@mbateman
Philosopher, formerly @guidepostschool, currently @montessorium (and sibling schools), husband to @Gena_I_Gorlin, father to the creatures in my dadpoasts
đ Joined: 4/4/2007
đď¸ Archived: 9/14/2024
34.0K Tweets
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25 min of following 1yo, sped up 10x to 2.5 min Nearly zero interference or even interaction as he severally pursued his little side quests I love this age https://t.co/fBraGzrcmy
How long should I soak cast iron before putting it in the dishwasher? https://t.co/AeVPgL7wnB
We gave 4yo an iPad and set it up to offer her three affordances: 1. Take pictures 2. Type in notes 3. Text with a handful of people (family, a couple of family friends) The last one is the big hit. And it is *amazing*. It is immensely developmentally valuable. Why? Well⌠https://t.co/96UdKpOS9Z
4yo now deploying âperhapsâ, as in, âI will leave this leaf here for a creature to eatâperhaps a caterpillarâ Hardest part of being a parent is not bursting with delighted laughter and smothering them with hugs every time they speak
You will get more insight into the nature of childhood by pondering how an infant could become enduringly enchanted by a personal injury lawyer than you will by taking a developmental psychology class https://t.co/6rFKvscGx3
What happens when you set up a 4yo, whose writing norms are informed by rudimentary phonics and an obsession with stickers... ...with the ability to text her friend, also a 4yo, whose writing norms are informed by obsessively copying out track listings from the backs of CDs? https://t.co/2tDeLD9B3y
me: Show me how to get to this place google maps: Ok, ETA 38 mins google maps: WAIT google maps: I HAVE FOUND A ROUTE THAT SAVES 4 MINUTES AT THE NEGLIGIBLE COST OF TRIPLING HUMAN COGNITIVE OVERHEAD AND STRESS google maps: REJOICE me: Um no thatâsâ google maps: REROUTING
My 18moâs inner teacher is apparently telling him âJump down in a way that risks a fall.â He does this even when he knows how to get down 100% safely. He *seeks* this specific risk. He injures himself often (never seriously). This does not deter him; he tries again right away. https://t.co/wzWej7dlW6
I donât think schools should teach this, exactly, but they should teach something adjacent to this that makes you aware that this is an important type of civilizational literacy, an awareness that the vast majority of people donât know they donât know https://t.co/IP432BdNkG
âŚthey bring together two things: * A software keyboard, which is tool that makes writing short messages much easier for children, akin to a Montessori movable alphabet * A very real motivational context: communicating with someone she knows https://t.co/mjQilKD6v5
One of the common denominators in the great marriages Iâve seen is that they took the relationship seriously right when they first started âdatingâ. They either came in with that energy or things escalated very rapidly. It didnât even look like dating. Dating is low velocity.
4yo: Itâs really clean in here, did someone clean? me: Me 4yo: When?? me: Late at night. I did the dishes, swept the dining room, and straightened the living room, as I do every night. And, though I was tired and sick, it made me happy to clean. 4yo: 4yo: I want to clean
This is a book for 4 year olds I hate this so much https://t.co/sM6imi54dU
So many but this one most of all https://t.co/4tZOHMiM82 https://t.co/ce7UNl7AO6
me: Two of my friends are coming over tomorrow to meet you 4yo: What are their names? me: Uh⌠*realize I only know their twitter handles* me: I actually donât know, let me find out 4yo: ??? The internet is a strange and wondrous layer of reality
Can you edit a tweet to quote itself? https://t.co/ypnwN1exbr
She will sit and figure out how to compose messages for an hour or two, and carefully parse incoming messages from the day. She will also compose words and short sentences as a sort of school exercise, if you set it up perfectly. But why not take advantage of the real thing? https://t.co/5ImdWqpfFU
One of the few pieces of parenting advice that Iâm highly confident in and think generalizes widely across personalities, family cultures, ages: If your child is concentrating on doing something, donât interrupt. Donât correct, donât compliment, donât join in. Leave them be.
Montessoriâs influence on the world is in some ways quite small and specific, and in other ways so utterly victorious that it is invisible by virtue of being taken for granted. https://t.co/GkgRFyx3bE
You *get paid* to do a PhD in the US. Itâs a pittance, so the cost is the opportunity cost of working in a higher paying job. But the actual dollar cost is negative. You do not go into debt! Somehow this myth persists. https://t.co/mSeip5BicA
Finding a very large car free space where a toddler can truly wander is not always easy, though it is usually possible with some effort I do wish urban and suburban spaces had more of this sort of thing (This is the concourse in Golden Gate Park next to the Cal Academy museum) https://t.co/engHc4xS4U
Heâs genuinely trying to educate her https://t.co/nktFLk6gkA
Couldnât find 3yo this morning Right when I was starting to worry I see my wild daughter sitting quietly on the back porch, in pajamas, before sunrise me: There you are 3yo: Oh, hi 3yo: Iâm just listening to birds 3yo: Itâs nice out here 3yo: *contemplates eternity* https://t.co/yOfihPvLBB
Incidentally itâs extremely charming and a great deal of fun for us as parents https://t.co/6NC4jLufYl
Finally I will say: it is a positive introduction to the internet, to the digital age of communication. The digital world is an important and exciting part of her present and future world. Messages with family/friends allow her to experience what it is and what it affords her.
People hem and haw over âscreen timeâ, and I understand why. But I think itâs a bad concept, partly because it blocks you from fully appreciating the value of the sort of thing I am describing here. This has nothing important in common with braindead cocomelon YouTube shorts.
The best argument for using a Montessori-style floor bed for infants is that itâs hilarious https://t.co/Gblrs5By1V
3yo: I donât want to go to school. 3yo: 3yo: But⌠I like schoolâŚ? me: When itâs school time you donât want to go. When schoolâs out you donât want to come home. When itâs bath time you donât want a bath. When the bath is over you want to stay in. 3yo: Thatâs interesting.
âLet children text message a few people right at the beginning of their literacy journeyâ is, having seen it play out, such an obvious, unadulterated win. But almost no one does it. And when I share this story people usually have a mixed reaction: âcoolâ + âscreens mehâ
Not sure who needs to hear this but the world is full of couples who are married and functional and in love, and who are completely, happily inoculated against whatever status/SMV/earner/alpha/chad/trad/young/hot/body count/fertility attractor you believe is total and inescapable
Some years ago I heard the late Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, on a podcast. He told a story about how he visited a business class for a Q&A. The students asked how he managed stress. âI dunno? I like the stress.â He was confused. The students were confused.
4yo: Is this real life or a dream? me: Real life 4yo: Why? me: Because youâre awake 4yo: But⌠in my dream I dream that Iâm awake me: Thereâs an asymmetry: believing youâre awake while dreaming isnât the same as believing youâre awake while awake 4yo: Daddy it *is* the same
you: twitter isnât real life twitter: https://t.co/vUFcaNvwlw
Arc of this childrenâs book: 1. Wolves build brick house; pig destroys it with sledgehammer 2. Wolves build concrete house; pig destroys it with jackhammer 3. Wolves build steel bunker; pig destroys it with TNT 4. Wolves build house of flowers; pig smells roses, reforms So⌠https://t.co/VZ6P8OIZh6
Found the full eulogizing of Grant by Frederick Douglass that Iâve seen excerpted. His praise is damning for the desecrators of Grantâs statue. Douglass fought villainy *and* honored heroism. He saw the latter as critical for emancipation. Where lives that sentiment today? https://t.co/nb48qYEsko
Is the answer to the question âwhy is SpaceX seemingly > 1 OOM more effective than any other space company?â just âElon Muskâ? If so, what exactly makes him so insanely effective at SpaceX, even vs. his other companies? If not, I would love to know the actual answer. https://t.co/YofJaNNr1A
People are so used to talking about minimum acceptable outcomes in education that they truly have no idea how high variance educational outcomes can/should be. The top quartile of students can skip grades. The top 2% of students can do an entire multi year curriculum in *weeks*. https://t.co/AUkewKRFjZ
@Gena_I_Gorlin 95% of you are missing out https://t.co/5LTG4BS86R
> Why? Starting with the strictly false: your brain doesnât feel sparkly. You, the conscious embodied whole organism, might feel something like sparkly (though I must confess to never having felt this way myself). The notion of your brain feeling something is straightforwardly⌠https://t.co/FBx0sJ92F9
This is basic, 20+ year old functionality. It is so simple and obvious that it is virtually braindead. Offering this sort of simple affordance to small children is the kind of thing we should be eagerly looking to do. But I think we (including me) have a blind spot here. https://t.co/V6xnH8OtLn
Montessori describing a teacher, who saw a small boy who was moving a chair to be able to see into a tall basin, and picked him up and held him instead: https://t.co/Ijo4UB2auC
Uhhh am I the last person on earth to know about this movie? An animated childrenâs film about a boy learning to illuminate manuscripts in the throes of Viking raids in a 9th c. abbey? And itâs uncomfortably scary, goddamned gorgeous, child appropriate, and genuinely thematic? https://t.co/owY0iURAaH
Donât know who needs to hear this, but you are allowed, as a parent, to form your own judgments about risk and physically modify the default safety guardrails accordingly https://t.co/CDFy4hduSM
In 30 years, reactionaries will be sharing TikTok videos and memes from 2024 and being like âwow, this was the 20s, notice how happy and well-adjusted and present everyone was?â https://t.co/ldFmxMgJT2
When my 1yo wants something to happen immediately, heâll say âtwo, oneâ, imitating my countdown when the microwave is finishing. Small children treat their first bits of cognition as sacred treasures; they are masters of cargo cult rituals. https://t.co/i5FPaZKsoo
Yesterday 4yo decided to count out loud to 1000. She did it conscientiously and correctly, and it took a little under an hour. At present sheâs counting out loud using an invented numbering system that I canât quite figure out. Sheâs currently on âthirty twenty twoâ.
Children need to do stuff like this like they need food and water https://t.co/bktdy3o9t4
3yo: Were you a child when I was in mommyâs tummy? me: No, you didnât even exist yet 3yo: Where was I when I didnât exist? me: You werenât anywhere, we hadnât made you 3yo: Oh 3yo: But then I found a skeleton 3yo: And I filled around it with water 3yo: And I put skin on it
Met a family this weekend who sent their son to progressive, creativity-centric elementary programs. Heâs 13 now, and they asked him what he wanted for middle school. âI just want a school where the teachers know things and will explain the answers.â Common and worth reflection
For almost any big project, my two most common unblocking questions are: 1. How would I do this, as intelligently as possible, with years of time and unlimited money? 2. How would I do this, as stupidly as possible, in very little time and with very little money?
How I parent in a nutshell: 4yo wasnât independently getting dressed in the morning Got her a (cheap) vanity, coupled to a new routine of placing her clothes for the next day there before bed, got her excited about this set of things 2 weeks in, it seems to have worked
Bit of a tangent but CGI, even at Disney/Pixar levels, is plainly inferior to quality hand drawn animation. Once you see it you canât unsee it, and itâs mystifying to me why more people donât see it. https://t.co/gPZGJJ162E
This pattern obtained for my daughter throughout the age of 3: her: [says something] interlocutor: [mishears, or asks her to repeat or clarify] her: [immense frustration/rage] I remember the exact moment that she first instead calmly replied, âThatâs not exactly what I said.â
A friend of mine once said: If all you do is A/B test what your users want: With adults, you get gambling or pornography. With children, you get Roblox. https://t.co/crAAarPUNX
Totally normal and lovely print of a landscape painting in the living room of my friendâs house except he generated it with a Dall-E prompt https://t.co/f8KuZ3cG5n
I *love* that everyone is trying to meme their dream partners into existence with objective list theory and wouldnât dissuade anyone from this exercise, but: Almost every enduring couple I know found it fairly surprising what traits in a partner ended up making for a great match
me: Weâre putting a lock on your door for when you have trouble staying in your room after bed. 3yo: Ok! > next morning me: *forcibly breaks out of our bedroom* me: Did you put this on our door?? 3yo: Yes. Itâs only for if youâre having trouble staying in your room at night. https://t.co/cPmC0L6lJx
Are you the Tyler or the Paul in your relationship? https://t.co/esvlcef7WV
I tried my hand at baking bread this morning for the first time Coincidentally, 14mo got quite sick I carved him off a hunk of bread He spent 5 hours straight, through naps, crying, walks, sleeping, and doctorâs visit, holding onto and occasionally gnawing the bread https://t.co/gnIG90xyyb
Montessori: âThe inert child who never worked with his hands, who never had the feeling of being useful and capable of effort, who never found by experience that to live means living socially, and that to think and to create means to make use of a harmony of soulsâŚ
Yeah this was basically my goal For fun and also because I genuinely think itâs a better, semi-forgotten way of looking at the world https://t.co/YdvZmez8dd
Yes, easily, by looking at them https://t.co/3fT34pyrQJ
Meanwhile, in dad twitter https://t.co/sey4EpUEh9 https://t.co/jGQeWTdOpN
I ran across this again today The optimistic hypothesis is that itâs a timeless but empty complaint The pessimistic hypothesis is that it reflects a steady, decades-long decline in wanting to work https://t.co/1ZpkV59zjV
@Jayessaych She enjoys typing and I try to encourage that bias for various reasons but this is also fun yes https://t.co/QeygEKTkMP
I was skeptical of âyou get vitamin D from sunlightâ for actual years, because how would a complex molecule travel on massless sun photons, before I bothered looking up how it actually works and begrudgingly admitting that the above quoted ordinary language claim is fine
The popularity of notions like toddler-sized furniture, or alphabets made attractive to and manipulable by small children, are surprisingly recent. Their near universality today is the result of the thinking and advocacy of a small number of developmentalists.
Itâs shocking how little wealthy families spend on education. Whatâs the ceiling, 100k a year per child? 200k? If you want an ultra elite private school and a tutor or two? No one plans years of systematic intercontinental journeys or optimizes acres of land or hires Aristotle.