"Dayton's correct statement should have been, 'We are a high taxed state with little to show for it in education'. Then we could finally agree on something."
My daughter recently enrolled my grandson in a Montessori School. Now, I will come clean. I will admit that for decades now, mostly due to my ignorance, I thought Montessori was just a bunch of New Age "psycho-babble". That is, until we took a recent cruise down in the Caribbean, and I learned a thing or two.
Two of the islands (in different countries) we visited, had a different take on schooling than we have in the US. Start early, and finish early. One island started their kids at age 3, and the other started their kids at age 2! Why so dang early? For the same reason that Maria Montessori thought it was good to have kids in school at age three. The ability to learn at that age is phenomenal. With the right curriculum, and right environment, a child's brain soaks up learning at that age like a sponge soaks up water.
But is there a caveat? Of course - there is always a caveat. The government. Government schools. The unholy cabal of Education Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Education. Because we have secularized and PC'd our schools to the max, true Montessori learning is not possible. And that includes Dayton's early education scheme. His view has nothing to do with learning. It has everything to do with a payback to the teacher's union.
By the way, the schools in the two islands we visited are nothing like our schools. For example, in the way God is handled in the classroom. Rather than being eschewed like He is in many United States government schools, He is welcomed with open arms in the faith rich Caribbean. So there is no worries about kids starting early. They won't be confronted about gender identity, guilt due the Paris Accord, which bathroom to use, and so forth. Just the A,B, C's of learning. Kind of like the old days in this country, before the socialism invaded education in the 60's.
By the way, ever wonder why home schooled kids do so well? Curriculum and environment. I have yet to meet a home schooled kid who was lacking in anything. Home schools, private schools, some charter schools, and Montessori schools are (I am convinced), the wave of the future. Government schools, which at one time were the backbone of our country, are now nothing more than cesspools of hyper-sensitivity and political gobblety gook.
A few years ago, Marx Dayton was quoted as saying, "Minnesota is a high tax, high value state." Well Marx - you were half right. We pay 1/3 of our sky high taxes in this state to support a corrupt and broken public education system. Dayton's correct statement should have been, "We are a high taxed state with little to show for it in education". Then we could finally agree on something.
My kids are in /public/ Montessori schools, starting at age 5, and a couple of visits is more than enough to convince me of the superiority of the method at producing excellent academic results and "good citizens." "lecture and forget" may work at the college level; it's terrible for young kids.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like the idea of starting at 2-3. like you say, they are sponges for information.
ReplyDeleteMy kids started school in the late 60's, so we witnessed the changes occurring.
We opted for "Magnet" schools (precursor to Charter), with dedicated teachers, involved parents and specialized curricula. High School had them back to the neighborhood, Highland, and if we didn't stay on top of things, they could have drifted through without learning much.
Now, all college grads, good jobs and we can breathe a sigh of relief.
It is tough watching the grandkids and the silliness they have to put up with, but on reflection, the intent of changes seem reasonable, but the application leaves something to be desired.
I just hope they teach them how to adapt and survive in a world with diminished resources (water, food and fuel), climate change leading to rising seas and extreme weather patterns.
The last time the earth went through a cycle like this there were few humans in existence.
Now there are 8 billion souls, 80% in poverty (by our standards).
I don't think any school system is going to prepare them well enough.
Those folks alive at the end of this century are going to be in for a world of hurt.
And maybe the kids can be taught clarity of thought and speech!
ReplyDeleteWe are imposing new sanctions on Russia. We are not imposing new sanctions on Russia.
China isn’t manipulating its currency. China is manipulating its currency.
We’re getting out of Syria. We aren’t getting out of Syria.
We’ll decide about bombing Syria in 24 to 48 hours. We might not bomb Syria for a long time. We bombed Syria.
The bombing of Syria will be sustained. The Syria bombing was a one-time shot.
DIC will be talking to Kim Jong Un. DIC may not be talking to Kim.
DIC fired James B. Comey because of the Russia investigation. DIC did not fire Comey because of the Russia investigation.
One of the great fallacies of modern education is that "critical thinking" can be taught. Critical thinking depends on having enough information, from multiple sources, and a lengthy life experience against which to "test" new information. The schools, lopsided liberal as they are, provide only half the information, and the kids do not have enough life experience to call it the BS it is. And we adults are fed a constant stream of misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies so even the wisest among us takes pause. I have discovered, just in the last few months, this terrible truth: If you tell somebody the undeniable truth, they will simply deny it!
ReplyDeleteJane? Call me the eternal optimist, but I still have hope. The young'uns are in a Montessori school during the week and in church on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteClimate change-- the undeniable truth, here-- is a phantasm of reckless imaginings, with ZERO scientific evidence supporting it.
The global economy is thriving, reducing the "population bomb." And we have already outlived several Malthusian cycles, with the Earth greening and food production climbing.
My big concern is that we're inventing ourselves out of jobs and the only thing left will be taking in each other's laundry. Yet we are assured of a labor shortage in MN?
Maybe the best approach for a pessimist is to "cling to life just to see what happens next." Or be an optimist, still waiting for my flying car.
Don't call it climate change, just call it the repeated cycling of the earths own infrastructure. But in Norfolk, VA, the sailors who live off base drive through water filled streets to get to work, islands in the Pacific are being swallowed by the sea. Storms, cold and hot are increasing in intensity. The line between the arid west and the moist midwest has moved east 100 miles.
DeleteIf that is the case Dave, and it is caused by our excess use of carbon, you and Jane might have to take a covered wagon down to Arizona next year instead of a car or plane.
DeleteNot carbon related, just cyclical changes that we don't understand, can't model and will not mitigate,, therefore we must adapt or suffer.
DeleteEver notice something? Those who rely on the climate models do not want to talk about the Official IPCC report that says "long term prediction of climate is not possible." They do not want to talk about the numerous known and proven flaws in the model, nor the complete failure of the models-- they are already off by 50%-- to predict actual temperatures.
ReplyDeleteThose who want to look around and say climate change is already happening are now blaming "climate change" for something like 732 things, many of them contradictory. Beyond that, they simply have ZERO means of distinguishing between Natural warming and Manmade warming! Very difficult to "do something" about that over which you have no control.
Oh, and guess what we are teaching the kids?
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