We Should Cherish Our Children’s Freedom to Think

276 Words2 Pages
“We Should Cherish Our Children’s Freedom to Think” Essay by J.W. Even Kie Ho himself agrees “..that American education does not meet high standards in such basic skills as mathematics and language” [p.113] and at the same time he wonders, in the sarcastic manner, if the best way to teach would be if we “… stuff the developing little heads of our children with hundreds of geometry problems, the names of the rivers in Brazil and 50 lines from The Canterbury Tales?” [p.113]. Thus, the author shows his negative attitude towards memorization and trying to convince us too. But in fact, this method of teaching often gives good results. However, Ho ignores the importance of the actual knowledge, and I cannot agree with him. Based on my own experience, the knowledge that I received in the school and college were very helpful to me. Even, despite the fact that I had to memorize all the formulas in the math and physics, remembering the names of all main cities in the world, learning poems and poetry - I was able to use all these knowledge in my everyday life. It made me feel confident and expanded my horizons. I do like Ho’s passionate idea of the freedom, but , in my opinion, a required amount of the basic knowledge is necessary, because it’s wrong and unacceptable to “…put Mussolini in the same category as Dostoevsky.” Because this is a basis of bases, and every educated and self-respecting person should know it. One wise man said: "If you want to be respected by others - start with yourself." And without knowledge, unfortunately, it is not

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