Continuing with the events of the day I was writing about in my last post, after finishing my supper at Tim Horton's I went over to Dollarama. Two young ladies were just coming out of the store, loaded down with their purchases. I stepped aside to let them through and then one of them held … Continue reading The hoary head
schools
Natural affection
I started school in 1948 in a one-room school. The first order of business on the first day involved cutting and pasting and I recall the teacher assigning me to help a little girl who had apparently never done anything of the sort before. I was already quite a proficient reader and the Dick and … Continue reading Natural affection
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
Tongue-tied no more
I was painfully shy in my younger days. The only child of older parents, I wandered the hills of our farm anddeveloped a lively imagination but felt inhibited in communicating with adults or in a large group. In high school we had to give speeches once a year. I was good at researching and preparing … Continue reading Tongue-tied no more
Food for thought
It is a high German notion that life is explainable before it is experienced, and that it must submit itself to change according to the dictum of the learned. Wherever this fanciful idea is incorporated into the educational structure, all such schools become workshops for dissolution and death where the worms live high at the … Continue reading Food for thought
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
The joys of English
Earlier this week, the sisters of our congregation had their last sewing day of the winter season. Why is sewing pronounced so-ing and not soo-ing? There is a word in the AV (KJV) Bible that is spelled shew. A lot of people pronounce it shoo, when it really should be sho; it’s just an old-fashioned … Continue reading The joys of English
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
No-fault schooling
A friend told me how he had applied for a job as a technician at a chemical plant, claiming diplomas that he did not have. When he got the job, he spent the weekend cramming with chemical textbooks, started work on Monday and quickly became an expert technician. After a number of months, he told … Continue reading No-fault schooling
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
Flatlander Faith 