Did not read but may. I have a summer hire here on the farm as a favor to his dad to try to teach him a little about how to work and hopefully to think. He works OK but only with simple directions for a simple task. If you expect reason and to hear beyond the second or last sentence he hears the mission is going to be a failure.
It looks to me like children who become new young adults are being taught what to know and what to think but not one bit about how to think. To know and link the building blocks of knowledge in a new way to solve a new problem or create a new something is far far away from what I am seeing.
Common sense? I did not think it would be possible to paint a fuel tank green and yet still have it come out looking like a patchwork quilt because the painter did not know enough to blend the brush strokes. It looks good from 100 feet away.
Common sense is definitely learned and earned in the farm. Teach the lad to be careful where you put your fingers.
You have commenced a very generous but challenging undertaking. It sounds like the relationship is begining with at least a bit of traction and you no doubt have a plan.
The fact his dad is a friend suggests you will want to proceed carefully and be able to report good results by the end of summer.
Big challenge and I wish you the best.
Its like the “raw materials” aren’t there anymore. If you know what I mean.
” I did not think it would be possible to paint a fuel tank green and yet still have it come out looking like a patchwork quilt because the painter did not know enough to blend the brush strokes. It looks good from 100 feet away.”
I know exactly what you mean!
I tried to/hired several 16-18 yrs old kids to do simple things around my place. I don’t know if they are all stupid/on drugs/lazy or some combo of all three, but it is easier to do everything yourself than to hire todays young people.
You’d think that they would be able to follow instructions well enough to pick up the sticks in the yard, but you have to point out each one or they think the job is done after each one.
Cutting brush around the pond turned into just a day of destroying tools as fast as they were handed them.
Trimming a few bushes around the house was finished in less than an hour by cutting the electric cord twice, and finally nearly cutting off a finger with hedge trimmers. Not a single bush got trimmed!
What we call "common sense" has to be taught. It may be common but it isn't automatic.