Question of the Day

[ayoub]

If you get something valuable for free, does its value diminish in your mind?

Or

If it's too easy, do you feel there's something wrong with it?

Comments

[ornjkitty.livejournal.com]

Not at all. If anything, the value increases for me. Two examples:

If I spent $50.00 for an outfit for the baby, (I saw the price-tag on some of the hand-me-downs my sister gave me that her baby never wore!), I would be too afraid to let her wear them. She's gotten a lot of cute outfits as hand-me-downs that are barely worn, and I don't have to worry if she decides to run off and play, or sit and draw pictures in the mud, because if they get a little dirt on them, they can be washed, and if she manages to find the odd Sharpie lying around the house ... well, at least she got a few wears out of them first!

My sister-in-law sent me a manual on teaching your child to read, and the manual stated that HOMEMADE index cards are more useful because they address what your child actually needs to learn (vs. stuff they might already know), and since they're (practically) "free", you aren't as attached to them and can throw them out when your child has the concept down pat, as opposed to continuing to drill with them for ten more years because "I'm getting my money's worth out of the darned things!" Same with workbooks -- doing every exercise on every page might not be necessary for your child to learn the concept, and once the concept has been learned, they're better off spending their time learning something NEW rather than beating the dead horse, so to speak, by finishing every last question on every last page.

[I started out six years ago wanting a boxed curriculum and "the works" as far as educational materials, but more and more I'm leaning towards the DIY with a public library card. ... We've got a great library here, and most of the resources I've seen in the catalogs for the "whole-book" (vs. textbook) approach to learning are at the library right across the street, or available at one of the other libraries in our system. They even have the early, early readers, like the BOB books, that are hella expensive if you buy them new ($40.00 for a box that looks like a 3-CD boxed set, with 10 little pamphlet "books"!), and which you'll only use once.]

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

That's awesome!