[James' Reply: Any healthy ordinary person can acquire these, and they do in the normal course of growing up. Most people have them strongly in the circles that I travel in. But I hang out with technical people and philosophers. I think my son is pretty good in most of them.

I like your idea about consequences/.]

By: Tom Delmonte

Tom Delmonte — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:37:29 +0000

great list, resonates in many, but not all with mine, but how has it worked for your kid? [James' Reply: I don't think he's aware of it. I didn't create it to help him, directly. I created it to clarify for myself that I need to create the conditions where he feels encouraged to develop those skills, in relative safety.] Is he aware of it, and if so has he given feedback as to how it has helped him? That, to me, would be the best indicator was/is the best indicator that it was a great set of values for your context. [James' Reply: I recently traveled with him for 6 weeks. During that period I found that he's doing okay in all the skills I saw him try to use.]