Comments on: On the Web: UK Pre-School Teaches Woodworking http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/10/on-the-web-uk-pre-school-teaches-woodworking/ All tools. All the time. Your source for news, information, and reviews of hand tools, power tools, and tools of all kinds. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:58:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Myself http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/10/on-the-web-uk-pre-school-teaches-woodworking/#comment-6812 Myself Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:52:59 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/10/on-the-web-uk-pre-school-teaches-woodworking/#comment-6812 Hmm, that post was supposed to be wrapped in "devil's advocate" and "/devil's advocate" faux-HTML tags, but it looks like the CMS ate them. Hmm, that post was supposed to be wrapped in “devil’s advocate” and “/devil’s advocate” faux-HTML tags, but it looks like the CMS ate them.

]]> By: Myself http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/10/on-the-web-uk-pre-school-teaches-woodworking/#comment-6810 Myself Sun, 10 Dec 2006 17:52:20 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2006/12/10/on-the-web-uk-pre-school-teaches-woodworking/#comment-6810 Well how else are kids gonna learn not to swing hammers at their fingers? If you grew up in a rubber room where there were no physical repercussions for stupidity, you'd kill yourself the moment you stepped out into the real world and tried to get around by bouncing head-first down the sidewalk as had been your custom. A certain amount of childproofing makes sense. You try to remove choking-size objects and poisons, and you keep kids away from the stairs when they're too young to understand. But by the time preschool rolls around, motor skills and spatial relations are humming right along, and it's time to play with some real toys. It's actually quite hard to drive a nail into yourself accidentally unless you have a nail gun. I notice that the article didn't mention any history of accidents, and from the coordinator's comments, it sounds like there's no cause for concern. There were no circular saws here. I don't see what's wrong with giving a kid a hammer. Well how else are kids gonna learn not to swing hammers at their fingers? If you grew up in a rubber room where there were no physical repercussions for stupidity, you’d kill yourself the moment you stepped out into the real world and tried to get around by bouncing head-first down the sidewalk as had been your custom.

A certain amount of childproofing makes sense. You try to remove choking-size objects and poisons, and you keep kids away from the stairs when they’re too young to understand. But by the time preschool rolls around, motor skills and spatial relations are humming right along, and it’s time to play with some real toys. It’s actually quite hard to drive a nail into yourself accidentally unless you have a nail gun.

I notice that the article didn’t mention any history of accidents, and from the coordinator’s comments, it sounds like there’s no cause for concern. There were no circular saws here. I don’t see what’s wrong with giving a kid a hammer.

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