I was alerted to this thread by a friend as my name had been mentioned and thus I may want to respond within
I do feel strongly about parenting as many here know. I've been to private and public schools myself, the private running from conservative christian to college prep. My own children have attended everything from immersion Japanese, private conservative christian, college prep and their regular public schools in two different state's districts.
My children learn from me as well, we watch documentaries, travel, go to speeches, science shows, festivals, watch TV, educational net etc. We talk about what we see. At our church we learn about other religions, do social action and learn about human relationships. (I heavily influence my children and those I teach at my church with my secular humanist views
)
I've met homeschooled children that were grown up, I've been to a kibbutz, I've seen children from strict and from liberal households. I've read extensively about what makes children have high IQs or be "Talented and Gifted Identified". Over and over again, when looking at examples of humans from history that we now label as "genius" --to looking at those we hold in high esteem today--the smarter an individual, the more exposure he or she has had--exposure to education, science, history, contemporary cultures as a child. The more understanding you can give a child the smarter they will be. Studies show that young babies and toddlers who are talked to more have a higher I.Q. and vocabulary.
When I was in highschool I did a science fair project on intelligence. I took 12 baby rats and put them into 12 different cages. 3 got toys, music and handling. 3 got just music and handling. 3 had only music and 3 received nothing--they just sat in their cages. I built a maze myself with nails and wood--three foot by two feet. After three months when the rats were grown I tested them all in the maze, you can guess which group was fastest. What surprised me then, was eye opening in fact --was that all three groups that received some sort of intervention scored significantly higher than the rats that were in their twelve by six containers with nothing the whole time--even the ones with music but no handling! (By far the group with all the interventions scored the highest, but the top three were in the same ballpark with a giant gap between they and the "control" group).
The lesson was ingrained upon me, humans are no different--give them toys, give them experiences--teach them, and they'll be in the higher performing group.
So far my parenting experiments are coming out well, my 12 year old today said I was a good mom--even though we have conflict at times, it is great for me to hear her say that as many 12 year olds can't stand their parents.
I'd write more, but after a long day of taking a child to the Dr. for a minor surgical procedure, helping one bake a cake, taking two to a bounce house, helping find some videos about deep sea creatures for one's project, getting food and laundry done along with my transhumanist, PTO (for our school's board, I help to make the place better--and even teach an afterschool club about the future
yeah they hear about it all, including cryonics
) work for my church... well, I need to get some sleep before the next day so I'm not tired all day as evidenced by reading over that last sentence
Elijah you'd like the documentary on the family with 17 children (18 now, but 17 when they filmed) they are homeschooling, no TV watching, controlled net, God loving folk. It has been very interesting for us to analyze them (was with my 12 year old today) in some ways I feel sorry for the kids who will not be up-to-speed on many things about our society. I hope all their children turn out well