And yet another book that is opening my eyes. Frank Smith's The Book of Learning and Forgetting is providing me with a great deal of interesting knowledge. For example, I was surprised to learn that by the age of six, most young children have a vocabulary of around 10,000 words. I knew a six year old could talk but what Smith pointed out, and what I hadn't thought of before was that most of these words were acquired without formal instruction! Smith also relates the story of a third grade teacher who did a study on her students vocabulary growth. She found that, in one year, students add an average of 27 new words to their vocabulary every day, 365 days a year!
While I've not finished the book yet, Smith is pointing out how much learning occurs intrinsically and without organized education. My personal learning theory calls this vicarious absorption and I believe that we never lose that ability. According to the summary of the book, Smith will build on this premise and use it to build a case that states that our current education system actually inhibits vicarious absorption.
Not sure I agree that these are mutually exclusive. I know I learned a lot in the manner in which Smith states, but I also learned through traditional methods. For example, I am often surprised today when someone CAN'T multiply six by nine in their heads. Memorizing the multiplication tables was something I had to do a punishment in grades five and six. . . . and it's stuck with me for over 45 years.
While I've not finished the book yet, Smith is pointing out how much learning occurs intrinsically and without organized education. My personal learning theory calls this vicarious absorption and I believe that we never lose that ability. According to the summary of the book, Smith will build on this premise and use it to build a case that states that our current education system actually inhibits vicarious absorption.
Not sure I agree that these are mutually exclusive. I know I learned a lot in the manner in which Smith states, but I also learned through traditional methods. For example, I am often surprised today when someone CAN'T multiply six by nine in their heads. Memorizing the multiplication tables was something I had to do a punishment in grades five and six. . . . and it's stuck with me for over 45 years.
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