Father Ramblings #008: Childhood Education

Dear Steemians,

As a continuation of the Father Rambling series, I wanted to ask the community what they thought in terms of an aspect of childhood education. My son currently just turned five to put things in perspective. In Korea, one of the major educational experiences involves the children learning from a very early age. Math and a second language are a must, with the language usually being English or Chinese.

Background
As I received all of my schooling in the states, my thoughts and my opinion seem to differ from a great deal of the population from Korea. I believe both have their pros and cons and ultimately it will be up to me to decide what the deciding factor should be. I’ve always been a proponent of not introducing my children to textbooks and classes until they reach elementary school. I won’t say that I introduce my children to nothing. Because CJ has expressed an interest in the arts, he does take some art classes. Other than that, he just attends kindergarten.

Imagination Crucial
Giving a child structure in their life seems to be quite important, much more as time goes by. Does teaching a language, math, or any other classroom courses for that matter, hinder a child’s room for imagination? That may be the highlight question of the day for this post. If it doesn’t impede imagination, then I would by all means introduce him to more and more materials, on the condition that it does not stress out the child, which brings me to the second question: How much in reality can learning be fun?

Learning Fun
In an ideal world, learning would be fun, and children would be running towards enriching their knowledge base. As parents, and as people who have gone through some sort of educational system, we know that this is not to be the case (unless you have very special, gifted child). If we start at such a young age, then how long will it be before a child will burn out from the educational system?

Would love to get some feedback from the community!

Thanks, and have a wonderful week!
Chris

Disclaimer
Also, in a full disclaimer, I have been invited to join the TUDA team (@tuda) as a strategic advisor, and as such, will be talking more and more about education as well. TUDA is a SMT-based educational blockchain that wants to revolutionize the education system with the largest community of teachers and a transparent learning experience. I have been really involved in the topic of education and am getting more and more passionate as a direct result of parenthood. I really believe in the beliefs and ideals of the team and project. If you wish to learn more, please take a look at the following links!

TUDA Website
TUDA Steemit
TUDA English Whitepaper
TUDA Android Application

Image Sources:

Father Ramblings Series:
Steemit Introductory Post
Father Ramblings #001: Introduction
Father Ramblings #002: Homo Novus
Father Ramblings #003: Unexpected Events
Father Ramblings #004: Trip to Lotte World Aquarium
Father Ramblings #005: Trip to Seoul Arts Center
Father Ramblings #006: An Extremely Hard Week
Father Ramblings #007: Weekend of Weddings!

Althea Talk Series:
Althea Talk #001: Introduction
Althea Talk #002: My Journey Into Skincare
Althea Talk #003: Inner Beauty
Althea Talk #004: Spruce Up the Office
Althea Talk #005: Our 3rd Anniversary!
Althea Talk #006: Coffee Hair Recipe!
Althea Talk #007: Skin Detoxers
Althea Talk #008: Bare Essentials
Althea Talk #008: Althea Exclusive Teaser