In his rousing keynote address at The Heritage Foundation’s 50th anniversary gala last month, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered an unexpected piece of advice: “Don’t throw away your hard-copy books.”
Unlike digitized books, films, and albums that can be canceled, rewritten, or vanished altogether, physical copies are “the enduring repository that cannot be disappeared.” Continue reading
We don’t encourage students to ask the same kinds of questions they did when they were younger. Here’s something I wrote recently about the topic for Character Lab as a Tip of the Week:
A few weeks ago, my 3-year-old granddaughter Frances asked, “Why don’t cardinals migrate?”
Frances’ question surprised me, both because she knew enough to ask it and because I had no idea what the answer was. When I failed to find explanations on my cellphone, Frances got bored with me and wandered off, asking others how to make red paint.
Preschoolers love thinking about possible explanations of interesting things. They feel free to wonder about anything and they do so with joy and creativity. Continue reading
For those of our readers who feel that they wish to leave their children in the Public School system. There are things that you can be aware of to help and better assist your Kinder – and I don’t mean ‘gartners‘. ~ Editor
The REAL reason for Common-Core?
That’s the question the middle school class was struggling to answer. Fractions hadn’t really connected with the students, says John Barclay, a teacher in Richmond Public Schools in Virginia. The concept just wasn’t intuitive.
But one student piped up: She’d noticed that if you figure out how much you’d have to add to the numerator to get a whole number, then you can tell which fraction is larger.
That really wasn’t the rule that she was being taught. Continue reading
School Board Member Rebecca Hill says she disagreed with the decision to reject a bathroom policy for transgender students
PEORIA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – The Peoria Unified School District board voted 3-2 to reject a policy that would make students go to the bathroom that aligned with their biological sex at birth. The vote happened Thursday night. At the end of the meeting, Continue reading
Over many years of my life – and specifically – during the lives of my granddaughters, I have found numerous versions of the following Message from the author – and my copy dates back to 1972. ~ Editor
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with pity, she learns to feel sorry for herself.
If a child lives with ridicule, she learns to feel shy.
If a child lives with jealousy, she learns to feel envy.
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.
But…
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The National Commission on Excellence in Education’s release of a report titled “A Nation at Risk” in 1983 was a pivotal point in the history of American education. The report used dire language, lamenting that “the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”
Using Cold War language, the report also famously stated: “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.” Continue reading
Pharmaceutic
PHARMACEU’TIC
PHARMACEU’TICAL, adjective [Gr. to practice witchcraft or use medicine; poison or medicine.] Pertaining to the knowledge or art of pharmacy, or to the art of preparing medicines.
“A Spoonful of Sugar makes the medicine go down…” focuses on professionally administered and prescribed drugs and pharmaceuticals. Initially on conception this category was developed to deal with the aspect of the abuse of children, ie; Ritalin, Prozac and other legal, “Mood altering” drugs. As time went on – we chose to attack the poisons that we are ALL being fed by our medical ‘professionals.’ The overpriced products of BIG Pharma are slowly – or rapidly killing us.
~ Foreword ~
What you have just read is the introduction to the Category, “A Spoon Full of Sugar” from our site DrKelley.net, which was originally developed to pay homage to the character – and to specifically deal with the phony issue in the public school system of ADHD. It still applies today – within the Public FOOL System. Stand by and READ the words the author – and thank you Mary Poppins! ~ Editor
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The Republican-led House voted to pass its Parents’ Bill of Rights on Friday with zero Democrat votes after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it ‘fascist.’ The controversial bill, which gives parents a stronger role in what’s taught in public schools, is not expected to be taken up by the Democratic-majority Senate.
Critics denounce the legislation saying it has led to book bans, restrictions aimed at transgender students and unhinged board meetings nationwide. Continue reading
Depressed boy sitting on floor & holding his head. Frustrated with exam pressure.
Articles about the horrible quality (on purpose) of what passes for education in public schools have become so prevalent that people now tend to take this inferior education for granted and so are tempted to just ignore it.
We recently were informed that some schools are now ending their honors programs so they can promote “equity” (racism). It seems that lots of the white kids do well in the honors programs so that now must cease and we must begin to enforce a stultifying conformity, a “one size fits all” program they have mislabeled as “equity,” The concept of “equity” has trumped any idea of real education–but, then, real education has not existed in public schools for generations anyway. Continue reading
A Louisville, Ky., classroom sits empty in January 2022, during a COVID surge driven by the omicron variant. Students lost the routine of going to school during the pandemic, and now many are struggling to get back in the habit. ~ Jon Cherry/Getty Images
When this school year began, Issac Moreno just couldn’t get himself to go. During the pandemic, he’d gotten used to learning from his family’s home in Los Angeles. Then, last fall, he started junior high, five days a week, in person.
“It was a lot,” he says. Continue reading
Last week, students at small Christian college in Kentucky gathered for their regular Wednesday chapel service. Ten days later, it has not ended. People from around the country and the world continue to join in. No matter your religion or lack thereof, THIS is an exceptional happening. More exceptional even, is that this spirit has spread to other colleges and universities. Continue reading
There is no substitute for consistent interaction between a little one and his or her mom and dad. The two greatest gifts parents can give their kids are the knowledge of Jesus Christ and their time.
Any tool can be misused. A hammer can construct or kill. An electrical wire can give instant light or, if mishandled, bring sudden death.
So it is with computers and televisions. They are valuable and helpful but also potentially dangerous. So, when children use “screens,” parents need to be extra vigilant. One reason is the predatory nature of some of the internet’s more evil components, like pornography or horribly violent images, and the rot that’s on both network and cable TV. Continue reading
Everywhere in education, you see incentives at work. The incentives, though, are so far removed from the actual goals of education that they produce perverse results.
Goodhart’s Law is usually stated, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Economics textbooks often use the allegory of a maker of nails, who receives word that his measure of success at producing nails will be based on the number of nails made. He retools his factory, adjusts his resource use, and produces as many nails as possible, even though many are too thin, or small, or bent to use. When his higher-ups decide to measure productivity on the weight of nails, instead, he makes only a few very large nails, too heavy to be used. Once your incentives are aligned in service of a particular metric, in other words, that metric isn’t an objective measure anymore. Continue reading
In the wake of COVID-19, people now overwhelmingly believe that the education system’s broader purpose needs to be rethought. This begins with a shift away from standardized testing, college prep and a one-size-fits-all model and toward personalized curricula, practical skills and subject mastery.
A new Purpose of Education Index survey released by the Massachusetts-based national think tank Populace found a radical shift in the way most of us view education and what our children should be getting out of it. Continue reading
Learning doesn’t have to stop when the school bell rings. Some of the best learning takes place outside of the classroom. So, if your child is struggling with a particular subject, or if you want to expand their knowledge beyond what they’re learning in class, you can do so without spending a lot of money or signing up for extracurricular activities. Continue reading
Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze
Tyranny will not topple America – not on my watch, and not on yours. We will stay together as George Washington and his worn-out soldiers did 246 years ago on Christmas Day in 1776 when they set out across the frozen Delaware River to fight for freedom. Victory or death were the options that lay ahead for them on that frigid winter day. Continue reading
When Frances E. Anderson saw the latest math scores for America’s fourth- and eighth-graders, she was hardly surprised that they had dropped. Until recently – including the period of remote instruction during the pandemic – Anderson taught high school math to students at all levels.“ Now she is a researcher seeking to change how people understand children’s math ability. In the following Q&A, Anderson explains what makes some kids “good” at math and what it will take to catch up those who have fallen behind.
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A long long time ago, I can still remember…
And the three men I admire mostThe Father, Son, and the Holy GhostThey caught the last train for the coastThe day the music died…
Most fairy tales begin with the following words; ‘Once upon a time…’ or ‘A long, long time ago…’ Even Hollywood has followed in that tradition, with movies like Star Wars beginning with the screen crawl that reads, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far away…” Although this tale does not begin in the outer reaches of the galaxy, it does begin a long time ago; in 1776 to be exact. Continue reading
“All the time – such is the tragi-comedy of our situationwe continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible… In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise.. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
There will come a time in the not-so-distant future when the very act of thinking for ourselves is not just outlawed but unthinkable. Continue reading
An even mix of proponents and opponents to teaching Critical Race Theory are in attendance as the Placentia Yorba Linda School Board discusses a proposed resolution to ban it from being taught in schools. November 2021 Robert Gauthier-Los Angeles Times
As kids return to school, the focus on math, science, and reading has been sidelined by campaigns mounted in the name of “parents’ rights.” Advocates are demanding that books be banned from curricula and school libraries, targeting teachers and administrators based on viewpoints, and fighting for control of education boards. There is no question that parents deserve a say in shaping their children’s educations; they have moral and legal responsibility for their children, and the freedom to make fundamental decisions for their families. But the rallying cry of “parents’ rights” is being wielded to do far more than give parents their rightful voice. It is turning public schools into political battlegrounds, fracturing communities, and diverting time and energy away from teaching and learning. Continue reading