This is a story of two young boys. The first came from a stable, two parent family; the second from a home where the father had left for parts unknown. Boy Number 1 has an advantage, don't you think? Well, let's see. Boy Number 1 takes a jackknife to school one day, the teacher sees … Continue reading No fault parenting versus no excuse parenting
parents
Why parents still matter
Here is one paragraph from an article that appeared in the Autumn 2014 issue of City Journal. The writer is Kay S. Hymowitz and the subtitle states : Families shape their children’s prospects more profoundly than anything government can do. Universal preschool is by far the most popular idea for easing poor children’s early disadvantages. The … Continue reading Why parents still matter
Learning the wrong lesson
Nelson was born with the umbilical cord around his neck, causing oxygen starvation to his brain. He was slower in learning during the early years of childhood and his parents were encouraged to place him in a school for children with special needs. The parents were disappointed with the results, or rather the lack of … Continue reading Learning the wrong lesson
Don’t tell your Mom
The teacher told her class: “Your parents probably won’t understand what we’ve been talking about, so it would be better if you didn’t tell them about it.” One of the students in that class was the teenaged daughter of a co-worker. I could tell that her Mom was not impressed when she talked about it … Continue reading Don’t tell your Mom
Why a child should not be king of the home
There are widely divergent views on child training in North America – ranging all the way from a laissez faire attitude (let the child alone and she will figure things out on her own), to the harsh disciplinarian (if you want a child to learn how to behave you need to spank him once a … Continue reading Why a child should not be king of the home
School crisis in Québec
More than 50 congregations of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in seven Canadian provinces are operating their own schools. These schools provide the foundational tools to enable their graduates to go on and continue learning whatever they need to make a living and be useful members of society. The schools are recognized as … Continue reading School crisis in Québec
Somebody ought to do something
Just about every day the media presents new evidence of bullying, neglected and mistreated children, juvenile prostitution, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, youth gangs and all the other problems that seem to afflict the children and youth of our society. Cries of distress and outrage go up and there is a universal feeling that something … Continue reading Somebody ought to do something
Discovery learning
The Province of Alberta recently announced a complete transformation of their teaching methods. The new model is based on the wonderfully naive expectation that a classroom of 30 children of the same age will learn much better if the teacher is relegated to the background and not allowed to teach. Where does this dewy-eyed credulity … Continue reading Discovery learning
My parents lied to me
I don't recall how it was taught, but right from my very earliest memories of Christmas I knew that most of my gifts came from Santa Claus. Of course there were other gifts from family members, but the most important ones came from Santa Claus. We lived in a rural area, there were no malls … Continue reading My parents lied to me
Why parents need to be involved in their child’s education
Governor Jeb Bush of Florida was in Toronto at the end of October to speak on the educational reforms that have moved Florida schools from the bottom tier of educational achievement to near the top. He spoke to the Economic Club of Canada at the Royal York Hotel, the talk was well-publicized and co-sponsored by … Continue reading Why parents need to be involved in their child’s education
Flatlander Faith 