Comments:

Claudia - 2007-04-17 12:27:42
Agreed. Which is why we're trying for primary-source learning and keeping the television off whenever possible. Not everyone agrees with me but...whatever.
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Julia - 2007-04-17 12:44:10
I agree with your context argument. It's good that AJ likes the material, he'll probably be more interested in the background because of that. It's always fun to see a car commercial and recognize the music from an opera.
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teranika - 2007-04-17 18:16:52
I hadn't thought about this topic as deeply as you have, and I do see your point that learning out of context does not necessarily breed intelligence in children. Still, I personally learn quite a bit through familiarity, be it music, science, or history. I like the idea of popular culture creating a sense of familiarity with the classics. Then years later, the Bugs Bunny "What's Opera, Doc?" goes from funny to hilarious, because I've filled in the cultural gaps. I appreciate and learn the history of Europe more completely because I've seen and can visualize the places. There are many concepts in science (and music) that I can understand even though I have not necessarily been provided with an academic name or cultural context for them...Does that make any sense?
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Katie - 2007-04-17 18:30:55
Peer Gynt... for years I thought that was Rite of Spring. Imagine my shock horror when I actually heard RoS.
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elgan - 2007-04-17 22:46:29
Our first computer, a Macintosh SE purchased in 1987, still works beautifully...except no one is using it.
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Laura - 2007-04-18 07:48:53
Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit! I say a classical music education that springs from Bugs Bunny can't be all bad.
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Harriet - 2007-04-18 16:08:36
That's a good point, Teranika. Sometimes repetition it takes. I certainly don't have a problem with making it fun. I guess part of it is attitude. The Baby Einsteins plays like a show created by a marketing committee. It seems designed to relieve parental guilt, not actually teaching children. My problem with the lack of cultural context has more to do with what the show purports to accomplish than of a more general lack of cultural context. This is why I think it's fine to learn Peer Gynt from Bugs Bunny but not from Baby Einsteins. But Katie, I think a sudden exposure to Rite of Spring when you're expecting something else could be alarming, or exciting, or both. And that may have something to do with the near-riot that occured at the RoS's premiere.
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