| I hope I understand correctly. We aren't talking "book smarts," but more talking about how we handle social situations.
I think you will definately learn social skills in school to a degree because you will be introduced to a social setting. I think the home life has a lot to do with it, because as children our families usually are a big influence on us. We may ask our child what is wrong when we pick them up from school.... they reply with a tough social situation that they encountered.... and our response can change a lot about how they understand what happened. Of course how it is handled in the classroom will make some sort of impact also. The first years of school such as kindergarden seem to be more about social ineraction then book smarts, right?
I think teaching our kids to communicate honestly is something that may make a big impact from an early age. Having open discussions with them, asking them what they think, and especially being honest with ourselves to be ok with telling them what we don't know may help them communicate about and understand their social interactions.
Unfortunately a handful of religious beliefs insist on it being a "no no" to say, "we don't really know this." They praise you for saying, "this is reality" (without saying the "even though we don't really know" part). I do not blame religions. I just think it's one good example of growing up without being talked to honestly and encouraged to be honest about things. I personally think an honest analytical mind with less book smarts could be much more progressive (be it ethical, social, business, science, etc.) than a well "educated" mind that has a hard time communicating honestly.
I hope I didn't digress.... I don't know... what do you guys think? |