Hi Milos,
On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 2:28 PM, Milos Rancic millosh@gmail.com wrote:
Writing dumb articles because of thinking that children are dumb is dumb. And not just dumb, but deeply ageist and discriminatory.
I don't think that either simplified or children's projects should be "dumbed down". Ottava's essays on Kubla Khan and Intimations of Immortaility recently noted on this list are examples of quite detailed and intelligent essays written in (somewhat) simplified language.
Considering, for example, Piaget's [1] theory, timeline of cognitive development is:
- The earliest usual learning of writing is around 5.
- At around 8 children are able to read without problems.
- At around 10 children cognitive system is almost the same as adult.
- Between 13 and 15... there are young adults.
And we can all look to our own personal development for anecdotes.
I think it would be appropriate to serve a few audiences, say 5 to 15, but welcoming readers of all ages: - younger children learning to read (compare Britannica's Young Children's Encyclopedia, 16 volumes with images and short descriptions, intended to introduce reading) - older children and adults looking for a clear, concise illustration of topics[1] (compare Encarta and World Book, which targeted high school students, but had features for children of 7 and 8). - children and others looking for interesting new topics, trivia, and projects to try. this might work best for a project that combines material from wikiversity, wikibooks, wikipedia, wikiquote, and other projects. (Compare Arthur Mee's 20-volume Book of Knowledge, which is probably described well as a "mix of all Wikimedia projects, with songs and games, written for children" and despite its quaint language is still recommended by various homeschooling groups as easy to use in everyday learning.[2])
Milosh writes:
finding relevant pedagogues who would lead child contributors.
That's a fine idea. Also finding active middle- and high-school students interested in leading such a project. There are some examples already, from the Grundschul wiki to the Children's Encyclopedia of Women, of specific groups of students starting a project intended to be a global space to collaborate.
SJ
[1] This addresses Ting's point that some articles aren't so clear in their introductions. That's not a question of age, but of what you expect the first few sentences to tell you.
[2] http://www.hstreasures.com/bookofknowledge.html