Has she ever gotten mail?

Can she write her name? I’m being serious. None of my 3 kids, 2 college age and one HS can barely write theirs and when they do it looks like a third grader wrote it. My youngest has to concentrate to even do just his name.

Two of my kids are really smart, my broke a gifted reading test in the third grade reading above the 10 grade level. Test peaked out at 10th grade. She also had a 33 the first time taking the ACT and was recruited by Harvard and a few other Ivy League schools. She never went to any of them, but there’s no way we could have afforded it anyway. My other is a Chemistry major with a minors in mathematics and Bible at one of the toughest private schools in the country.

It is what it is. Want to see something funny? Give them a rotary phone to use or anything analog.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:
Want to see something funny? Give them a rotary phone to use

When was the last time you even saw a rotary phone, let alone actually used one? The 1970s? Maybe the 1980s?

There's no reason for them to ever need to know how to use one, so learning how would be pointless.

Stop judging your kids by their inability to use extinct technology. You couldn't hunt a wooly mammoth with a spear either.

Please don't take this the wrong way (I have a 20 YO Son, so rest assured I know the challenges!), BUT...

Surely she's received a Birthday Card (and likely other mail), sent a Thank You card, been dispatched to the mailbox to either retrieve the mail (Christmas Cards?), or put something in the mailbox to be picked up, no? No doubt you receive mail at the 'BB61' household, so surely she's seen the mail previously.

The issue is not that you didn't teach her, but rather that, as is the case with the VAST majority of 'zoomers', they've not been paying attention to what's going on around them. Their lives are so curated, going from one activity to the next, they don't seem to discover much on their own, especially things we would take for granted.

As an example, when my son was learning how to drive, I would tell him where we were going (from the passenger seat), but he had NO IDEA how to get there, even though he'd been there countless times in the car previously! I'd give him some rough directions as to which route to take and it was as if he NEVER looked at a street sign before!

The availability of unlimited information, literally at the fingertips of the current generation, at ALL times (and them not having know anything else!), is both a blessing and a curse. YouTube is a Prime Example of this! I've always spoke w/ my son on an quasi-adult level, never dumbing-down my conversations with him. There were often times when he'd say I don't know what that word means, especially when he was younger, and I'd define it for him, however as he got older (middle school?), there were times when I thought he should know the definition (already!), or seek it out. When I was younger, we were told to 'look it up' in these situations, and realizing the value of such an exercise, I'd indicate (sometimes out of frustration!) maybe you should 'Google' it! Imagine my surprise to learn that this was not comprehended either! You'd think (and correctly so!) that according to most middle school age kids, YouTube was the entirety of the internet!

There's MUCH that's NOT being taught in schools today that 'should' be considered mandatory for successful navigation of life. It would seem they're solely focused on teaching subjects, but NOT skills! Things like critical thinking, how to find (and use!) resources, and how to take GOOD notes only receive cursory attention (if any!), as does time management and study skills. And these are just 'some' of the greatest failures of the education system today!

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

When was the last time you even saw a rotary phone

Next: fill out and sign a check. Or make change without the help of the cash register or calculator. For extra credit, make change for, say, $3.25 when the customer gives her a $5 bill, two dimes and a nickel.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Can she read and write in cursive?

^^^
Actually she can. All my kids went to charter schools for elementary and then junior high/high school and cursive was required. They also were required to take several years of Latin.

nhracecraft has some valid observations about the impact of information being as close as your cellphone.

And now that I think about it, we haven't changed a tire (I have with the other kids). We will rectify that oversight today.

While you're at it, you should teach her how set the gap on the points with a matchbook cover! Oh wait...

On one hand, why would the current generation not have knowledge of how the postal system works? They're living in a nearly completely electronic world, not unreasonable to see where the skills change.

The flip-side, if kids sent cards (thank you for gifts or, appreciation, college admissions, holiday cards to relatives, job applications, job referrals, etc...) they'd be familiar with how physical mail works. There's something thoughtful and endearing by utilizing a method that's from a prior generation; it takes effort thus it has meaning.

Wouldn't get worked-up about it though, it's a humorous touch-point of generational change you can both laugh about and tell stories later. Show her how it's done, be instructional and not teasing or, crabby.

I remember entire multi day sections of I think English class on how to address (destination and return address)an envelope, proper use of salutations Ms. Mrs. Miss. Dr. and Mrs. If married. And my favorite: Messrs. Also how to write a personal letter Vs business letter. They probably borrowed from condoms on cucumber teaching time or something to teach that. Came back around 15 years later when we hand addressed wedding invites.

While you are at it, make sure she knows how to write checks and balance a check book, go grocery shopping, do basic cooking, laundry etc.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
While you are at it, make sure she knows how to write checks and balance a check book, go grocery shopping, do basic cooking, laundry etc.

I wholeheartedly support the last three, but there's zero need for a young person to learn about writing checks or manually balancing a checkbook in this day and age.

Practically nobody under 40ish uses paper checks or even has a checkbook, and most places don't accept personal checks anymore anyway.

quote:

… but there's zero need for a young person to learn about writing checks or manually balancing a checkbook in this day and age.

Maybe little need, but not zero.

Aren’t some things (like this) things maybe our parents should teach us. That’s how I learned to do it. My question is. What are they teaching our kids these days.

Going to youtube may have upset you but on the bright side she offered a solution instead of an I don't know and throwing her hands up. I think that is the mark of quality.

As much as tons of youtube can be eyerolled, I needed to know how to fix something this morning and....youtube. Like any source or reference, if you vet your source, it is just as good as looking it up.

That said, identifying something she didn't know and showing her how to do it is the best, which you did.