i remember being out on service with an elder when i was 17. he asked me what i plan on doing after high school.
i told him i was thinking of going to college to be a teacher.
he then asked me, "do you think this system is going to be around that long"?
I was definitely discouraged.
Once I was married to a lovely non-JW I started my community college adventure where I got my AA degree. Then I had a kid and started to work on my BA when he was about 5. I graduated from a state university when I was 37 years old. I'm now 42 and I'm finally starting on my Masters degree.
It's made a world of difference in my self esteem.
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
Band, I don't live there anymore, but I have heard that they've closed up the battlefields and you now have to pay admission to get into the site. I don't know what arangements they have for crowd control and access to the reenactments. You used to be able to just drive through the battlefield on the public roads as it covers much of the surrounding area. People who lived there were angry when they learned their usual way home was blocked off by entrance to the park. They now have to drive out of their way to get home without paying park admission. It was quite the local brouhaha.
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
Abe, reading to her every night DOES make a big difference!
It allows access to texts that children can't read on their own. It improves vocabulary. And if you stop to say, "What do you think will happen next?" it builds comprehension strategies.
Good job!
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
As a side note, Gettysburg has a small congregation of JWs. I grew up one congregation away; we were in the same circuit.
It's still a small town, but with a giant Civil War historical park. I hope you've been able to take your daughter there on a field trip. Just don't go on the 4th of July. It's the anniversary of the battle and it's always too crowded to move.
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
I agree that facts are important. Saying that Lincoln fought at the battle of Gettysburg is unacceptable. I am just saying that knowing those facts by memory are less important than they used to be because we have access to them at any time on our smart phones. I'm glad we agree that analyzing facts using critical thinking is most important.
I think maybe we are coming from different places regarding our local school districts. Maryland is one of the highest achieving states in the country and my county is consistently in the top 5 in the state. Our local high school is on the list of the top 2000 in the country. We strive to teach at higher levels of thinking ability.
As an education major, let me share with you Bloom's Taxonomy of levels of cognition and examples of a type of learning task for that level. I'll start with the lowest level and work my way up. The higher the cognitive demand of the learning task, the more depth of understanding.
1. Remembering - Recall events leading up to WWII.
2. Understanding - Classify events leading up to WWII as "causes of" or "unrelated to."
3. Applying - Interpret a speech given by Adolph Hitler leading up to WWII.
4. Analyzing - Question the involvement or lack of involvement of various countries during WWII.
5. Evaluating - Defend the decision of a country that decided to involve its military in WWII.
6. Creating - Design a timeline showing possible changes to our history if the US got involved in the events leading to WWII earlier.
My point is simply that memorization of facts is a very low level of cognitive demand. It is mandatory that facts be correct AND that depth of knowledge be sufficient for deep understanding.
when bethel serves pancakes, do they give you a choice?
is it only 1 choice.
it sure would be a deal breaker for me if i didn't get to choose between bacon, or sausages.
You eat pancakes with scrapple, all covered in maple syrup. And a side of scrambled eggs, with mayonnaise. Toast is optional.
And coffee, strong. Cream and sugar.
i was thinking today about how i no longer have to fear the attack of satan against the jws.
i used to fear being rounded up and beaten by mobs.
seeing my family tortured.
I kid you not, I was terrified that during whatever persecution that I wouldn't have any razors. I was terrified at the thought of having hairy legs.
How messed up is that?
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
Although it's nice that one can name from memory the generals that fought at Gettysburg, the skill of fact memorization simply isn't in demand anymore. Kids can find that information in minutes from the internet.
What's required now is a discussion on the reason those generals were chosen and an analysis on the effects of those choices on the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg. A fifth or sixth grader should be able to write an essay on that topic after doing research.
Another big skill that is now necessary is the ability to critically analyze whether a source is credible or not. Students need to be able to separate facts from opinions and be able to discern whether the author has any biases, loaded language or avoidance of certain facts. This is actually one of the common core standards. In other words, critical thinking is actually an explicit learning goal.
This type of critical thinking skill is often absent in comments on this board where someone makes a scientific assertion, but whose resources aren't relevant. There's a lot of information on the internet that discusses scientific subjects, but yet are not sufficient to support a scientific claim that one might be making. Students have to be taught the scientific thinking process.
This is what I fear is missing in homeschooled and christian schooled kids.
when i worked for a book store i became familiar with beka text books for home school.. i spoke with the mothers who came looking for them.
i realized something didn't smell right.. then, i realized there are a couple of generations of fundamentalist kids who have had no exposure.
to the scientific method, science facts or any conversancy with physics or biology or history as a result of beka textbooks.. in a nutshell here is the situation:.
Scary. They aren't getting a great mathematics education either.
I am a math intervention teacher in a public elementary school. These kids that come from private christian schools or are homeschooled typically end up on my caseload. A lot of them are very good at basic calculations but are ignorant of the mathematical concepts behind them.
They sink like a stone in public school mathematics classes.
1. they done me wrong.
2. i'm depressed.
3. i'm gonna act like an apostate (smoke, drink, drugs, sex, outrageous behavior).
9. Let it go.
I've worked it all out and don't have nightmares anymore, but I still have JW family. I've learned to let it go and just try to enjoy the good parts of our relationship.
And I try to support others here on this forum, as well as JWS before this.
