Education From All Quarters

Let's see...Sticker Grandma came out for a lovely visit, and we didn't do much of anything to speak of...of course, since Sticker Grandma tried to kill herself on a patch of ice a couple of weeks earlier and was still nursing some wounds, there wasn't much we could do. And let's face it, February isn't exactly the nicest weather to be running around in.

And I'm able to type again, which is exciting. In making a wonderful dinner a couple of nights ago of maple-orange-glazed chicken, I had momentarily forgotten that the ovenproof frying pan had, indeed, been in the oven.  Note to self: Do not grab a 375-degree metal pan with your bare hand. The resulting burns mean a call to the Urgent Care center, 4 hours of cold-water soaking followed up by two days of immersing the affected hand in pasty lanolin goo (Lansinoh) and encasing in a cut-up surgical glove, topped with a fleece sock (less mess). Also entails two days of not typing, not driving, and a complete inability to open any kind of jar, or even cat food containers. Crap.  (Or, as I have caught the kids saying, "Kwap.") And for the record, yes, I am much better now, thank you. Typing and driving and everything. I am convinced that I will live, at least for now.

I finally decided to officially move my aircheck tapes from actual cassette tapes to the computer. I thought perhaps Mac might have an easy way to accomplish that (say, Garage Band?), so I signed up for their free workshop. They spent most of the time on iPhoto and iMovie (the new versions, which I don't have, by-the-by), and I finally had to ask specifically about my project. Apparently it's quite doable, I just had to get the right cables to do the import. Haven't attempted it yet. Also plan to get in on a voice-over thing that's happening at the end of the month...the experience in radio has to help with that, maybe I could start doing voice work again. 

Anyway, I brought the kids along to the Mac thing and they merrily hopped onto the iMacs and went nuts. David has also been saving up every spare dime he could and Duck Grandma's gift for Valentine's Day put him over the top...he was able to roll up all his quarters and pennies, trade them in at the bank, and take his fortune to the Apple Store, where he very proudly purchased His Very Own Video Game.  Joy, rapture.  I purchased cables. I think there's some kind of imbalance with the universe when my first grader is aiming to purchase software with his money. 

Speaking of the first grader, he is now apparently beating the computer at chess (Mac has an ultra-easy setting for the younger user crowd)  and is quite pleased with himself. He's also getting introduced to multiplication and division in the most abstract way in math...he's not pleased at all about that. In some ways he does just fine with it (Here's 12 cents, how would you DIVIDE this evenly among four people? And, How Many Sets of 3 Are There? Five Sets of ____ Equals 15?) and yet he considers himself "bad at" these skills...especially division. So he freaks out at the idea of attempting it. I keep wanting to bang my head against the wall, seeing as he won't even SEE the true Evil of Division (LONG DIVISION!!!) until third grade or so. Chill, dude. You're doing great. 

Oh, and New Math is back, apparently...part of the whole No Child Left A Dime thing (Outcome Based Education, you know). A parent was complaining that they couldn't help their kid with his math homework because she didn't get "how to regroup." WTF???? I had no idea what she meant, and then it struck me that this was getting some attention from irate parents. Mostly parents who had science and math degrees. 

This bit is funny....sad, but funny. It shows where this woman is getting "regrouping" in her kid's math homework. 

This one doesn't have the humor angle, but it's a far better explanation of what's happening...this was as of just last year, BTW, so it's not particularly old.

And for your final edification this evening, (morning?), a California court ruling has decided it's illegal to homeschool your kid if you don't have teacher's credentials. Why? So that they'll get a superior education? Nope. "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote...

As one of my friends said, that's called fascism, folks. 

The other revolting comment I read was this one:  "We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. "We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting."

Imagine that, the Teacher's Union is happy. What a surprise. 

What no one is talking about in all this grand assumption of parental ignorance is the following: 

If 12 years in your system of chew-'em-up, spit-'em-out education left me with so little left in my memory banks that I'm unqualified to teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, perhaps you ought to look at and ferret out your own failings first. 

Of course now the Governor is promising to protect homeschoolers and the whole thing will probably boil down to nothing. But it does point out a large philosophical divide on which one side assumes the state should have ultimate control over a nation's children, and the other which assumes parents should have that control. As I told Doug yesterday, the ability to get a hold of the next generation and shape their education....to determine what they will accept, what they will fight, what they will value...is a very coveted position. The religious institutions want it, the government wants it, parents want it. It's a very powerful thing to have.