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Friday, December 14. 2012

Primary school: Goodbye, Liberal Arts?

New national curriculum standards call for students to read less literature and more “informational texts.”


Well, I have never heard of a "national curriculum." The very idea of that creeps me out. Parents and local schools ought to be entirely competent to figure out what sorts of readings are good for primary school. It's not rocket science.


My larger point, however, is that parents can and should guide their kids' reading. If you turn off or throw out the TV, get rid of computer games, most kids with any intelligence or curiosity will read anything at hand. Even "informational texts." Sometimes people talk as if "curricula" is where learning begins and ends. Thank God, it is not.

Posted by The Barrister at 13:32 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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Yeah, but Eustace Scrubb will be happy.
#1 DrTorch on 2012-12-14 17:23 (Reply)
Look into the CSCOPE programs now invading the Texas school system. You have to search pages, but many teachers are quite upset that it gives surface coverage of subjects, not allowing that some students require more attention than others. The parents are irritated that they can't access the curricula, so they have no way of helping their children at home.

A friend who tutors high school students involved in sports competition and arts performances (requiring them to miss school) notes the errors in content and a disregard for Western Civ and Literature. A chapter on religion included many pages on Islam but only a few paragraphs each on Judaism, Christianity, Native American beliefs and religions of Asia as previously taught. The struggle to form our Constitutional Republic is barely acknowledged

She could go on about science and math, but I think you understand. The experienced teachers don't want to complain because they don't want to lose their jobs when the school districts are looking for any excuse to hire new graduates at lower salaries.

The important point, according to my tutoring friend and several others in the textbook publishing industry, is that Texas as one of the larger school districts in the nation usually controls the content sold in other states. I think it time for transparency in all materials afforded our students and for parental control of subject matter that disrespects The Constitution, freedom of religion and the people who fought for it. Texas is not alone is cutting the quality of education paid for by our tax dollars.
#2 jma on 2012-12-14 18:06 (Reply)
In case you don't realize this, there is a national curriculum now - it's just one devised by the National Education Association and its allies. At their annual meetings they pretty much decide what will be taught and then lobby at mostly the state level to enforce it. If you look, you'll see that what is taught is pretty uniform, nationwide and it's pretty dumbed down and of course, slanted to favor leftist crapola. And, of course, the textbooks "required" to be used are pretty much the same stuff.

My son attended a small, nonreligious (but not antireligious) private school through 8th grade in Annandale Virginia. They used no textbooks - they read a variety of materials not translated for them by textbook writers. Latin was taught in 6th-8th grade, as was French. Drama was very important as was music and even the smallest kids participated in plays and produced music. This child, who was pretty lazy, lived off the education he got there pretty much through high school and even into college. Latin gives a kid a great advantage in English.

Throwing out all textbooks and letting the local schools come up with curricula to meet established national standards (as most other western democracies do) I think is the way to go. Add back Latin for sure, as early as possible.
#3 LHF on 2012-12-15 06:55 (Reply)

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