The guys in this picture are digging up a dead body.
Somehow this is socially acceptable. And not only is it socially acceptable to dig up dead things, modern day teachers think that it is very important to teach kids everything there is to know about a bunch of stuff that happened a long time ago.
Preschools are focused on teaching kids these big words like cretaceous and tyrannosaurus and coelophysis. Why is it so important to learn about dinosaurs? They are dead. This is a bunch of useless information unless your kid is someday going to grow up and be a paleontologist. Is there really a need for paleontologists in our society?
I have heard that there is a shortage of physicians. The reason why there is a shortage of physicians is because medical school is extremely hard to get into and the classes are so insanely difficult that no normal person can pass them. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard if teachers would introduce organic chemistry and medical terminology in preschool instead of teaching the kids about rock formations in Afghanistan and the infrastructure of beehive colonies.
My kids spent a month last year learning about owl droppings and bat caves. It’s okay to observe and study digested mouse skeletons, but it’s not okay to study dead humans.
Okay, so like, a few years ago I was talking to this girl and she told me that her brother wanted to be a doctor, but he couldn’t pass all the classes he needed to be accepted. There were loads of other people in the class with him, that had no trouble at all passing these classes and they didn’t really have to study as hard as her brother.
So it got me thinking. There is massive quantities of information that have to be learned all at once in order to get a college degree that allows you to get a job doing anything that will make you a high income in a job that is actually quite meaningful and beneficial to society. Why not just learn all the vocabulary when you are a kid and have all the time in the world, and then later on, medical school will be easy.
Dorsal scapular vein. Guess where that is? Is that a hard word to say. If a kid talks about a triceradon, it’s cute. But if they say subclavian vein, or Ileocolic artery, then people think it’s sick and horrible. Kids should not be taught anatomy.
When my twins were just a couple months old, my friend Dottie asked if I wanted to go to the Bodies Exhibit. She offered to watch the twins, but I really didn’t trust her with them. She freaks me out. So I decided that we should all
go together.
The people in the exhibit were annoyed that some white trash mother and all of her kids were at the exhibit. It was a quiet serene place filled with students who would one day be doctors. I did not feel welcome there with my double stroller. I especially felt unwelcome when the twins started crying and I had to sit down and nurse them.
Everyone I knew I was scandalized that I would take my young children to see such a morbid exhibit.
I bought several books there, and from time to time, my kids gets these books out. They look at the pictures and I read them the terminology and describe to them the inner workings of the human body.
If your kid wants to be a meteorologist, it’s perfectly fine if you study the weather together. If your kid wants to be a geologist, it’s fine teaching him about sedimentary rock and slate. But don’t get him prepared to be a doctor, unless you are a doctor or in the medical field. That’s just wrong.
I realize that teaching my children vast quantities of useful information such as this is going to screw them up in the worst way. I need to teach my kids about the crystal formations of snowflakes by cutting shapes from notebook paper. I need to teach my kids about ecology and conservation by buying workbooks on the environment.
It is very important to teach my kids about dinosaurs, geology, butterflies. I need to sit down with my kids and make macaroni art and paper mache’. I should have listened to them.
Now look what’s happened. My son has grown old before his time! And it’s from letting him read from anatomy books. The doctors say that it’s irreversible.
Due to the over stimulation in the choroid plexus of the 4th ventricle of the brain, the hypoglossal nerve was overreacted triggering the pituitary gland to stimulate hair follicles into rapid growth.
Enjoyed this post..cute photo of son!
As usual..love your take on hot button issues like parenting and education. Well said!
I think I have spent too much time dreaming during my childhood, and I guess it was the dream that keeps me believing a fable world does exist if we choose to believe.
I’m with you. Education is something no one can take from you. Teach lots and teach early. A second language is something I wish I had taught my children. There isn’t much call for German though. Too soon old, too late smart.
Funny post. I wonder why meteorologists don’t study meteors, or is it just me?
You’re such a cool mom.
You’re such a cool mom.
I don’t think my daughter thinks that right now. I’m making her learn her multiplication table before school starts.
She’ll get over it! Probably.
I enjoyed your post. However, I would offer up that it shouldn’t be an either or situation. I think it would be wonderful to expose kids to anatomy and start teaching them medical terms at an early age. However, it is ALSO still important to teach them about archeology, dinosaurs, bee colonies, and owl droppings. I feel that too often education becomes a “one or the other” world. “Let’s teach them math but let’s cut foreign language.” Children are information sponges, let’s have them absorb everything that life has to offer. Because we never know where their interests will lie and what they will be when they “grow up”.
Oh, and I love the Monty Python reference in the title!!!
It is what I think also, Beyond the Green Door. It is important to open children minds to every thing and we, as parents, shouldn’t restrain this. So, they can click on something that really attract them. We can’t choose for our kids but we can help them and guide them to realise their full potential even though certain subjects are really not of our taste. I would have love to be an archeologist but my parents decided for me that I would not do that… often, I have the feeling that I missed the train somewhere. So, I fed my kids with information, discoveries, knowledge and they loved it. But also, I think our education system is not efficient and that our kids are loosing time there. As if a kid have certain affinities and they force him to do against this…. it is not good. If a child doesn’t have mathematic mind, why forcing him to do trigonometry and calculus stuff? Yes maths are important but if the child is excellent in… writing let say… why not pushing him in that way? Others are genius with numbers and dumb with the words… Well… that was my 2cents
xplorexpress, I think you’re right. My oldest hates anatomy and said that he is not going to be a doctor. His specialty is computers. Since he is my I.T. guy, I guess he’s off the hook.
I like and appreciate your two cents!
“I like and appreciate your two cents! ”
Thanks, but I needed that to make a phone call, can you give that back?”
Haha!
(And actually, my “I like and appreciate your two cents!” comment was directed towards xplorexpress’s comment response to my comment. Hadn’t realized you had commented on hers…)
Haha, totally agree with your observations. I took my 9 year old to see ‘Bodies Revealed’ last year and you’re totally spot on. I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the look on people’s faces when I explained how the clitoris looks like a tiny penis.
I guess this would be a great time to have “the talk”
You know, you have a good point! I think you should be appointed Secretary of Education to the USA!
My kids loved dinosaurs! And they still remember the names of them (they’re 21 and 24). Me? I couldn’t tell you in 1000 years.
The earlier you start them out, I think the better chances they have of getting a better job in ANY field whether it be medical, law or engineering. I mean if a Kindergartener can photoshop Barney dancing with Lady Gaga, no telling where a 1st grader who builds nuclear power plants out of LEGO can go!
I started my oldest son out on computers at an early age. That’s all he wants to do. For a while, I thought that maybe I had made a mistake, but I think there is a market for people who can program computers and remove viruses from them.
You’re right, nothing wrong with kids and Anatomy. I grew up with encyclopedias of it and I enjoyed my first Body Worlds exhibit visit! That’s how I’d wanted to become a doctor… But changed my mind at 15, wanting to be a therapist instead. Still thoroughly enjoyed my Anatomy modules in grad school (:
Great read.
Learning about how things works helps you to have a better and well rounded understanding of the world. I am sure you are an awesome therapist.
I think it is great that the kids are learning this! There is nothing wrong with learning, and it should be done as much as possible! The more we learn – the easier it is for us to learn and retain the information! In the long run, as they get older it will help them with all their studies.
You are right, the more you learn, the better the brain works. Learning new and challenging things is like doing brain push ups. It hurts and you don’t think you can keep going, but later on, you are more agile.
Yup. It’s like we gotta learn more…..to be able to learn more! lol
You are brilliant.
I think that you are pretty brilliant too.
Awwww, shucks!
Thanks!
From about 3 to 7 my younger son was totally into anatomy. He had books and used to make me look up videos of heart and brain surgery for him to watch. But then the Bodyworks exhibit came to our local science museum and the giant posters for it FREAKED HIM OUT. He refused to go to the museum until it was gone. We were counting down the days until we could return and it was a huge problem when they extended the exhibition. His brother took advantage of the situation and made him cry by springing out from around corners with one of his old anatomy books. It took a few years for him to get over it, but I think his career as a physician is ruined. These days he’s more of a computer guy.
From about 3 to 7 my younger son was totally into anatomy. He had books and used to make me look up videos of heart and brain surgery for him to watch. But then the Bodyworks exhibit came to our local science museum and the giant posters for it FREAKED HIM OUT. He refused to go to the museum until it was gone. We were counting down the days until we could return and it was a huge problem when they extended the exhibition. His brother took advantage of the situation and made him cry by springing out from around corners with one of his old anatomy books. It took a few years for him to get over it, but I think his career as a physician is ruined. These days he’s more of a computer guy.
I think you can use anatomy if you are more into computers. Maybe when he gets over his fear of anatomy books, he can construct a robot that has a brain that is exactly like the human brain.
So great !
Hahaha ooooh I just cracked up as soon as I read your title – Monty Python!!
Anatomy is so fantastic. Actually, I was just thinking earlier this week that I’ll start reading my way through Gray’s Anatomy (I have a copy from my Anatomy class my Junior year of high school – top student in the class got one at the end of the year. Hehe, funny reward.) and blogging about it. Just for funsies. 
We’ll see if I follow through on that…
Actually, I was just thinking earlier this week that I’ll start reading my way through Gray’s Anatomy (I have a copy from my Anatomy class my Junior year of high school – top student in the class got one at the end of the year. Hehe, funny reward.) and blogging about it. Just for funsies.
We’ll see if I follow through on that…
That sounds like a fantastic idea. I have a copy of Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a dry, boring read. I really wish that someone would make an audio version of that. If I listened to that a few times, I would be a whiz at anatomy. Vango notes has a few audiobooks on anatomy, but it’s not nearly as cool as Grey’s anatomy. I wish there was a fun and entertaining way to learn every single name for every single part of the human body. Can you imagine?
I love this. I started using medical terminology (I’m a former medical transcriptionist) for body parts with my sons when they were young. Elbow is olecranon and knee is patella, etc. That was fine with everyone until I started telling them their penis was called a penis. You’d thought the sky was falling. My parents, in particular, were especially offended and wanted the appendage to be referred to, if it had to be at all, as a ‘winkie.’ Please tell me how this is better! lol Great post!
My parents, in particular, were especially offended and wanted the appendage to be referred to, if it had to be at all, as a ‘winkie.
My boys were looking at the anatomy book and were extremely interested by the digestive system. Their favorite parts of the body are the anus and rectum. People also find these terms offensive.
Your outrageously funny post always amaze me! I was pre-med for five years. Enough said, but your post always have a disguised truth that you sneak up on. I love it!
I wanted to get into the medical field when I was younger, but I was discouraged by people telling me that it was just too hard.
The clitoris looks like a tiny penis? I didn’t know that! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing your kids to the Bodies exhibit. I just wish the bodies were clothed.
The clitoris looks like a tiny penis? I didn’t know that! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bringing your kids to the Bodies exhibit. I just wish the bodies were clothed.
Are you serious? Please tell me you’re kidding. Anyway the Bodies Exhibit was not for children. The price of a ticket was $30 and there was not “under 12 years old” discount. They weren’t going to let me in there with my kids and I had to use Chinese mind control tricks to let me in there. It was really meant for medical students and future medical students. How can you learn how the body is put together if you cover it up?
If you are turned on by skinless dead people, then maybe we should all worry about you? Please, Mr. 8teen39, lay down on the sofa and tell me about your mother.
Sorry my sense of humor didn’t translate well. I just recently saw a roadside billboard for the exhibit that had a yellow banner across it that said “BANNED! Except in Las Vegas”. No joke.
Yeah, they didn’t take it too well at the American Museum of Natural History when my then-15-month-old-in-potty-training daughter peed on the floor in the rotunda – even though I came prepared with a roll of paper towels and wiped it up – and I took her squishing in her little shoes down to the ladies room to get changed. We learned a lot of interesting stuff there – including stuff about dinosaurs. Who says schools have the learning/teaching market cornered? You go girl!
Margarita, your story tops mine. My kids have never urinated on the floor of an expensive museum. I am so glad that my kids didn’t flip out and knock over one of the guys at the bodies exhibit, that would have been the end of the world for me. Actually, come to think of it, that might have made me world famous. I might just keep that in mind if I ever get the nerve to do a publicity stunt.
No worries – I’m sure you’ll think of something better still for a publicity stunt. Besides, you’re probably world-famous already!
The body is an amazing thing, the way it works within such a tight tolerence of chemical balance. It amazes me everyday and I see no reason why children shouldn’t learn more about it. Perhaps then as they became adults they would think more about the food and other things they are putting into it…maybe even creating a healthier generation, who required less medical attention due to their own knowledge and care for their bodies!
Cheers,
Laura
astimegoesbuy, I agree. I love the human body and I don’t see why it is forbidden to study it unless you go into the medical profession. I have a body, why not learn about the innerworkings?
I used to be a preschool teacher. I gotta say we used to spend MONTHS on the human body and made more mention of dragons than we ever did of dinosaurs.
Dude, I don’t know what school you’re teaching at, but they haven’t mentioned any scientific term at my kid’s school more complicated than stomach and intestine. By the way, my oldest kid believes in dragons and he says that dinosaurs never existed.
Small private school in Portland Oregon. I’m not there anymore but I was for several years.
da Vinci and his peers, I believe, used to obtain bodies for examination quite surreptiously, always at night, for they would have literally been “strung up” if they had been caught.
da Vinci and his peers, I believe, used to obtain bodies for examination quite surreptiously, always at night, for they would have literally been “strung up” if they had been caught.
Those were the good old days before sterilization and proper handwashing
no idea maybe it’s just because they are big … and yes the human body is fascinating enough
sorry about your son, the 5 o’clock shadow before noon is a terrible curse. I once looked at my neighbor’s anatomy books from med school, and nearly fainted and threw up, but I am not sure what order.
forget about passing the tests, I couldn’t even open the books
This one time, I decided to watch a surgery on You Tube with my kids. My husband told me that I was going to traumatize my children.
yeah — too much information for little minds. It is not wrong to keep them innocent as long as possible. Reality comes soon enough…
Haha, I couldn’t agree more. I wished I had learned some medical stuff at school (although I probably would have never paid attention anyway as I dozed my way through school). It would come in handy here in Mexico where you actually don’t get a follow-up appointment with your physician but instead get your exam results on a piece of paper to figure it out by yourself. Thanks for the witty post!
I hear that in Mexico, you can just walk into a pharmacy and ask for prescriptions medicines and they will give it to you.
Yes, I heard about that, but haven’t tried it yet. Lots of people can’t afford going to a doctor so instead, they go to a pharmacy that sells no-name medicine that’s way cheaper and they also get a consultation there. It’s quite scary and very sad in my opinion.
We didn’t go to the exhibit when it was in town, I’ll admit. Not because of the bodies, but because I had some ethical qualms about where the plasticized corpses were procured (and by what means). We do enjoy open house times at the local university biomed/biodesign area and my son has attended surgeries, virtually, through a program provided by Barrows Neurological Institute to our local science museum. (Being more of a physical than life science loving kid, he didn’t enjoy the brain surgery experience as much as my younger, life-science-obsessed child…but it is what it is…)
I heard about the controversy of the bodies exhibit. That’s why I went. I just love controversy. I boycott Wal-Mart.
Yeah…walmart isn’t on my happy list, either. I am just a stick in the mud. There were plenty of clergy and other people who liked it. The remote surgery was interesting though.
You’ve certainly got a writing talent. I think that mothers with loud kids should go out in public more often. That way all the stuck-up people will get over it. I agree about expecting more from our kids in school. That’s why homeschooling is starting to come out of the woodwork!
You’ve certainly got a writing talent. I think that mothers with loud kids should go out in public more often. That way all the stuck-up people will get over it. I agree about expecting more from our kids in school. That’s why homeschooling is starting to come out of the woodwork!
Lol. Maybe the stuck up people should stay home if they don’t like noisy kids. Nowadays, if my kids are noisy, I just tell them “I’m never taking you anywhere ever again!”
I am homeschooling my middleschooler in the fall. I haven’t decided about the other ones.
There seem to be two distinct populations of home-schoolers. One group wants to give their kids a broader and deeper education; the other group wants to make sure their kids aren’t exposed to anything that resembles science.
Dear CJC,
The whole bodies exhibit has intrigued me. I know a lot of people that are so bothered by this one. ‘How would you feel if that were YOUR relative…” yada yada.
I don’t know.
I guess I feel like…their soul has flown. It’s an empty house.
It’s ok to look.
And also…I’ve always taught my kids about vaginas and penisis. I can’t stand it when adults give those parts of our bodies cute little names. Or weird ones.
And.,.p.s.
I’ve taken my kids LOADS of places. Probably shouldn’t have looking back. What did I know? I couldn’t afford a babysitter. Nursed in public. The whole nine yards.
To hell with em if they can’t handle it.
Lis
Accepting your comparisons of early education in nonessential matters, with early education in the essential and useful aspects of everyday life; what is your assessment of the expelling from our public education system, of the open teaching of Christian moral values ?
I agree with you! As a teacher and a mom, I don’t see the reasoning behind sheltering our children from some aspects of education—human anatomy included. Unfortunately, many in our society frown upon liberal moms like ourselves, making that ‘tsk tsk’ sound when our children don’t behave or react as society says they should. Keeping your child sheltered in a glass bubble is the worse thing a parent can do. It doesn’t prepare them for life and it certainly doesn’t allow them to learn about the world.
I recently dragged my kids to the National Art Gallery—they were the only kids there. And although my son couldn’t contain his fits of laughter with every viewing of a nude woman, at least I exposed them to something different other than Sponge Bob!
What a fantastic blog to stumble upon! I couldn’t agree with you more, I think this whole irrelevant education is incredibly an important subject to speak of which is often overlooked by many. When/if I’m lucky enough to ever have kids I can honestly assure you I will be following your path of unsheltered educational bliss : )
Interesting and funny truth. Yes, they should be learning stuff that will be useful.
It is wonderful to be online with a group of people who all see society as rather stupid a lot of the time. I agree with you to a strong degree. We do teach our students wrongly. Part of the reason is we are still using a 50 year old basis to teach modern day children. I am told that a doctor 100 years ago had the education of a sixth grader today. While being both interesting and scary, it also makes me wonder what would happen if we did gear differently. When I traveled to Holland in 1976, I was told that the schools in Holland had students learning American, German, and Dutch in school from elementary onward. If students can do that (and it appears they can) then you should be correct, too. Teach them anatomy. We really need to get our heads out of the gutter and treat bodies and sex like other subjects. When my children were young, we did not allow baby talk to be done around our children (only my grandmother wouldn’t listen oh well). We used the correct terms for the proper parts of anatomy. Yes, it made some people a little uncomfortable to hear a 3 year old using the word “penis”; however, our doctor had me do some checking. My son, at 18 months, had a working vocabulary of 105 words and used 3 word sentences correctly. Both my children have grown up to be well-adjusted adults who know what they would like out of life and are going for it. Dinosaurs? Fine, but throw in some anatomy and general chemistry while you are at it.
Scott
Kindredspirit23, I just adore the way your mind works. I think that there needs to be a bit of evolution in the public school system. The government has too much regulation on so many things. They don’t trust that teachers can educate children without interference. I am not sure I trust a lot of teachers either. I heard of a teacher in Oklahoma who sat the kids down to watch TV all day long. My sister’s kid was in that class.
There will always be problems with the system and with individual teachers. I taught a group of students who, we were lucky, if we were able to get a lesson done at all some days. Still, we worked and we tried and they were good for me most of the time.
Well done Clotilda! I Always enjoy your posts.
I believe if you want great results, then expose the mind to the material as early as possible. Look at all the great minds like Mozart, Euler, Einstein, Gauss, etc., who started young and became pioneers in their subject. I am glad your teaching your kids math. That is the way to go. Your kids will be smart!
Einstein didn’t start young, he was considered rather slow. Mozart was a musical prodigy, but apparently never passed the fart joke stage.
Nonetheless, I agree that kids should be exposed to as wide a variety of knowledge as possible.
I went to a liberal arts school because in olden days it was believed that learning to think was important.
Even doctors that I knew were fascinated by the bodies exhibits. It’s not that they didn’t know their anatomy, it’s that the visualizations were so wonderful.
“…modern day teachers think that it is very important to teach kids everything there is to know about a bunch of stuff that happened a long time ago. …” Reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxkHM4DUDKM
Excellent post! I greatly enjoyed the Bodies exhibit as well. I went with several of my massage school classmates and I can definitely understand your perspective. While I don’t yet have any children of my own I fully agree with teaching kids early on about anatomy and numerous other real life topics. I don’t see what could possibly be more interesting/necessary than having an understanding of how our own bodies are built and how they function. Nutrition is a topic in school I believe is also grossly under-taught, even in medical school.
I was lucky enough to have parents that allowed—nay, encouraged—me to read as much as I could. This included works of frivolous fiction, archaic classics, childish volumes, current event rags, and my father’s medical school books.
In school I learned the usual drivel taught in the appropriate grades, which was not always an unpleasant experience, by the way. Between the two I was able to attain a level of knowledge that exceeded what most of my classmates had.
Having chosen years ago to forego the childbearing experience, I don’t know the parenting end of this argument; but I do know that I’ve never kept any real life information from any of the children with whom I interact. I believe information should always be readily available.
Keeping with societal and governmental norms is the principle of every school in this country, sadly. Instructing the next generation on what they could know, rather than what schools deem they should, is the parental initiative. I applaud every mother and father that opened their minds and realized the inherent potential in showing their child everything.
I really don’t see the issue here and I can’t fathom why anybody would have a problem with unearthing ancient fossils or having our kids study them. For one, it’s fun and kids seem to enjoy it. I think that’s a great way to introduce them to the natural sciences and pique their interest in the scientific method. As a teacher, I for one know that kids always take to the study and have a few years where they are fascinated by them. It does no harm, even if they don’t remain fascinated forever, so why complain?
Second, it’s important for the very reason that it was the discovery which shattered all previously held notions about the world being created in six days or being only a few thousand years old. Had we not begun to unearth dinosaur bones centuries ago, or simply said “who cares, they’re dead”, we might still be living in a world without any real understanding of how old it is or how it came to be. If you’re worried about medicine today, be more worried of where it would be if it weren’t for the explosion in learning in the 18th and 19th centuries, in part because of the discovery of fossils and the interest in spawned in the studies of living things.
Last, I don’t see how studying paleontology can be blamed for a shortage of medical practitioners. That’s like saying if kids were introduced to carpentry at a young age instead of maths and sciences, there wouldn’t be a shortage of trades people. Once can just as easily say they don’t need to study science if they aren’t going to be scientists, but that’s just plain silly. It’s about fostering young minds and giving them a range of options, not preparing them for whatever field is currently short on people. Saying that getting them started sooner will make it easier later just doesn’t hold, especially if the kids don’t want to be doctors when they get older.
Ha ha! Hide the evidence before some moron tries to tell on you… *giggle*
And then of course: Adult persons eager to look at flayed human bodies frowning on two young children being nursed.
Excellent!
LOL….irreverent and soooo funny. Love it!
Oh man… Those pictures are gross. I get dizzy watching blood come out of me for a blood test…
This was a GREAT read! OMG I loved this, and best of all, you make one excellent point! Now I feel better about keeping an old text book from Psychology that goes into depth the inner workings of the brain. My kids LOVE to flip through it and look at the pictures and ask me questions about the various regions, even cuts, of the brain. Thank you for this post!
Great insights! I couldn’t agree more. How’s this – I know a primary school teacher who recommended to help improve maths to copy number plates whilst traveling and make combinations of those numbers. What??? Are we teaching kids to learn or designing a new number plate algorithm. Ridiculous, but maybe it’s just me!!!
Funny.
But Serious…
Nice photo of your son.
Funny, I teach my five year old about his brain and digestive system (ie frontal cortex & bladder). He needs to know ‘why’ something like going pee is important.
This is brilliant! Yes, why shouldn’t kids learn medical terminology. It makes sense to me.
Love this post! And I thought I was being weird by teaching my 18 month old where her xyphoid process is. “where’s your xyphoid process?” And she identifies it correctly every time
Your posts are brilliantly funny and I laugh out loud every time I read one, this being no exception. How do you find the time to be so consistently creative? (Your kids must be grown
I’m one of those teachers who teaches Prehistory and the virtues of hominids – the chief virtue being that they are more likeable than humans but knowing that is totally useless and will not put bread on your table. (Unless you can turn it into a witty blog 
Thanks for your creative brilliance…
…now i know why u were interested in what we wrote…nice post u have here…hope to read more of your articles to give me more direction though…but would u say home education might be preferable?…
Hey! The infrastructure of beehives is very important! lol
I’m a high school science teacher. The hard part about it is trying to make those big ‘important’ words have any relevance to their lives… wether they want to be a doctor or not…
Well done and power to parenting. This was a refreshing read. And I love that you put a picture of your very beautiful, blessed(that your his mom) child on this wonderful post
Refreshing perspective!
Great post! And what a cutie pie you have there!
That was a funny post, but there may be some truth to it. Who gets to pick what is taught in school. Then they wonder why the children are illeterate. I like your way of thinking.
you write beautilly: my brother is a psychiatrist, he lives in Southhamption, my sister is a radiologist, let yoyr kids, I am sure they will figure out what they want to do, don’t worry, my son is crazy about dinosaurs, wants to become a paliontogist when he grows up, I accept one thing, if a person wants to choose his field of interest, he will be very sucessful in life, one has to follow his passion!!!success will surely come!!!
tazein
Too funny! Teach your kids what you think is important that they learn. You can’t rely on school to teach them everything! Which is why it’s so important to be involved in their lives. I’m all for taking them places, how else will they learn how to act correctly?
By the way, when I was a kid we went to a state fair that had a cow that had been sliced open and covered with plexiglas so you could see it’s stomachs! I can still picture it perfectly, although I did not become a dairy farmer as a result…
I love your sense of humor! As a nurse, I made it a point to teach my kids the correct terminology of ALL body parts and they taught me what a “wenis” is…the skin on your elbow! ha! Thanks for liking my “treehouse” post.
Awesome, thought-provoking post. Your kids have a mother who thinks. Mine do too. Nothing wrong with that!
PS…I’ll be watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail today because I can’t stop saying “bring out your dead.” LOL
Wow! Amazing blog
Wonderful subject, with fun illustrations. I hope you’ll keep taking them wherever they or you have interests. I so was a boy like yours. Not the ginger stash, but inside. I couldn’t become a doctor either, It cost too much money back when I was young enough to have the energy to endure the internships. Rad tech was more doable. Only 60 hrs/week for 9 months. I don’t know how med students can handle 70-90 hours/week for 2-4 years (depending on the specialty) AFTER six or so years of college. I still love anatomy, live bodies preferred.
Nice, you are great writer
I am highly inspired by your blog.
Hi clotildajamcracker,
I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your website. Your background picture and the ones on this post are fascinating and have encouraged me to re visit your blog.
I can’t say I live debt free because I have a student loan, but I’m 20 years old and am saving for my retirement due to the inevitable insufficiency of a state or work pension.
Also, thanks for liking my blog posts entitled: ‘The power of learning’ and ‘You wanna roll with that’?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Samson
When I saw the bodies exhibit, it was at MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa) and there were just as many kids as there were adults…I’m sad you had to see it in such a judgmental setting.
I do think dinosaurs are pretty cool, although I’m fairly sure some of the dinosaurs we learned about when I was a kid were later decided as being wrong. Brontosaurus, I think? Then again, we had another planet in our solar system when I learned about it too, so science is an ever-evolving thing.
Well, I went to the bodies exhibit in Seattle on a school day. And it was when the bodies exhibit was new and totally too contraversial for a bunch of suburban yuppies to bring their kids too.
I cannot possibly believe that Florida would be more progressive than Seattle.
Frankly, I’m pretty sure catholic school was far more damaging to my childhood psyche than learning about body parts from actual bodies ever would have been.
The issue in the beginning of the post is not so much that there’s a shortage of physicians because the studying is too hard. There’s a shortage of general practitioners and family physicians, because every med student wants to specialize in a body part and make big money. How do we encourage people going in to medicine to devote a couple years to providing basic and preventive health care before moving into the specialties that buy them BMWs?
I know a lot of people who really wanted to become physicians because the loved the medical field and wanted to treat people. People that want to be doctors…not for the money, get turned off because there is an overwhelming amount of information that is impossible to learn all at once. If there was a way to learn all that information in small increments in the first 20 years of life, there might be a different sort of group of people becoming doctors.
Holy Creepers! Sad
a body can’t even sleep peacefully in the grave anymore. I’m starting a protest.
Here, and I thought you were just another pretty face, writing out revenge-minded fantasies! The amount of stuff you put into your posts is truly impressive, Ms. Whamsacker! I’m just glad you’re not one of those home-school moms who teach their kids that dinosaurs roamed the planet all of 2000 years ago! — YUR
My son is 5, and he loves Ripley’s Believe it or not about the human body. He had to draw a picture from his fave book for JK; he drew a fetus from this book. Hmmm.
I *totally* agree that we routinely underestimate kids’ learning abilities; in several other cultures/countries, kids often get started on math and reading much earlier. I think kids love to learn; we artificially limit them with our assumptions.
check out my blog on politics
Xactly right. When a child shows an interest in something, then that child should be provided all opportunities toward that interest. Also… how did they ever get the 3 R’s out Reading, Writing & Arithmetic? Wouldn’t it be RWA?
Good parenting starts with learning
“bring out your dead”, i loved that bit
“I’m not dead! I feel fine! I feel happy… I think I’m going to pull through.”
“No you won’t! You’ll be stone dead in a minute.”
I remember those days studying owl droppings and wonder why lol. Interesting view on this. Thanks for stopping by my blog too!
When I was learning to brush my teeth, my mom taught me to count my strokes in groups of 10 and repeat as needed. But we’d count in a different language each time. I could count to ten in about twenty languages before I turned four. I’ve forgotten most of it, but I honestly believe that that simple thing stimulated my capacity for language. Lo and behold: now I’m fluent in Latin. Thank you for not underestimating your children.
Also, I saw Bodies on my last birthday! Just incredible. I’d like to go again before it leaves my area.
Cool post.
Every time I see your name, I think of that furniture store my dad took us to one time called “Naders”. Do people sometimes ask you if you are related to Ralph Nader?
He is my father.
He is my father.
It was quite a dramatic moment when I realized that.
But I’m not dead.
Yes, you are…….
I don’t want to go on the cart.
Sorry, can’t read Monty Python without quoting lines.
BTW, great post.
“But I’m not dead.
Yes, you are…….
I don’t want to go on the cart.
Sorry, can’t read Monty Python without quoting lines.”
I don’t think a day goes by at my house that we aren’t quoting Monty Python. Every time we cut cut we say “It’s just a flesh wound.”
My son has an old soul because I worked for OSHA when he was little and he learned about HIV, AIDS, HBV and health and safety just like I did.
Ooohh yes, we couldn’t help going on about how the song playing at the Olympic opening ceremonies was performed with the sole intention of trying to get Mr. Lambert to take the paper bag off his head after the terrible trauma of hearing someone utter the word “mattress.”
From the age of 10, I wanted to be an archaeologist and dig up dead things.
My parents weren’t wealthy enough to send me on great digs, unfortunately. So, I became an accountant of all things. LOL What a mistake. Now, I’m just an un-certified “digger”. Good post.
You rock–that’s one of the sort of things my parents would have done for me and the only thing more fantastic than taking them is your post!
Well now, you’re just awesome!
Your post makes a lot of sense. We should start teaching kids more applicable forms of science at a younger age to prepare them for college education–if they’re thinking about these things early on they’ll be more successful with their classes when they get older. Though I think the reason schools focus on dinosaurs and geology is to get kids interested in science in the first place by teaching them about things they can find in their backyards, like rocks and flowers. But technology is just as easy to find nowadays, and that should be a focus as well.
On another note, I’m actually kind of shocked at the way people responded to you at the Bodies exhibit. It may have been directed towards future doctors, but knowledge is knowledge and we’re all entitled to it, regardless of age and social strata. You know, back in ancient Greece they used to perform public dissections of dead bodies (many of which were dug up “illegally”). They were hugely popular and helped make Greek society more scientifically minded. We could use more of that today–public scientific demonstrations, like the Bodies exhibit, that include everybody and make us more interested in science and the world around us. Kudos for exposing your children to all types of knowledge early on! I’m sure your oldest son will become a great computer programmer/consultant if that’s the path he chooses to take.
I think it’s great you’re exposing your children to topics like anatomy early on. It’s never too early to learn stuff like that. You seem like a cool mom!
I hope my kids turn out okay with all my madness.
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Superb post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Kudos!