Another excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, by Christina Young of Waubuno, Ontario May 31, 1897 Today we washed the sheep. I guess I had better describe how it is done, as the fashions may be changed by the time my descendants are able to read this. There are so many new ways of doing … Continue reading Today we washed the sheep
children
What cats are good for
Here on the flatlands the days are getting longer, the temperatures milder, and our three cats are showing signs of spring fever. Even bulky old Panda. None of our cats are purebreds, but a predominant breed is evident in each by their size, shape, coat and temperament. Panda is an all black Maine Coon cat. … Continue reading What cats are good for
Big or small, the Bible fits us all
They say that if you take a most powerful magnifying glass, and examine any flower, or even just a blade of grass, that the patterns that we see branch off into hundreds of other patterns, and they branch off into hundreds of others, and so on, and every last thing about it is as perfect … Continue reading Big or small, the Bible fits us all
Do Intelligence and Irresponsibility go together?
I was reading several years before I started school, I always did well in school and through reading I began to accumulate a very eclectic storehouse of information. I began to develop confidence that I could figure things out on my own. It happened one day that a counsellor presented me with an aptitude test, … Continue reading Do Intelligence and Irresponsibility go together?
Public Schools: mediocrity is the goal
There was a time, about 120 years ago, when almost everyone in Canada could read and write well, could do the math calculations needed in their daily life and work, often without pencil and paper, knew a good bit about world history and understood how governments worked. It is not that way today. It is … Continue reading Public Schools: mediocrity is the goal
Quotes on schooling
“My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself.” - George Bernard Shaw “My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she kept me … Continue reading Quotes on schooling
The saint of the neighbourhood
[This is an excerpt from When I Was Thirteen, copyright the estate of Christina Young Plumb. It is the diary of a thirteen year old girl in south-western Ontario at the end of the nineteenth century.] April 12, 1897 - This is Good Friday, so we had no school today, and Monday will be a … Continue reading The saint of the neighbourhood
The decline and fall of public education
Chris was 17 when we got married and had just finished Grade 11. She enrolled in Grade 12 that fall and rode the school bus to the nearest large town with a high school. It didn’t last long — she was in a new community where she didn’t know any of her fellow students, she … Continue reading The decline and fall of public education
Still missing Penny
Penny was the only dog I ever really loved. He was the family dog of my childhood, an old-fashioned shaggy farm collie, not a narrow-headed, pointy-nosed mutant like today’s purebreds. He was black in colour, with a white collar and chest, and a white stripe down his face, very mild-mannered in disposition, not at all … Continue reading Still missing Penny
Thous shalt not kill
The teachings of Jesus: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever … Continue reading Thous shalt not kill
