I was fortunate growing up. My parents provided moral support to excel in school and I felt an unspoken threat that something bad would happen if I disappointed them, that I would lose their respect or something like that. Father only completed 8th grade (lived on farm) and mother as immigrant came from different education background. I went to church and Sunday school and Saturday night revivals at age 7-9, which was activity and skills that transferred to school performance. The religious text had English words from another language use era, requiring mental focus, thought analysis and focus. And family moved out of inner city, where I had been pushed down entire flight of stairs at 2nd grade.
Absolutely. There are so many ways that families and communities compensate. Religious communities have definitely been a way for children to develop a commitment to dedicated practice and learning to do something because it is worthwhile (not necessarily fun). For some reason, your description reminds me of this quote in Life at the Bottom (recommended by a long-ago Glenn Show guest): "This is where the baleful effect of education as mere entertainment makes itself felt. For to develop an interest requires powers of concentration and an ability to tolerate a degree of boredom while the elements of a skill are learned for the sake of a worthwhile end." https://www.city-journal.org/html/we-don%E2%80%99t-want-no-education-12348.html
I was fortunate growing up. My parents provided moral support to excel in school and I felt an unspoken threat that something bad would happen if I disappointed them, that I would lose their respect or something like that. Father only completed 8th grade (lived on farm) and mother as immigrant came from different education background. I went to church and Sunday school and Saturday night revivals at age 7-9, which was activity and skills that transferred to school performance. The religious text had English words from another language use era, requiring mental focus, thought analysis and focus. And family moved out of inner city, where I had been pushed down entire flight of stairs at 2nd grade.
Absolutely. There are so many ways that families and communities compensate. Religious communities have definitely been a way for children to develop a commitment to dedicated practice and learning to do something because it is worthwhile (not necessarily fun). For some reason, your description reminds me of this quote in Life at the Bottom (recommended by a long-ago Glenn Show guest): "This is where the baleful effect of education as mere entertainment makes itself felt. For to develop an interest requires powers of concentration and an ability to tolerate a degree of boredom while the elements of a skill are learned for the sake of a worthwhile end." https://www.city-journal.org/html/we-don%E2%80%99t-want-no-education-12348.html