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Re:The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge by rudenoise on Saturday July 28, 2012 @12:59PM (#4305894)
My daughter isn't at that age yet, but I imagine that helping to lead the conversation/exploration with the right questions (rather than providing complete answers) might be a sound approach?
Re:The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge by henrybaxter on Saturday July 28, 2012 @05:29PM (#4306575)
I think that's a good idea, but in practice it can be hard to strike a balance that I like. If you get to the question part too soon, or if the question requires too much of a leap or background knowledge, you can hit a brick wall.
Re:The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge by smoyer on Saturday July 28, 2012 @07:11PM (#4306868)
I think the fact that you're thinking about how to guide your kids through their early years indicates that you're going to do well at it. Sometimes you won't give enough detail and sometimes too much but overall, they'll hear the parts they need at the time.

A funny anecdote - I taught my daughter the principles (not the mechanics) of trigonometry and the unit circle when she was in 6th grade. Simply because she asked. When she was taking trig in 10th grade, she said "remember when you told me about ...".