13 year old and Padi JOW cert

[CindyMac]

Rhone Man -

I might be a tad bit touchy, but I can take a joke. Now, if you had clarified and noted a "University of Alabama" grad, that's different. I'm just bummed Auburn's got a rotten football season!

I am just glad to see older children and teens interested and enthusiastic about diving. Terminology, while important, must be understood. I would have never believed how hard it is to write something on a fifth grade level until a co-worker had to do so. What we thought was fifth grade was actually 11th grade!

 

[Diver0001]

Any fool can make something seem more complicated than it is. At the JOWD level, diving is not that complicated.

I've said this in many threads in the past but somehow the cynics don't get the drift...... At some level diving is literally "child's play" and instructors who try to make it more complicated than it is are instructors who are more involved with their own egos than they are with the needs of their students.

R..

 

[CindyMac]

Well, maybe educated as opposed to "well educated." I'm originally from northeast Alabama (Gadsden area) back in the day in a school where education was emphasized over sports. My high school teachers were much tougher than college!

I was listening to a supposed Harvard grad with atrocious grammar on TV today! C'mon - this chicky paid for an Ivy League education and can't use pronouns correctly.

 

[boulderjohn]

Well, maybe educated as opposed to "well educated." I'm originally from northeast Alabama (Gadsden area) back in the day in a school where education was emphasized over sports. My high school teachers were much tougher than college!

Despite the chichés about students not being ready for college these days, research indicates that your experience is not unusual. High school students generally do not learn much more in college, especially in their first two years, than they knew coming out of high school. That is the conclusion of a major research study titled Academically Adrift.

I was listening to a supposed Harvard grad with atrocious grammar on TV today! C'mon - this chicky paid for an Ivy League education and can't use pronouns correctly.

Without knowing the specifics I obviously don't know what mistakes you are talking about, but you may be surprised to learn (as I was) that there has been a major change in what is considered proper and acceptable pronoun usage in the last decade. I believe each of the changes about which I have learned (Oh, and "I learned about" is also now acceptable) is for the better, but I still have a lot of trouble making those changes in my own speaking and writing. For example, "I hope everyone has brought their lunch" is now acceptable, but I have trouble writing or saying it, even though I myself called for exactly that change decades ago.

 

[Diver0001]

Despite the chichés about students not being ready for college these days, research indicates that your experience is not unusual. High school students generally do not learn much more in college, especially in their first two years, than they knew coming out of high school. That is the conclusion of a major research study titled Academically Adrift.

I sure did.

I grew up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere in Canada.... and like everything in Canada, the students with the best grades (best doctors, best dentists, best teachers, best of everything) went to the big cities. After all, in the cities the hospitals, schools, and everything else had the coolest toys.

What WE got... way WAY out in wilderness were one of two things (a) hippies who figured that living in the middle of nowhere was cool or (b) flunkies who couldn't get a job in the city.

and I'll be honest... (b) were VASTLY in the majority.

when I went to university I had 12 years of schooling behind me from people who I thought (as a child) had some idea what they were doing..... when I *got* to university, however, I discovered that what kids in the city had learned in grade 10 is what I learned in grade 12 and everything I learned in grade 12 was *so* far behind the curve that I was going to FAIL if I didn't catch up.

As a first year student I spent 12 hours a day, 6 days a week for 47 weeks studying to even close the gap and after that another year to get to the point where (even with an enormous IQ) I could compete with the other students on an even playing field. In fact, it took me 2 years at university before I even started to make friends because I simply didn't have time for friendship before that.....

So... about 'not learning much' in college.... I'll tell you... the only way you don't learn much in college is if your high-school education was far better than the norm... for all of us (and there are a great many) who had teachers who could only get jobs in the boom-docks because they just scraped through at university..... I guarantee you ... we *learned*.

R..

 

[CindyMac]

I hate that I'm showing my age!

 

[Frosty]

Once the book work is done, I have a few thoughts as to pool and open water dives with junior divers. If you are interested, read my blog here on SB titled "To Parents of Junior Open Water Divers."
DivemasterDennis

Hiya Denis - In reply to this specific comment you probably don'tremember but we had a long conversation on this subject almost exactly 12 months ago.
At that stage I had 3 kids wanting to do JOW/OW. 2 of them passed but the younger one -The kid we are talking about here showed a lack of maturity that meant we decided to postpone his JOW for a year and just do what turned out to be 2 DSD dives whick he loved and a familly "deep" lagoon dive in 5.0m of water (instructors and DM were with him).
Hes grown up a lot in this year so I'm happy to see how he gets on.
-I know I'm not one of the parents you are talking about in your blog having been there/done that.

---------- Post Merged at 10:04 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:01 AM ----------

I hate that I'm showing my age!

Yaal meean nawt ahl folk from aleebamee drink shine and wear breeches with built in braces?
dag namb it that goes all my eyedeahs aboot middle amereecans.


Here "downunder" we have the self same kinda jokes about people from Tasmania (australia)

 

[CindyMac]

kazbanz -

I love this board! Get to "talk" to so many different people from all over the world in the comfort of my family room!

Wasn't sure was "fizzing at the bung" was, but I'm a pretty sharp cookie and caught on quickly.

You can still find "shine" in the backwoods, but wouldn't suggest going there (seen the movie Deliverance?). Some folks wear "overhauls" and love to go to the fishin' hole. We'uns from Alabamee is Southern. Middle America is most like to be above the Mason-Dixon line. And there was that "Late Disturbance" (aka War Between the States). Really, you oughtta hear me say this stuff, because mah accent is very distinct. It takes me several seconds to get "Alabama" out of mah mouth.

Australia is on my "bucket list" of places to go. Hope I get there!

 

[Hawkwood]

I sure did.

I grew up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere in Canada....

What WE got... way WAY out in wilderness were one of two things (a) hippies who figured that living in the middle of nowhere was cool or (b) flunkies who couldn't get a job in the city.

and I'll be honest... (b) were VASTLY in the majority.

....

R..

Sorry for the hijack - Nelson?

 

[jtoc]

Doing what you want to do -- teaching your son that "residual" means "left over" -- means that you're doing just that; teaching him. If he doesn't know the word and you teach it to him, I'd say that you're being a good parent.

He doesn't understand the technical term before it's explained, but that doesn't mean he can't understand the concept.