Chapter 3 - The Parrot Years / 第三章 - 鹦鹉学舌期

Houses房屋/ˈhaʊzɪz/ rest on foundations基础，地基/faʊnˈdeɪʃənz/. Journalists记者/ˈdʒɜrnəlɪsts/ gather all the facts事实/fækts/ before writing their stories; scientists科学家/ˈsaɪəntɪsts/ accumulate积累/əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/ data before forming theories; violinists and dancers and defensive tackles rely on muscle memory肌肉记忆/ˈmʌsəl ˈmeməri/, stored in their bodies by hours of drill.

A classical古典的/ˈklæsɪkəl/ education requires a student学生/ˈstudənt/ to collect, understand, memorize记忆/ˈmeməraɪz/, and categorize分类/ˈkætəɡəraɪz/ information. Although this process continues through all twelve grades, the first four grades are the most intensive密集的/ɪnˈtensɪv/ for fact collecting.

This isn't necessarily a fashionable流行的/ˈfæʃənəbəl/ approach to early education. Much classroom教室/ˈklæsrum/ time and energy has been spent in an effort to give children every possible opportunity机会/ˌɑpərˈtunəti/ to express what's inside them. There's nothing wrong with self-expression自我表达/self ɪkˈspreʃən/, but when self-expression pushes the accumulation积累/əˌkjuməˈleɪʃən/ of knowledge offstage, something's out of balance.

Young children are described as sponges海绵/spʌndʒɪz/ because they soak up knowledge. But there's another side to the metaphor比喻/ˈmetəfər/. Squeeze a dry sponge, and nothing comes out. First the sponge has to be filled. Language语言/ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/ teacher Ruth Beechick writes, "Our society is so obsessed痴迷的/əbˈsest/ with creativity创造力/ˌkrieɪˈtɪvəti/ that people want children to be creative before they have any knowledge or skill技能/skɪl/ to be creative with."

Your job, during the elementary小学的/ˌeləˈmentri/ years, is to supply the knowledge and skills that will allow your child to overflow溢出/ˌoʊvərˈfloʊ/ with creativity as his mind matures成熟/məˈtʊrz/.

That doesn't mean that your first grader has to learn about complex复杂的/ˈkɑmpleks/ subjects in depth深度/depθ/ or that you're going to force him to memorize long lists of details. In the first four years of learning, you'll be filling your child's mind and imagination想象力/ɪˌmædʒəˈneɪʃən/ with as many pictures, stories, and facts as you can. Your goal is to supply mental心理的/ˈmentəl/ pegs on which later information can be hung.

Think of an experience经历/ɪkˈspɪriəns/ most adults have had. You read about a minor movie star电影明星/ˈmuvi stɑr/, and suddenly you see his name everywhere. You learn a new vocabulary词汇/voʊˈkæbjəˌleri/ word and instantly notice it sprinkled through all sorts of different texts. You happen across the name of a tiny, obscure不知名的/əbˈskjʊr/ foreign country and in the next few days you notice a dozen news items about it.

You might remark to your spouse配偶/spaʊs/, "What a coincidence巧合/koʊˈɪnsɪdəns/!" Usually, though, that information has surrounded you all along. The movie star's name, the new word, the foreign country were already in the magazines杂志/ˈmæɡəzinz/ and newspapers at the checkout line, but because the information was unfamiliar不熟悉的/ˌʌnfəˈmɪljər/ to you, your eyes passed over it without recognition识别/ˌrekəɡˈnɪʃən/.

Why are the first four grades a particularly fruitful富有成果的/ˈfrutfəl/ time to concentrate on content? This is the first time your child will encounter遇到/ɪnˈkaʊntər/ Egyptian embalming rites or the atmosphere大气层/ˈætməsfɪr/ of Venus; this is the first time he will understand what light is made of or why Americans rebelled反叛/rɪˈbeld/ against the British.

He will never get a second chance to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe《纳尼亚传奇：狮王、女巫与魔衣橱》/ðə ˈlaɪən ðə wɪtʃ ænd ðə ˈwɔrdroʊb/, or hear The Hobbit《霍比特人》/ðə ˈhɑbɪt/ read aloud for the first time. Seize this early excitement兴奋/ɪkˈsaɪtmənt/. Let the child delve深入探索/delv/ deep. Let him read, read, read. Don't force him to stop and reflect反思/rɪˈflekt/ on it yet.

As your child's teacher, you'll serve as a source of information. In the early grades, you'll be telling your child stories, reading to him from history历史/ˈhɪstəri/ and science科学/ˈsaɪəns/ books, teaching him math facts. And you'll expect him to be able to repeat back to you the stories and facts he's heard. This process—which we'll outline in detail for each area of the curriculum课程/kəˈrɪkjələm/—will train him to grasp facts and express them in his own words.

In the elementary小学的/ˌeləˈmentri/ grades, we suggest that you prioritize优先考虑/praɪˈɔrəˌtaɪz/ reading, writing, grammar语法/ˈɡræmər/, and math. History and science are important. But if you don't do much biology生物学/baɪˈɑlədʒi/ in first grade, it doesn't matter: your child's going to get to biology at least two more times before he goes to college大学/ˈkɑlɪdʒ/.

Remember, classical education teaches a child how to learn. The child who knows how to learn will grow into a well-rounded全面发展的/wel ˈraʊndɪd/—and well-equipped装备齐全的/wel ɪˈkwɪpt/—adult . . . even if he didn't finish his first-grade science book.