“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
learning
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
Kids are different today
"Kids are different today," I hear ev'ry mother say Mother needs something today to calm her down And though she's not really ill There's a little yellow pill She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day. For readers not … Continue reading Kids are different today
Illiteracy in Elementary and Secondary Schools
[The decline in the public education system did not begin yesterday. These paragraphs are excerpted from a book published almost 60 years ago. The difference today is that most people accept this as normal - they don't remember a time when things were different.] Is it possible that this timidity, this excessive appeal to "interest", … Continue reading Illiteracy in Elementary and Secondary Schools
“They feared the LORD and served their own gods”
The title comes from 2 Kings 17:33 and describes the people of Samaria during the time of their subjection to the king of Assyria. We shake our heads in disbelief, wondering how those long ago people could have been so blind. What were they thinking? Let’s take a closer look; who was the LORD and … Continue reading “They feared the LORD and served their own gods”
Book review: Hold On to Your Kids
Hold On to Your Kids: Why parents need to matter more than peers, by Gordon Neufeld, © 2004. This book is for parents who feel their children are slipping away from them. Doctor Neufeld is a child psychologist in Vancouver, B.C. who believes that parents need to be the strongest influence in the development of … Continue reading Book review: Hold On to Your Kids
Book review: BRINGING UP BÉBÉ
This is my review of the book, Bringing up bébé, by Pamela Druckerman, an American living in Paris with her English husband, one daughter and twin boys. Ms. Druckerman was shocked to discover that all that she thought she knew about child training, learned in the USA, was considered bizarre and impractical by mothers in … Continue reading Book review: BRINGING UP BÉBÉ
What is this world coming to?
In the home where I grew up there was a marvellous old gramophone and a hundred or more cylinders with recorded music. The gramophone consisted of a well crafted wooden case with a crank on the side that provided the power to turn a spindle under the lid. To play, I would first wind it … Continue reading What is this world coming to?
Five Reasons NOT to go to University
1. You won’t learn any useful work skills. Employers are looking for people who are articulate, literate, numerate and willing to serve. They find that most university graduates are lacking in these qualities. A large proportion of university graduates test as functionally illiterate. 2. You will learn to party. That will not be a useful … Continue reading Five Reasons NOT to go to University
Choose ye this day
Joshua was nearing the end of his life and he wanted to challenge the people to remain faithful to God, who had given them so many victories. The people pledged their determination to serve God only. Joshua challenged them again “You will not have the strength to serve the Eternal” (Joshua 24.19 Louis Segond translation … Continue reading Choose ye this day
Flatlander Faith 