donjuancho

Thank you everyone for all of the input. I am sorry that I wasn't able to respond earlier. It seems like it has raised some interesting ideas about fantasy. One myth that I want to address is the idea that you need fantasy for imagination. This is not accurate. When a child is taught fantasy the imagination is coming from the adult, the child is just believing it. Also, why does this have anything to do with fantasy? Kids can learn so much from reality like: math, how gears work, learning to cook, working with others, reading maps, coding, etc. They can let their imagination run rampant with ideas about these things, instead of fairies or talking pigs. One example of this is the co-founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They were both Montessori students where fantasy was not taught. The main message, which others brought up, is- how is fantasy understood? If kids can differentiate fantasy from reality, that is great. But if a child doesn't understand the difference between reality and fantasy, they will have a hard time understanding the nature of reality. I like the comparison of candy and fantasy. Having a little at appropriate times can be ok, but if it becomes habitual there may be an underlying problem.

I hope to raise a discussion here on the merits of reality vs. fantasy for young children. I hope that readers at least question the effects of fantasy on kids. I have come to the conclusion that it can be harmful to children under the age of 8 to be taught fantasy. This might raise a knee jerk reaction when you first read this. It did for me. After more research though it appears that young children cannot differentiate the between fantasy and reality. If they see a movie with talking cars, the children believe that cars can talk and have emotions. If they read a book about someone with superpowers they think that is real, and believe they may grow up and have super powers. Introducing this to children then can be seeing as lying to them, since they do not understand the differences. What is the point fantasy for children? Instead of having them play around in wonderland, why not have them join you in reality? Why give them a fake cooking set, when you could have them help you cook dinner? Why show them a “Cars” movie when you can teach them how cars actually work. Why work so hard to keep them from learning about reality, and instead have them join you in it? In Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Angeline Lillard writes: “Dr. Montessori… believed that the goal of childhood is being able to learn and perceive the real world… giving the child fantasies… thwarts their understanding of the real world…” “So what if kids learn fantasy? I did and I turned out fine.” It is true that we can have fantasy as kids and be normal adults. We are just a little behind. Rosyln Ross explains it best: It’s all math: children who live in the real world from birth spend 8 years practicing real life instead of pretending they’re a princess. That’s a lot more expertise in real life skills than the average American child gets. The number one thing parents can do to facilitate the co-creation of a healthy relationship with their children is to welcome their children into their lives instead of trying to keep them out or trying to get them to do "children" things. Parents can bring their children with them to life while they model a life-well-lived instead of going to great lengths to invent a world for children that doesn't actually exist. When parents do this, they are on the same team as their children and parenting becomes a lot easier and more fun. I highly recommend listening to Roslyn Ross’s speech from Libertopia to learn more- Part 1 is about relationships - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmDUquKAUQ Part 2 talks about fantasy for children (including its history) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJG1rrjD3lQ Studies and other resources: Rosyln Ross's Blog: http://roslynross.blogspot.com/ Thinking About Fantasy: Are children fundamentally different thinkers and believers from adults? Child Development, 6, 991-1011 Making Sense of Pretence in C Lewis & P Mitchel Children's Early Understanding of Mind: Origins and Development p, 211-34 British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 417-27 Children's ability to distinguish fantasy events from real-life events, Samuels A and Taylor M 1994 DeLoache 1998 The Development of early symbolization: Educational implications. Learning and Instruction, 8 325-39 Piaget 1970 Science of education and the psychology of the child

I have created a free, reality based workbook series for children ages 2-7. I am looking to promote this series and get feedback. The website is: realworkbooks.com. What is this about? Nearly all educational tools available to young children are based on fantasy. Many studies(see notes on bottom for more info) show that a child's ability to distinguish fantasy from real-life events is different than adults. For instance, most children believe that they can change reality with their mind. This project was inspired by Roslyn Ross. I highly recommend watching here lectures from Libertopia this year to learn more about the fantasy worlds that are created for children. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJG1rrjD3lQ What can I do? Please share this website with friends, especially if they have young children. It is not explicitly anarchic, which means it can be more widely distributed. The results can be very beneficial for liberty though. Imagine kids that learn based on reality. They think empircally and objectively. How easy would it be to indoctrinate them with the magical thinking of governments, social contracts, positive rights, etc? It would probably be quite difficult, even if they have never heard of the NAP or voluntarism. We are also looking for feedback and donations. Please take a look! realworkbooks.com Thanks, Jon Studies and other rescources: Rosyln Ross's Blog: http://roslynross.blogspot.com/ Thinking About Fantasy: Are children fundamentally different thinkers and believers from adults? Child Development, 6, 991-1011 Making Sense of Pretence in C Lewis & P Mitchel Children's Early Understanding of Mind: Origins and Development p, 211-34 British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 417-27 Children's ability to distinguish fantasy events from real-life events, Samuels A and Taylor M 1994 DeLoache 1998 The Development of early symbolization: Educational implications. Learning and Instruction, 8 325-39 Piaget 1970 Science of education and the psychology of the child