DailyDirt: Does It Take A Village Or A Japanese Metropolis?

Raising kids is an adventure filled with all sorts of imperfect decisions. A butterfly flapping its wings on your kid's iPad could initiate a cascade of events, leading to his/her eventual life of crime or triumph. Or maybe that butterfly has no effect whatsoever -- how did that unusual insect get into the house, anyway? Common core standards might be crushing young spirits with "new math" -- or just frustrating parents who don't remember how to do long division. Is there an optimal way to parent that leads to a society where every child is above average and no one graduates in the bottom half of the class? Maybe the best path is just to let kids figure it all out themselves. (But probably not.)

• Parents in Japan regularly let 9yo (and younger) kids ride the subway alone, but wouldn't necessarily do so if they moved to London or New York. Is there something special about the Japanese culture that allows unsupervised children to be (or at least feel) safe in a large city? Does Tokyo really have some kind of unspoken community ethics, or is something else going on? [url]
• Unschooling is a form of homeschooling -- but "un-schooled" kids have complete autonomy over their own education. This sounds like a pretty extreme lifestyle choice, but perhaps some elements of it (such as the skepticism of the increasing number of tests and hours spent on homework) may be appealing. [url]
• Who doesn't want to raise kids to be caring, respectful and responsible adults? Apparently, there are 5 simple steps to do so... but step 4 "being a good role model" is a bit much to ask , isn't it? [url]

Hold on. If you're still reading this, head over to our Daily Deals to save an additional 10% on any item in our Black Friday collection -- using the code: 'EARLY10' -- just through this Sunday, November 22nd.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story