My parents had never owned a computer before. My first PC came with an empty HDD, and somebody gave me a DOS boot disk. It was weeks before we tracked somebody down to install a copy of Windows on it.
I'll never be sure how many trials and errors I had before I could do something, but eventually I figured some things out.
Definitely would have been faster with somebody showing me. I probably would have been about 6 or 7.
Watching my 7 year old fumbling around with Scratch makes me think it's not as rare or amazing as it seems. He gets better all the time.
My 2 year old can grab our iPad, ask us to unlock it, and proceed to open Netflix or Disney plus (depending on his mood) and pick what show he was looking to watch. We taught him basic signs before he could speak (milkies, more, all done)
He’s not a savant by any stretch of the imagination. Kids are quite capable at very young ages. Parents are usually the ones holding kids back.
I make my 8-year old struggle and work when she asks for help. She gets mad, but I can see her actually learning how to learn. She also is not a savant, just a normal 8-year old.
Some middle ground between just blindly following instructions and just getting stuck without making any progress before giving up would be ideal. Spending some time critically thinking and trying a few options but then getting guidance when all the obvious options have been explored.
I'll never be sure how many trials and errors I had before I could do something, but eventually I figured some things out.
Definitely would have been faster with somebody showing me. I probably would have been about 6 or 7.
Watching my 7 year old fumbling around with Scratch makes me think it's not as rare or amazing as it seems. He gets better all the time.