Parent's Page

Regardless of age or parental status, the time to begin preparation for parenting is now, that is, today.
If you don't have kids or grandkids of your own, you know someone who has.  You can pester ^ help  them with your superior knowledge.                                                                                                                            


  Getting started

Advise on child rearing is probably more difficult to avoid than it is to find.  It is said, "Free advise is frequently worth as much as  you paid for it."  Whatever advise you receive, regardless of the price you may have paid, what you do with it, implement, modify, or trash, is your responsibility.

  Child rearing

Most parents, especially with teenagers, wonder from time to time, "What did I do wrong?"  "What could I have done differently, or better?"  
Important note: To the extent that I did the best I could with what I knew at the time, any undesirable outcome  is not my fault.  Avoid accepting more guilt than has been earned.



SCIENCE ; I thought this was supposed to be about science!  It is.  Science cannot exist by itself, in isolation.   Science is only usable when put together with skills and knowledge from other "departments" of education.  Almost any learning in any part of education will improve learning in science (and the other way around).  Life is simply not departmentalized the way the school curriculum is.  Education is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, without any picture to guide you.

  The puzzle of education

Parents are the first and most important
teachers   in  any  child's  education.
No school can ever completely overcome what a child has learned at home, neither for better, nor for worse.

  When do I begin?


The longest and most difficult part of education is acquiring language skills.  It is not a continuous progression, but seems to go by levels, or stages.  Language development continues at least through the teen years.  Individuals progress at different rates.  Unless there is a large gap, lagging behind the "average" is most likely not significant.

  Learning to talk


It is not only in science that good language skills are important for high achievement.  It is easy to become impatient with our child's rate of language development.  But hasty correction may cause more harm than help.

  Patient guidance


It is not necessary to be an expert in everything.  Answering a question with, "I don't know", sets a high model for your child.  Following with, "How could we go about finding out?", raises it another level.  It is not worth the effort to pursue every question.  But for some questions it is important to follow through.


Sometimes it possible to give a child "quality" time without much interruption of your own activities.  At the same time it can be "educational", developing language skills, reporting skills, observation skills.  All of which are important science skills.

  Quick quality time


How can you expect someone to make intelligent descisions concerning global ecology ,
when they are ignorant about their local environment ?

  Developing environmental awareness

The skills required in science are also generally useful in every other area of life.  Unfortunately some have taken pride in making science seem more difficult than it really is.
  Developing science skills


And much more to come as I get it prepared.


Questions not answered?
Ask me (I can always say I don't know)
Please send me e-mail at:  kfuller2001@yahoo.com
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