Ridecamp: RE: [RC] [RC] Very young riders in AERC rides

There is a difference between a "junior rider" and a child, yes even a TODDLER! Frankly, most adults who think they have to "explain" anything to a 5 year old need to have a reality check. I have never met a 5 year old who could either make nor understand a logical decision. They simply are not of a cognizant age.

 

Children learn what they're taught; they aren't pets, they are very inexperienced humans. You get out of them what you invest in them, no more. Often the reason they "can't make or understand a logical decision" is because we don't bother to explain logically.

 

How many parents have shut down that toddler that asks non-stop "why?"'s? 

 

"Why, Mom?"

"Because I said so, that's why"

"But why?"

"Will you stop asking 'why'? I have to get this done. Go watch TV. And don't take that cookie in the family room. What did I say? Now."

 

Children raised in that environment can't think for themselves, perhaps.

 

My son was 5 when he explained his different perception of time passing. On a 90 minute car trip he kept asking "are we there yet?" every three minutes, and I'd answer "in a few minutes, we'll be there soon." His constant questioning made me nuts, and so I asked him, sincerely, why he asked so often.

 

"Because, Mom, I only have five years, so a few minutes is a lot bigger to me that to you because you have lots of years."

 

Logic? You bet. Damned perceptive of him, I'd say. But that's because I tried to give him real answers. I made the effort to be rational with him, talked to him like an extremely inexperienced adult. I answered as many of his endless questions as I could, until he was bored asking, and I answered them *logically* -  I didn't treat him like a pet - and he was logically astute even as a toddler.

 

I also taught him how to read before he could walk or talk, at 10 months. He had a 50 word reading vocabulary before he was a year old, and could make simple sentences with huge word cards. He used the Encyclopedia Britannica at 7 years old to get better answers to his questions, and read Shogun at 10. He isn't a genius or particularly gifted, he's just an ordinary guy. I was raised that way too, my whole family was. I could use a microscope as a 3 year old, and had cultures in petre dishes growing different molds, tiny gardens, when I was 5. I won a national retail marketing contest as a 14 year old, entered in place of my dad, who was a store manager, because I had a good idea. I won him a trip to the Super Bowl.

 

Why could I use a microscope and perform dissections as a 5 year old? Why could my son exhibit stunning logic as a toddler, read as an infant?  Someone answered the question "Why?".

 

Most kids aren't raised the way my son was raised, so your skepticism is understandable. Children are individuals, they are people, and they can't all be judged as if they were raised the way your children were raised. I've had many children in my life that I trust more than I'd trust the adults responsible for them.

 

One of my favorite riding buddies is 9 years old girl, and she's a kid who can out-think - and out ride - many of the posters to this list. Her mom raised her to be the child she is.

 

Don't give them too much more than they're able to handle, but, please, don't underestimate their ability to do what they're prepared to do.

 

Back to lurking!  Linda

 

 

Linda Cowles

Horse 'N Hound 

New, Consigned & Used Tack

9155 North State St.,  Redwood Valley, CA 95470

EASY  access with Hwy 101 frontage!

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