Silly Season, Summer Doldrums, Whatever

I notice that not ONE comment in the previous post dealt with the topic..—  the Grammar School and the book now available for us to borrow and read.  About whole language, phonics, etc…the never-ending battle.

I love reading such sagas, especially when they relate to education wars, and especially when I feel the “good” guys win.  I just read the saga of how BC finally achieved some recognition and funding for independent schools against difficult odds.  (Justice Achieved, the Political Struggle of Independent Schools in British Columbia).

I’m going to line up and apply to borrow the Grammar School book for summer reading.

Now, to be a brat and go off topic, here’s a JOKE on the phonics/whole language issue:

    From the diary of a Pre-School Teacher:

    My five-year old students are learning to read.

    Yesterday one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said,

    “Look at this! It’s a frickin’ elephant!”

    I took a deep breath, then asked…“What did you call it?”

    “It’s a frickin’ elephant! It says so on the picture!”
    And so it does…

    ” A f r i c a n Elephant “

    Hooked on phonics!

By the way, I do think the matter of financial literacy and numeracy skills are ever so important, so I hope we get back to that topic ...

Agreed

  Adding “financial literacy” to a curriculum we’re already told is too heavy will require that something go.  Unless there’ssolid base of literacy and numeracy in the first place any sort of “financial numeracy” training is going to be far more difficult to do than it need be.

There seems a tendency among some to answeer every problem, real or percerived, by creating a mini-program in education to fix it.  I suspect that’s more so the politicos can claim they’ve done something on the problem than looking at the, hate to use it, root causes.  Once people are able to have a solid grasp of the basic there’s far more ability to learn the rest on their own if they feel they need it.

If readers are looking for more summer reading, may I suggest What’s Wrong With Our Schools by Michael Zwaagstra, Rod Clifton, and John Long.
I was just released this week, and I have it on order myself.  You can read about the authors at Fixing Our Schools http://www.fixingourschools.com/blog/

All the authors are teachers and/or teacher-educators themselves, lest you think otherwise.

You can order it here, or through Chapters/Indigo
http://www.rowmaneducation.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db;=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdata=1607091577

Doretta, John, I agree.  No point teaching secondary skills when the primary skills are lacking.  It puts in question the teaching methods emphasized today.  I was just reading a job posting on our BBS.  They are looking for a Grade 4 teacher - needs to be familiar with Balanced Literacy and Math through Problem Solving.  Then the ‘experts’ are surprised that Canadians don’t have the skills.

Another interesting point raised by the article.  Mr. Alexander, the head of TD Bank would be a Canadian.  Odd how Canadians looking at the Canadian education see nothing but problems.  However, international experts, so relied upon by certain posters, see nothing wrong.  Makes you wonder how we put such up such a good front to the international community.

I always figured the absence of any money-management etc. math in the curriculum was deliberate. The students don’t learn about compound interest, mortgages, credit card debt and other very important things. And why not? Well, it’s certainly to the advantage of large corporate interests, and to the government as well, to keep the proles in their place—overspending, in debt, dependent.

Of course one should never posit conspiracy when stupidity or incompetence cannot be eliminated as probable causes.

A good antidote (at the middle school level and above) is to read and reflect on the short story, “John Jones’ Dollar” which is public domain now. I don’t recall the author’s name but you can find it on the web.