Very literally: just pick one, even if it's at random.
People have this awesome ability to work around all kinds of inefficiencies and stumbling blocks. If you had nothing else but pen and paper which you then submit to another person who somehow feeds it to a machine you would still find ways to achieve what you want efficiently.
Remember what people were able to do with punch cards!
Once you have a better understanding of the thing you're learning you'll be able to make your own reasoned choices about tools.
I couldn't agree more. It's always interesting seeing people shelter their kids from thinking that might become frustrating.
I forgot who said it but there was a quote like: "don't be afraid to push your brain, you won't break it!"
Of course someone will reply to this talking about burnout which is real but a common sense approach to introducing cognitively difficult topics to kids is very different from that.
A couple of weeks ago one of mine (4yo) asked what the 'D' in 2D and 3D is since I had mentioned it to her while watching a movie. I took out a small ruler and went over to a corner of the TV unit. We then put the ruler along one edge and I explained how that's one measurement or 1D and how we can make a dot with a marker anywhere along that line. We then repeated for the next perpendicular edge and said that it's now two measurements or 2D. You can see where this is going. After 3D we talked about how we can now put a point anywhere in this imaginary cube.
She responded by asking how 4 rulers would look!
Kids are incredible and we frequently underestimate them.
(edited to add the age in there since it's relevant)
A discussion that explains why it's a bad idea with the person arguing against the idea actually listening to the creator's defense is much better. Quite often people recoil at being told abrasively "that won't work" and end up taking the view that the person calling them out doesn't get it. Whereas a discussion where both sides have a push-and-shove to get to the conclusion sticks in the creator's mind and might even get them to stop pursuing it.
Totally agree. I've seen it go both ways, one where it's a total drain and waste of time, another where the best thinking, best solutions and ideas all came out during stand-up.
I suppose getting that right team is what makes an awesome manager though right?
I have 3 kids and get up at 4:30am every day to work on my own stuff. From 7am they're awake so I spend time getting them ready for school, etc. Then I go to work. Over the years I've found that getting this going consistently is the key. Even if you only get one good hour in each morning it builds up to quite a lot of satisfying work very quickly.
It did take a few years to become consistent though.
Usually 9-9:30 pm. Sometimes I'm out or doing something so end up going to bed later after which I'll still get up at the same time the following morning. This makes me more tired so I'll go to bed way earlier on the following night.
I find that getting up really early in the morning to work on the things I want to, then switching off from that to spend the morning with the kids works well. Being really consistent with it every day has led me to complete a few of the projects and learning tasks I've been working on.
At least then when I go to work I'm already satisfied.
For some people I imagine that night time would work best instead.
4:30am works best for me. I go to bed between 9 and 9:30pm almost every night. Occasionally it'll be later due to some event or catching up with people after which I'll still get up at 4:30am but it makes me significantly more tired. It's quick to fix though, I just go to bed even earlier the following night, around 8:15-8:30 does it best.
I know these times won't work for a lot of people but if you have young kids it's awesome. They're asleep anyway and working at night tends to ruin sleep for me so I just go to bed! Then the next morning I can work in peace without it disrupting my body so much.
People have this awesome ability to work around all kinds of inefficiencies and stumbling blocks. If you had nothing else but pen and paper which you then submit to another person who somehow feeds it to a machine you would still find ways to achieve what you want efficiently.
Remember what people were able to do with punch cards!
Once you have a better understanding of the thing you're learning you'll be able to make your own reasoned choices about tools.