Marsh and Patty have chatted online for several months in an America-On-Line
chat room before having the following conversation:
P. Marsh, you ought to write a book on education. It would be a smash hit
with parents.
M. I have thought about that...but it's not so easy. I am already writing a
novel that's a huge pain in the butt.
P. Oh...what's it about?
M. It's a romance about a lady with Multiple Sclerosis and how she fights a
bunch of bad guys and changes the world. You could say it's about empowering
people with disabilities.
P. Is it because you have MS?
M. That's partly the reason. But there is a lot of other stuff in there
besides MS, like murder and romance and consumer advocacy stuff.
P. I never noticed! Hahahahaha.
M. Would you like to help me write a book on education?
P. Sure, I'll help. Sounds like great fun. What do you want from me?
M. Just let me teach you everything I know about preschool education. I'll
then record and organize our conversations and turn it all into a book.
P. What will I learn?
M. Just how to teach Erica how to read and compute. Does that appeal to you?
P. Really Marsh!!! Erica is just 16 months old!
M. That's the very best time to start teaching her the alphabet and the
sounds of the letters.
P. You are kidding me. I cannot believe this. 16 months!!
M. I never kid about such matters. You are vastly underestimating what
little kids can learn. The alphabet is a snap for ‘em.
P. Marsh, you told me last week that most educators in America think your
ideas are all wrong, and that you know better.
M. That's true.
P. Are you are telling me that the combined wisdom of a zillion educators
are wrong and you are right?
M. Yes, that's what I am telling you.
P. Isn't that just a little presumptuous on your part? Face it, Marsh, who
are you to make such a claim? Why should parents buy your book and listen to
you?
M. That's a fair question. Maybe it's because I know what I'm talking
about.
P. I see that you are quite sure of yourself.
M. You bet I am. Patty, I personally lived this teaching adventure for
about five years. I didn't learn about it from a book. No one can tell me I don't
know my stuff, particularly educators who have never taught reading to a two
year old themselves.
P. But you have no degrees in education.
M. True. But what gave u the notion that one needs a degree to teach?
Heck...teaching is a cinch and from what I've learned about our educational system,
the last thing I needed was a degree in education. Because I do not have one,
I never had the misfortune of learning all their nonsense and baloney. Most of
what I've learned about teaching came from actually doing it over a long
period of time. Anyway, did Einstein have a degree in physics when he discovered
the theory of relativity?
P. I don't know...did he?
M. No, he did not. Now I am not comparing myself to him, but there are many
people who have done great things without having a degree of any kind.
P. Marsh, I think I am going to enjoy listening to what you have to say.
M. Good, cause what I have to say, you will never hear anywhere else. This
book will be an original from start to finish. Moreover, if you do what I tell
you, Erica's life will be vastly improved.
P. Aren't you worried about being criticized?
M. Hahahha. Hardly. Patty, I am at a place in my life now that nothing or no
one scares me. That's another benefit of having MS and being in a wheelchair.
P. You never told me that you were in a wheelchair!! A benefit?
M. In a sense having MS is very liberating because it makes you so miserable
that you forget about all of life's little crap and frees you to focus on
what's important. Plus, all the little things I used to fear suddenly
disappeared. MS changed my entire perspective on life. That's why I don't give a hoot
about being criticized. What can anyone do or say to me that the MS has not
already done?
Later
P. Hi, Marsh...I was thinking today how unusual it is that you are writing
this book and not someone in education.
M. I have that thought all the time. But I have to write it because no one
else will.
P. Why not?
M. Two reasons. The first is that few educators really understand any of
this or its importance. Two, the ones who understand it consider it a worse
threat than vouchers or home schooling combined so they won't talk. Don't ask why
now. I will explain it all later in a later chapter. Okay?
P. Grumble grumble...
M. Now, can I ask u... would it bother you if your kids end up smarter -- I
mean MUCH smarter than you? And will u stop grumbling?
P. Silly question. My best girlfriend in high school had a six digit IQ
Disgustingly smart. Never studied, aced every exam. Got a full four year
scholarship to Harvard. Worse, she was drop dead gorgeous. Damn, did I envy her!
M. Then it would not bother you?
P. MARSH! Those are my kids you are talking about. I would be overjoyed if
they were that smart. I am not competing with my children in the brain
department! I want them to be as smart and well educated as possible. That's why I am
here. And I will grumble all I want to. So stick that in ur ear. :o)
M. Then you are here for the right reasons.
P. Then let's start. Incidentally, I talked to my sister Ellen... I swear
she almost laid an ostrich egg when I told her about these lessons. She bent my
ear for an hour telling me why I shouldn't do it . . . that it was a waste of
my time . . . that I will be hurting Erica and yadda yadda yadda. She about
collapsed and croaked when I said you were a CPA. That really put her in orbit!
M. Huh? What's her interest in all this?
P. I don't think I ever mentioned to u that she has a doctorate in early
childhood education....sorry.
M. Hmmm. I should have warned you not to talk to anyone about these
lessons. Did you tell anyone else? Just what I need...a fuzzy head on my ass.
P. Bill and I told our mothers which means that the whole world now knows
about it.
M. I am glad that your sister hasn't scared you away.
P. Not a chance of that happening. I have to hear all u have to say. Plus
our mothers are intrigued.
M. That figures...grandparents are usually very interested. Much more so
than parents.
P. Oh yeah? Now why is that?
M. I think it's because they have lived long enough to learn the importance
of a good education, and that's what they dearly want for their grandchildren.
Moving right along...today I snail-mailed you a series of articles about the
human brain that ran a few years ago in the Chicago Tribune. The auther, Ron
Kotulak, won a Pulitzer for it. Now let's talk about intelligence. What would
you say if I told you that Erica could have an IQ of 200 or higher -- way
above genius?
P. 200 yipes! Still listening . . .
M. It is now firmly established that human intelligence is a factor of both
our heredity and the environment. The heredity factor gives all of us a wide
range of potential intelligence which means that babies born without birth
defects can grow up having an IQ of anywhere between 80 and 200...from dull to
super genius or even more than that. The fact is, no one knows the ultimate
human intelligence potential. But it is known that it is far higher than the norm
today.
P. That's quite a range. From dull to super genius. You are telling me
that Erica has a potential IQ of 200?
M. Yes I am. The question is, how much of Erica's potential intelligence
will be tapped into? The answer is that it all depends on her environment
during her first five years of life. That's where you and Bill enter this picture.
For the first years of Erica's life, YOU are her environment.
P. How do you define environment?
M. Let's say that right after Erica was born you put her in a dark closet . . . never talked to or touched her. What do you think would happen?
P. That's obvious. I'd get arrested for child neglect and I suppose she'd
end up pretty dull.
M. Exactly. That closet would afford her little, if any, brain stimulation.
Her brain growth would be stunted. Now consider what happens if Erica gets
tons of stimulation a day. Everyone talks to her, touches and hugs her, teaches
her to read and compute and she listens to hours and hours of classical music.
Now what?
P. Genius?
M. Quite possibly, yes. Thus, you and Bill control her ultimate IQ by the
kind of environment you create. Would you want Erica to be a great scientist
or an accomplished world class musician?
P. Not sure.
M. Judit Polgar's father was sure about what he wanted.
P. Who's she?
M. A Hungarian girl who trounced world chess champion Boris Spassky when she
was just 16. Her astounding accomplishment was no mere accident. According
to news accounts, her father believed that high intelligence could be created
and he began to teach chess to Judit and her two sisters when they were three
years old. Had he stressed music instead, as Mozart's and Beethoven's fathers
did, Judit would no doubt be a great musician today. It's the same with Tiger
Wood's father. He wanted Tiger to be a great golfer and started teaching him
to putt when he was one year old. The point is...whatever we teach ‘em during
the first few crucial years of their life becomes locked into their minds.
M. I'll bet you've never forgotten Mary Has a Little Lamb or Jack and Jill,
have you?
P. Nope. I know them all.
M. And how old were you when you learned them?
P. Probably 3 or 4.
M. That's the whole point. The earlier you learn, the more the brain soaks
it up.
P. But they can learn the skills later...learning does not stop just because
they turn 5.
M. True, but it's not the same. Whatever is learned early makes later
mastery of the subject a whole lot easier. Can u see how parents can control their
children's destinies? This is crucial for u to understand. Want someone else's
high brow thoughts on this matter?
P. Sure.
M. Commenting on child prodigies such as Mozart, William Fowler (University
of Chicago), in his "Longitudinal Study of Early Stimulation in the Emergence
of Cognitive Precocity" Fowler wrote:
"In no instance where documentation exists have I found any
individual of high ability who did not experience intensive (emphasis added) early
stimulation as a central component of his development . . . The unvarying
coincidence of extensive early stimulation with cognitive precocity and subsequent
superior competence in adulthood suggests that stimulation is a necessity for the
development of high abilities."
P. What was all that again? Ye gads, simple English please.
M. Fowler just said he never found a true genius who didn't have intensive
early instruction and stimulation.
P. So if I want Erica to be a champion chess player, I should get her
started on the game now, while she's still very young.
M. Yes. As a parent, you are in charge. You can mold her as you wish.
P. Got it.
M. Parents need not raise our kids under the "whatever will be, will be"
philosophy. Parents can decide what will be -- we are in control! PARENTS
HAVE THAT POWER!!!
P. The guy sure gets hysterical about this. What about her teachers?
M. They are not around during the crucial early years when her brain is
rapidly growing, but you are. That makes you a lot more important. Put another
way, teachers are building on the foundation you laid.
P. <----- FEELING EMPOWERED!!!!!. Are you sure about all this? Ellen says
that trying to make my kids smart your way is ungodly, unnatural, and
developmentally incorrect.
M. It is interesting she would bring God into this. Want me to rebut her
now?
P. Not now. Tomorrow night. Patty2kids is pooping out.
M. Okay -- tomorrow -- g'night Patty.
P. G'night, Marsh.
Next Evening
P. Hi! I'm here again!
M. Right on time.
P. Marsh, u r sure big on ‘lil kids...I appreciate that...
M. You betcha, I am. Let me give you an example of their amazing learning
abilities, one you have seen but don't fully appreciate. English is a difficult
complex language yet little kids learn it without the benefit of teachers or
classrooms. Just by listening, they learn the language in no time and also
learn the correct accent.
P. I've noticed.
M. Can any adult do that in the same time period? What's more, that same
child who is learning English can, if exposed, also learn Chinese, French,
Russian, Japanese or any other language at the same time and not mix them up! THIS
IS A MONUMENTAL FEAT OF MENTAL GYMNASTICS THAT NO ADULT, NO MATTER HOW SMART,
COULD BEGIN TO MATCH. Little kids do it easily and don't even brag.
P. You are telling me that Erica could learn English, Russian, French all at
the same time?
M. You might throw in Chinese too.
P. Are you sure about this?
M. Yes Patty. All little kids are linguistic geniuses.
P. Wouldn't that be a kick! Would you recommend that I arrange for someone
to teach Erica a foreign language?
M. I sure do. Why the schools teach foreign languages starting in high
school is beyond me. That's a subject for preschoolers. They'd run circles around
high schoolers. I'd start language instruction at 3 or 4.
P. I took French in high school. After two years of pain I learned not much
more than how to say adieu and bon jour. Hey, the lady who lives next door is
Japanese and her son is about Erica's age.
M. Bingo! That's great. Just get together with her everyday for an hour. You
speak only English and she speaks only Japanese to the kids. In six months
Erica will speak and understand Japanese.
P. No instruction other than just talking?
M. Nope, that's all you need do. I said ‘lil kids are linguistic geniuses. I
was not kiddin. Where were we?
P. Ellen's "ungodly". By the way, she called me again today. I had to
promise her that I would never talk to you again before she'd let me hang up.
M. Uh oh....But you are here...
P. I would sometimes promise her anything, even my left foot, to get her off
the phone.
M. Then you believe what I've told you so far?
P. I'm here, aren't I?
M. As for Ellen's "ungodly" comment, in my mind it is ungodly to waste God's
most precious gift to mankind -- the gift of intellect. Who does Ellen think
gave us our enormous intellectual potential? The Tooth Fairy?
P. LOL!!
M. We squander most of this fabulous gift. I wonder how that makes Him
feel? Did you ever think, Patty, of how important intelligence is to homo
sapiens?
P. Can't say I have. It's was never one of my top ten interests.
M. Intelligence gives us the keys to the zoo.
P. I can't wait to hear this. Please explain that.
M. Just compare our species with the rest of the animal world. We are
certainly not the strongest, nor the fastest, and we don't have body armor or
stingers. Over all, we're really quite puny. Now consider which animals live in
the zoo. There's the big strong elephant, the ferocious lion, the speedy
cheetah. Where are the humans?
P. We're the ones who run the zoo.
M. Precisely! And we're the ones who lock up the zoo at night and drive home
in our high tech cars. All because of our intellect. That's our edge. So
Patty, is intelligence important?
P. Not if you don't mind being locked up in a cage. Hahahaha...
M. Now let's talk about racism. She'll love this...
P. Good idea Marsh! I have always wanted to take a course in Bigotry
101!!!!
M. Who do you think are more intelligent, blacks or whites?
P. The man is serious!!!!! You're serious! <----- doesn't like racist talk.
:o( :o( :o(
M. Trust me on this. Who do you think is smarter...blacks or whites? You
must have heard that blacks have lower school test scores. Doesn't that mean
that whites are smarter?
P. You are not going to draw me into this. :o(
M. C'mon Patty...let's say two babies are born the same day, one
African-American and the other White. Both sets of parents have my book and decide to
really go for it and give their kids a tremendous amount of stimulation for five
years. At age five, both parents give their kids IQ tests. The White child
scores an astounding 210, making him the smartest human being in the galaxy.
P. And the African-American kid?
M. I am very sorry to say that his results weren't so good which undoubtedly
proves that Blacks are intellectually inferior to Whites. He only scored a
minuscule 206!
P. The poor darling is now only the second smartest human in the galaxy. The
twerp could lend me 50 points and not miss one of them.
M. Patty, do you now see why the question of which race is smarter is really
quite meaningless? Comparing the races is like comparing two men: one with
$9.6 million and the other with $9.7. Who's richer?
P. They are both extremely wealthy. Is that your point?
M. Yep, sure is. To sum it all up, all kids, no matter what their race, are
born with the same enormous intellectual potential. Except for children born
with mental disabilities, all kids can be geniuses, especially by today's
dumbed down standards.
vP. So who is smarter ...whites or blacks?
M. Compared to their unrealized potentials, both groups are equally dull.
Let me tell you about my unofficial and unscientific survey. After I taught
Daniel how to read, I began to talk to mothers on phone-in radio talk shows about
my adventures as his first teacher. Mothers called frantically seeking advice
about reading and phonics. They had kids who couldn't read worth five cents.
Many of these mothers also had toddlers so we'd chat for a while about early
parental teaching, my favorite subject.
P. What about fathers? Ever talk to ‘em?
M. Never. Not once. That's a whole other issue I'd rather not discuss.
Let's stick to the outline.
P. <----- piqued interest. Don't let this poor little Irish lass hang. What
about Daddys?
M. If we keep changing the subject, we'll both die of old age before we
finish this chapter.
P. Marsh, I have my reasons for wanting to discuss Daddys. Indulge me.
M. Okay. Men have this thing about a macho image. They think that a teaching
role is for mothers only. No matter how much I tell men that we are great
teachers too, they won't listen. They don't think it's their job. :(
P. That's what I thought you'd say. Now tell me about your survey.
M. She is going to get her hubby, Bill, involved in all this. :o) Actually,
there were two of them, both very informal. The first was a lot of fun. I'd
ask mothers, "Do you think your little one is smart?" I must have asked 500
mothers this question. They all gave the same answer.
P. Which was . . . ?
M. Wait. First you must understand that the subject of intelligence is
taboo in America. No one wants to talk about it, perhaps because it conjures up
images of elitism, racism and so forth. Even the word genius gets bad press.
But it's interesting that once mothers were comfortable with me and heard my
ideas on the brilliance of little tots and toddlers, they'd let down their guard
and tell me, "MY CHILD IS EXTREMELY SMART!!" They were so proud that their
children were smart and were overjoyed to finally find someone to tell this too.
P. Ellen told me that all the research says that geniuses are an unhappy and
screwed up lot. Comment?
M. That's pure balony. Sure, they are some unhappy geniuses, but there are
many more unhappy dull and stupid people. On the whole, smarter people lead
better and happier lives than those who are not so smart. Let's face it...in this
new very high tech world, smarts are in and brawn is out.
P. Do you have any proof of that?
M. Of course not. Do u think I walk around carrying reams of proof?
P. Shouldn't u have proof of what u have been talking about?
M. Patty...as a matter of fact...no. I know that what I am writing is
factual and that gives me the right to write it. My book is not going to read like a
scholarly text because I am not a scholar. If anyone wants proof, let them
read the books I list in Appendix I. My program is for parents, not educators.
If parents want very intelligent children, they will do as I say. If they do
not, so be it.
Educators like ur sister like to say, " all the research says" as a tool
to sway parents to their position. I once asked a fuzzy head to cite the
research for me. He was dumbfounded - apparently because no one ever asked him that
before. By his embarrassed stammering, it was obvious that he was blowing gas
out of his you know what. There was no such research. He just made it up.
P. LMAO!!!!! What was the next survey about? WHEW!
M. In my conversations with mothers, I ran across some who told me they had
preschoolers who were great readers like my son. Some of these women were now
grandmothers. I asked them, "How did they do in school?" They always gave me
the same answer. It was almost eerie. "Straight A's."
