What!?!? What country do you live in? Here in the US of Ignorance we teach our kids to robotically pass performance tests with no regard for whether they actually understand anything.Lawdog said:
Evolution and America
- Thread starter SnakeLord
- Start date
Seems really strange that no one cares what the future of the US will be like.
Now I understand why so many parents prefer home schoolong here.
Initially when I heard about it, it seemed pretty backward to me.
(depriving children of the interaction with other children).
Now I understand why so many parents prefer home schoolong here.
Initially when I heard about it, it seemed pretty backward to me.
(depriving children of the interaction with other children).
They're mostly religious zealots who don't want their kids exposed to the "heresies" of the public schools.samcdkey said:
Actually, considering my interest in cognition, I wish I'd paid more attention in English class. I didn't see the connection between language and thought until much, much later. A pity.
Yes, well. Spending years drilling kids on the concepts of predicates and prepositions and polymorphic axiomatic consonant blending is an assinine wast of time. Humans have a natural ability to learn language without the overwhelming tonnage of "english" classes piled on them. And how much better off are they for it? Zero. Teach them the love of reading and let them go.invert_nexus said:
I don't think the education system is the problem in the US. I think the problem is that the fundamentalist Christian lobby is very powerful and does everything it can to promote its own agenda of unquestioning belief in the literal truth of the bible. That includes influencing school boards to prevent the teaching of evolution wherever possible.
You're absolutely correct. Now do you wonder why there are some pretty rabid american atheists here? Unfortunately we tend to project our own woes onto the rest of you...samcdkey said:
Also true. Just another wedge jammed into the door to the flood of ignorance.James R said:
Do any of you lucky "foreigners" know how much influence the xian lobby has at the highest levels of our government? *shudders with terror*
Oh. I agree. Especially as most of these kids will find little to no interest in the delvings which I have found my joys in.
I hated English. Diagramming sentences was absolutely stupid. About the only useful thing in English class was learning to write, but less time was spent on creativity than 'proper' grammar and etc.
Still. Having been forced to take it for years on end as a child, and failing quite often. I now find it ironic that I am studying up on it in works such as Quine and Wittgenstein. Sartre also touches on the importance of language. Seems like everywhere I go nowadays I am bumping into language construction.
I just wish I had known this earlier and had capitalized on the situation.
My mistake.
It does bring up a good example of what's wrong with the educational system though. Usefulness.
What motivation do kids have to learn? They don't have a clue what any of this stuff is good for. They have to spend years studying abstract things that seem to have little to no application to reality and only to have it put together MUCH later into how it's useful. Unfortunately, by then, most kids are out of the system or horribly behind.
Here's a bit of local news from Pennsylvania. GWB was here today supporting the campaign for our republican gubernatorial candidate. He was selling "private audiences" for $10,000 a pop to raise money for Swann's campaign. And telling everyone how much he thanks GOD for everything from chicken wings to nukular missiles. I told my friend's I'd give them five bucks to keep him away from me...
invert_nexus:
What a horrible way to learn English!
We had stories, mostly snapshots from literature, which were then used to teach sentence construction and grammer; we had classes when we had to compose stories and essays. We had peotry appreciation. And we had it in 3 languages!
It was such fun! I always enjoyed language classes.
What a horrible way to learn English!
We had stories, mostly snapshots from literature, which were then used to teach sentence construction and grammer; we had classes when we had to compose stories and essays. We had peotry appreciation. And we had it in 3 languages!
It was such fun! I always enjoyed language classes.
It's theoretically intact. In reality we're a christian nation don't you know... We're not a theocracy yet, and if we get a candidate with some sense and some balls (unless it's a woman of course) in '08, we may start to get some of this straightened out. Depends on how disgusted the population is by then.samcdkey said:
I read to my kids from day one. They're all voracious readers now and fell asleep in most of their english classes.samcdkey said:
Who knows? If we beat our kids into an apathetic stupor in school, what's to motivate them later in life? It's a good recipie for dumbing down the citizens to make it easier for you to gain office and push your own agendas, don't you think?samcdkey said: