On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 18:19:39 -0800, Tim Rowledge <tim at sumeru.stanford.edu>  
wrote:
[stuff about education, some of which I agreed with, some of which I  
didn't]

I don't want to get further OT here except to say I didn't do anything to  
get inquisitive children. They were born that way; they ALL are born that  
way. The state of education today could be described as "the process of  
destroying the natural inquisitiveness of the human being." This is not  
all about schools, of course. But ask yourself how many people you know  
who simply cannot even entertian the thought of learning about a  
particular subject (Math being the subject people most love to hate, but  
Science, English, History are up there, too) and then ask how many  
two-year-olds you know who reject learning about anything (when presented  
properly). So, something happens, and it ain't good.

Enough of the negative. On the positive, if one is serious about educating  
(one's own) children, a lot more can be done than is generally allowed to  
be possible. I reccomend the Institutes for the Achievement of Human  
Potential (www.iahp.org). Just for example, my three year old can identify  
dozens of birds and butterfly species (well beyond the knowledge of most  
adults, to say nothing of the averagely educated).

Using the Institutes material I'm able to teach babies to read, do  
"instant math", acquire massive amounts of data, and start them on musical  
instruments as toddlers. So...why not programming? It requires far lesser  
motor skills than playing a violin. One key element of modern programming  
is knowing what's what in an object library, which should be no big deal.

I have a whole bunch of concerns as far as using eToys and Squeak goes.  
But I don't see a lot of good alternatives, either.