Smarter Than Me

First Posted May 18, 2009 on el Bed.com

The other day I sent an email to a guy at work. I was answering a question for him that required some online research. As part of the response, I cut and pasted the ratio 20 to 100 into the text of my reply to him. He later asked if 20 to 100 was the same as 1 to 5. He’s a smart guy and sometimes funny so I’m not sure if he was over-analyzing or just messing with me. I joked back and that was about the end of it.

It seems like we used to learn this kind of stuff in Jr. High School. Now days, kids learn these things in about the 4th grade. Just that morning, I was helping my 5th grader with some math homework. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what she was doing. I’m normally quite comfortable with math but this was news to me. Outside, I was a calm, supportive, intelligent father. Inside, I was a wreck. I kept chanting to myself, “Fake it till you make it. Fake it till you make it.”

Eventually I figured it out and was able to help with her questions. It was a great boost to my morale to figure out this grade school math all by myself.

Later that evening I went to Junior Achievement’s City, where grade school age kids go to learn how to be adults for a day. JA Biz Town is what the kids call it. I volunteered to help with my daughter’s class when they go next week and needed to get my training done.

This place was Unbelievable (with a capitol U). Picture a miniature town square in the middle of a large room, with 20 businesses built up around the edge. The businesses included: a car dealership, a furniture store, two banks, a real estate office, a newspaper, radio and television stations, a copy center, and over ten other businesses. Each one was incredibly detailed and realistic. Some kids will be managers and some will be workers and sales people. They will work, get paid, write checks, and buy things they need for work and personal use. My daughter will be the CFO of the restaurant, where kids can go get a drink on their breaks.

I was blown away by the detail, the preparation, and the obvious care that has gone into planning this curriculum. Here is a program that is actually teaching kids what life is like in the real world. I am so excited to go there this week for the actual simulation. It should be a great experience for everyone involved, bringing new meaning to the phrase, fake it till you make it.

Just now, as I was typing this, my daughter, who I gallantly helped with her math homework last week, just came over and read what I have been typing. “I got half of those answers wrong,” she said and walked away. Hopefully the children are more successful with the mantra than I was.

How about you?  What impresses you most about the up and coming generation?

Clark