My 9 year old son has never seen how the INSIDE of a rear end works but he built a working DIFFERENTIAL out of Legos yesterday.
It's not technically perfect since there is one pinion gear and two ring gears so it spins one side one way and the other side the opposite way but hey, he's only 9.
I wouldn't have EVER figured it out without looking at an existing one.

I'm going to have to give this kid more access to the tools and teach him how to use the welders and other equipment he might come up with something to make a fortune.
If he does it before he's 18 I'll be in charge of his funds

 

Good, mines interested in marshal arts and Bruce Lee. Lives and breathes it. Does like guns also. He is 10

 

Mine like to modify stuff so much he went into machine tool education.
Now he works at a machine shop running a CNC lathe as of a month ago.

I see some custom 6.9 IDI parts in the future as we rebuild his 87.

 

that sounds like me when i was that age. be careful though befor you know it he'll be dragging home all kinds of projects...just ask my old man

 

or taking apart your stuff and making "projects" out of them lol

 

Oooo very nice, keep me posted if you guys come up with something cool!

 

My dad told me the first thing he's gonna do when I have kids is get them a tool set so they can take apart all MY **** when im not around, jus like I did to him LOL

 

I , on the other hand, couldnt find my own a$$ in the dark with both hands. AND directions. and someone holding a flashlight for me. at least thats what my mom used to tell me 30 years ago....gee small wonder im a little " off " now. thanks, mom.

 

i'd like to have a kid like that when i am older thad be awsome !
Not picking on my brothers or anything but all they do is video games and tv, they refuse to go outside and work on cool projects, me and my dad are like get you a$$ out there and help !

 

thats funny, mine said the same thing...but as it turns out, he dosent wrench on anything anymore, i do it all..lol

 

haha they can ask mine too! im 16 and have had 32 vechicles so far. not counting all the four wheelers, dirt bikes, lawmowers and all the other "junk" i brought home.

 

That is cool dodge. That boy could be the one to that takes to the stars you know. I would do what ever you have to to encourge his talents and beat the crap out of anyone that ever tries to hold him back!

 

Agreed - give him what he needs to express his creativity and get him interested in sciences. Make sure he knows he can do anything he wants and not to listen to the ones that tell him he can't.

I've got a letter from one of my history teachers that he mailed to my parents. In essence it said I was a dumb*** and wouldn't amount to anything. It sits in my toolbox next to the airplane I'm building. And while I didn't go to college after HS, I'm going back now 10 years later for an engineering degree. It's not that I was a dumb**, I just never got engaged in it, never was given examples of how I could use the stuff in real life and so never applied myself. If I'd had someone that could sit down and say "hey this is the stuff you can do with math" etc I probably would have paid a lot more attention. But as it was I learned more at home with the tools and my head in a project than I ever really took away from school.

Always liked building things, interest in engines lead to me studying the physics behind them. I eventually reached the point where I was buying college level books on subjects like fluid dynamics and just getting lost in the math. Decided "I need to learn math!" so I'm going back for that. Figure "Well if I'm going to take the math I might as well go for the degree!" so that's how I end up going back to college 10 years later for an engineering degree.

A pitty that I have to keep working now so I'm on the 10 year plan. Better late than never!

When I have a kid, I'm gonna do my best to not just push 'em along with simple answers but try to guide them to a deeper understanding by asking them questions to get them to think critically and find the answers on their own.

 

You are reading this on one of the greatest research tools invented as of today.

I don't even want to think what I might be doing now if the computer and internet had been invented while I was still in school.

Don't want to guess how many books I read in Compton's, Britannica and World Book encyclopedia's I read to expand my horizons.


Most generally, a teacher saying a student is dumb is the result of a teacher that has not inspired a student.
That amounts to a teacher not doing their job in my book.

 

The teachers get paid more now than they did when I was a kid but there are fewer teachers as good as some of the teachers I had as a kid.
There are still some good ones though.......luckily!