Only in America....

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a bit too risky for Nashville teens:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/755834--toronto-s-romeo-and-juliet-is-just-too-racy-for-nashville

One could note Shakespeare is English and not American. But, then, there are some American texts schools consider too dangerous:

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12686-southern-california-town-to-ban-merriam-webster-dictionary.html

Please note this week's dates.

Free Stuff

Every second Sunday, for most of the winter, the girls participate in an advanced math club run by the University of Toronto; it is free, on condition, the girls participate in at least one math tournament a year.  They do not have to pass the math exam, Tournament of Towns or Kangaroo Math, and the average cost of writing the exam is $10.00.  The expectation is that after 2 years, if they take their studies seriously, they should be able to successfully pass an exam. There are also math exams run by the University of Waterloo, the International Math Olympiads and the Pascal Contest.

A number of Environmental groups provide opportunities for children and teens to participate in ecological awareness programs.  The Ladies of the Lake sponsored a film camp last summer; Elizabeth participated.  It was two weeks of learning how to operate cameras, edit on computers, travel around Lake Simcoe and develop an awareness of the environmental conditions of Lake Simcoe.  Robert Bateman sponsors an annual drawing contest for teens and children to encourage wildlife awareness.  Most corporations sponsor events, like Safety Calendars, to encourage public relations and enhance staff communication; they want their employees' children to succeed.  Generally, public libraries are fantastic at the sponsorship of teen and child events; the most common is an author's reading but has included book clubs, e-zines, and teen art expos.  There are also children's reading periods in which the librarian or assistant will read to young children.  Chapters encourages young readers with a similar program and Arts and Crafts Saturdays and themed nights for new book publications.  The Royal Canadian Legion sponsors an annual speech contest to commemorate Remembrance Day.  Usually, Township offices in small towns welcome public art and have seasonal periods for children's art.

Science Fairs are run by schools, corporations and think tanks; there are exams in every field of study for every year of high school.  Most of them reward with scholarships and are minimally priced for participation.  There are seed programs run by the Canadian Space Agency.  There is a web site that allows children and teens to participate in the Iditarod.  There are programs for following Butterfly Migration, Hummingbird Migration and Bee Trackers.  There are groups that send out Sunflowers to grow in the garden.  There is school information for every school board and every grade for every Ministry in both the federal and provincial levels of government; most of it can be directly aligned to fit with Ministry of Education requirements.  Most Art Galleries have family art on Sundays or programs similar to it; smaller galleries are often free admittance.  It is free to walk around the Canadian House of Parliament; on July 1, every museum in Ottawa is free.  Parks and libraries are free; architecture is free.  Children learn best with their eyes open.

Taken from John Dewey's 1908 work "Education and Democracy"
via The Gutenberg Press, on-line:

The parts of a machine work with a maximum of
cooperativeness for a common result, but they do not form
a community. If, however, they were all cognizant of the
common end and all interested in it so that they regulated
their specific activity in view of it, then they would form
a community. But this would involve communication. Each
would have to know what the other was about and would have
to have some way of keeping the other informed as to his own
purpose and progress. Consensus demands communication.

But what about problems?  Think of Shirley Jacksons's story,
'The Lottery' wherein traditions are continued thoughtlessly,
without critical perspective. The communication has,
in effect, become meaningless.

The following segment from Oprah is a good example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvljD0toJmU

The crowd is being manipulated; it is fabulous how they all dance
in a form of synchronized movement.  But what about the
individuals who just want to dance to the music?  Are they allowed
to be part of the community of dancers?  Or are they excluded from
participation in the celebration?  It could be argued that children
who stick out in school, who do not or cannot follow the group,
are in a similar position.  Just because it is what the group is
doing does not mean it is right.  In institutional education,
mob rule, maybe the wrong term, dominates the format; of course,
everyone wants their children educated but not necessarily in the
most convenient form for the state or the parents; some people
want their children educated in the best form for the child.

This is from today's Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/21/private-schools-can-teach-state-sector

The writer discusses the motivations of those in elite schools, the effects of their class on their futures and the ramifications of the lack of intellectual competitiveness on a society. Of course, she is right; children who are smart and are born into an elite do better. Children who are smart and are not born into an elite can do better. But the school system is currently designed so that children who are not smart and not born into an elite get, at least, a modicum of education. And, as there are more and more of them, for reasons, I think, that are economic, pure and simple, the bar is falling lower. People who have little time for their own intellectual development hardly have time to encourage their children's intellectual development. But here is my problem: do parents have a responsibility to educate their children? That sounds like a rhetorical question. But I am not being facetious. Here is an article about the affects of computers on children from today's New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20wired.html?em

Parents are responsible for purchasing computers and monitoring their children's computer time. Studies show children who are on the computer too much (they defined the time in the article) suffer socially and academically; this has nothing to do with school. But on another level does say something about the direction of current intellectual inquiry; to have unlimited computer time is to have a degree of wealth and children with unlimited computer time have decreasing academic scores. So, I guess, my question is are parents making their kids dumber? Are they being irresponsible in the quest for education? Do the elite realize their children are also part of the growing group of stupid children? I gather schools are having a difficult time with children less and less able to do the basics; the elite want their children sheltered from ignorance, but are they doing anything to actually limit the growth of ignorance in this society? Or are they participating in its spread?

Italian Fencing

Elizabeth has gotten it into her head that she would like to know how to fence. She contacted the Medieval Society, not the Creative Anachronistic Society, but a group of trained fencing teachers to ask if she could come see a demonstration and arrange lessons for her sister and herself. Emma is too young according to the website. Elizabeth arranged all this today while I was in the kitchen and completely ignorant of her occupation. Just to be clear, WE ARE NOT RICH and my husband was a little bit peeved; fencing is not an occupation for everyone. As the demonstration is free, we are going to see it in February when basketball is finished and nothing else has started up. How can one knock such enthusiastic curiousity?

A Coincidence

Two articles appeared in the Guardian:

A story about teachers that inspired successful people, most of the teachers are pre-1990:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/19/teacher-inspired-me

and a story about teacher, head of the school, who killed herself because the stress in her life, be it school or personal, was too much:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/19/school-head-stress-death-inquiry.

Is this irony?

And, then, there is the American problem. Presidents of a number of colleges have had their salaries increased despite the current economic situation, the cost of tuition and the quality of their graduates: (from the New York Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/education/18college.html?hpw

It makes one wonder....

Elite Teachers in England

A few days ago, the Guardian had an interesting article on the lack of social mobility in the English educational structure and how that resulted in more rigidity in the class system.  It is interesting to read Conservative ideas for the educational system; they want the teaching profession to become an elite profession.  They make no mention of the concomitant salary increases usually required with an increase in status.  The Conservatives also make no requirements for an elite teacher to have any elite requirements such as healthy enthusiasm, optimism, interest and so forth; this new class of teacher would come mainly from elite (read private) universities. From the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/17/cameron-tories-teaching-standards-prestige

The one point that is really interesting in this article and not detailed enough is the recognition that there are too many universities; England allowed polytechnics to change status to universities a few years ago.  Canada has a similar problem; there are universities galore in the country.  Ironically, with so many thoughtful places, there is a shortage of plumbers, carpenters and other trades that work with their hands.  People can think about unplugging the toilet, not many can actually do it.  Universities used to be for thinkers, elite thinkers, that is fine; a society needs people to reflect on its direction.  It just doesn't need a group en masse to do so.

Evaluating Teachers

From the New York Times, Jan 16, 2010 edition:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17sun2.html

One of the teachers' organizations in the United States has developed a proposal by which teachers may be evaluated and new teachers mentored. It sounds like a good idea and to criticize it probably unfair; but, the reality is, more teacher bureaucracy in no ways encourages teachers or children in the classroom. Whether or not the union supports the idea is irrelevant, most teachers do try to teach and do try to do their best; however, processes of evaluation in no way supports their endeavours except to pad an individually successful teacher's resume. Tools are still unavailable to some classes and the individual problems of students cannot be handled in a factory like setting; children are not widgets and adjusting management cannot really solve student problems.

To Ski, to ski, to ski

The fellow at the ski resort noticed Elizabeth spent a lot of time on the hills; he asked her if she ever went to school.  She said, "No."

Introduction to Characters and This Week's Books

Elizabeth is 14, loaded with common sense and is practical, Emily is 12, almost 13, emotional and very, very smart and Emma is 11, down-to-earth and finds humour in the oddest of situations.

Books being read right now: the Bible, for its allusions not its morals, Gulliver's Travels and Don Quixote because Emily keeps switching between the two, and Dante's Inferno...Emma has just got up the mountain to the meeting with Virgil. She keeps going online to find the most interesting pictures to the story. They are following the lists of Great Books suggested by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer; unfortunately, they are using my books which are unabridged but owned. My university career resulted in, if nothing else, a substantial library.