Cathy
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Albert Einstein
Monday, October 8, 2012
If Only
If only all students could be so lucky to be expelled.
Cathy
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Albert Einstein
Cathy
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Albert Einstein
Friday, October 5, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Educational Freedom
"Men had better be without education than be
educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking
in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog,
which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest
impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his prey, to hasten
with it to the feet of his master" -- Thomas Hodgskin
Cathy Peschke
Cathy Peschke
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Equality
At the school board meeting the other night I heard a mother use the term equal. I believe it was we need to make things equal for everyone. Clearly she does not know the distinction between equal opportunity and equal outcomes. Equal and equality are words that have come to repulse me like green energy, global warming, sustainable, etc. These are words used by progressives to control man.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes about equality.
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." Aristotle
"No advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer. " George Orwell
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Abraham Lincoln
"The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion for equality made vain the hope for freedom." Lord Acton
"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both."- Milton Friedman
Cathy Peschke, Homeschooling Mom of Two married to a brilliant and great husband.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes about equality.
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." Aristotle
"No advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimeter nearer. " George Orwell
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Abraham Lincoln
"The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion for equality made vain the hope for freedom." Lord Acton
"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both."- Milton Friedman
Cathy Peschke, Homeschooling Mom of Two married to a brilliant and great husband.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Special School Board Meeting
I would like to sum up today's special school board meeting, the Oligarchy known as SAU 43 and my feeling for the school district in general.
Public Schools = Government Schools = Socialized Education They exist to serve the employees and the State not the students. Public schools would not exist if they were meant to serve the student.
"The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can't get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing.The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, andevery election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods."-- H. L. Mencken(1880-1956) American Journalist,
Cathy Peschke
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Algebra Is Needed!
The following post is in response to a post against teaching algebra in New York Times. The post below is written by Jim Peschke.
Algebra is needed!
I've often lamented the lack of a Calculus program at some high schools. My reasoning, challenged by the educational establishment, is that Calculus is fundamental and should be at least offered if not mandatory.
While educators weigh the merits of high school Calculus and Latin, some have taken the discussion to a new low. Queens College professor Andrew Hacker opines in the New York Times that mandatory Algebra in high school is harmful and should be eliminated. To all who labor for educational excellence, this proposal feels like conceding the space race to the Soviets a year after Apollo 11.
Without listing the many obvious flaws in Hacker's plan, let's look at the less "You wanna do WHAT?!?" reasons that Algebra must stay.
Algebra is not just another level of math; it is a fundamental shift in thinking from the concrete to the abstract. Such ascendency of thought is essential to the development of the whole child and is not limited to mathematics. Far from being difficult, Algebra is one of the easiest tools to bridge this gap.
Other tools of abstract instruction exist. Philosophy and Theology first come to mind, but these have their own limitations. Either subject covered in depth requires broad experience and understanding often unavailable to the ninth grader. Both have limited professional application, are largely untestable and too subjective to avoid the political malfeasance (ie. indoctrination) rampant in government schools.
Could one actually teach Philosophy in a government school without the usual leftist tripe rearing its ugly head? Given the current state of affairs, any such attempt would replace enlightened open-minded abstract discourse with a descent into political doctrine, pseudoscience, and groupthink. The mere thought of teaching Theology in a government school is the secular version of heresy. There is a reason these subjects thrive best in a college setting.
Algebra forges abstract thought in a way that students can grasp and teachers can measure. Students cannot pull the wool over the teacher's eyes with the usual warm fuzzy "Its how I feel" or "My heart tells me so" nonsense abundant in less regimented courses. If a student fails to grasp the concepts of Algebra, this shortcoming can be exposed and corrected.
If this is Mr. Hacker's idea of "too difficult", too bad. We don't send our children to school to "follow their heart" like some sobbing American Idol contestant leaving the stage for the last time. We send them to school to learn.
Oh and by the way, Algebra has that not-so-minor virtue of being useful.
No discussion of the merits of Algebra can avoid the anecdotal "I've never needed Algebra" tales. Most of us who made it through Algebra understand the scientific method well enough to reject anecdotal evidence. These stories also miss the point; of course it is possible to get by without Algebra, but at what cost?
Cross country travel by horseback is possible, but how many of us choose this option? It sounds great if you've never heard of cars, planes, or trains. Leonardo DaVinci could have done wonders with AutoCAD, but he never missed having it. Galileo could have saved a great deal of time if he had a pocket calculator, but he still advanced astronomy.
Silly? Perhaps, but it puts to light the obvious "You don't know what you're missing" problem. Those who never grasped the power of Algebra are inherently the least capable of appreciating its value. Such appreciation itself is part of the learning experience.
Calls for the elimination of Algebra showcase the woeful inadequacy of the American K-12 educational system. These naive protestations are an ineloquent form of shooting the messenger. Our duty as a society is to expose and correct these shortcomings rather than mask them by dumbing down an already anemic course load.
Algebra is needed!
I've often lamented the lack of a Calculus program at some high schools. My reasoning, challenged by the educational establishment, is that Calculus is fundamental and should be at least offered if not mandatory.
While educators weigh the merits of high school Calculus and Latin, some have taken the discussion to a new low. Queens College professor Andrew Hacker opines in the New York Times that mandatory Algebra in high school is harmful and should be eliminated. To all who labor for educational excellence, this proposal feels like conceding the space race to the Soviets a year after Apollo 11.
Without listing the many obvious flaws in Hacker's plan, let's look at the less "You wanna do WHAT?!?" reasons that Algebra must stay.
Algebra is not just another level of math; it is a fundamental shift in thinking from the concrete to the abstract. Such ascendency of thought is essential to the development of the whole child and is not limited to mathematics. Far from being difficult, Algebra is one of the easiest tools to bridge this gap.
Other tools of abstract instruction exist. Philosophy and Theology first come to mind, but these have their own limitations. Either subject covered in depth requires broad experience and understanding often unavailable to the ninth grader. Both have limited professional application, are largely untestable and too subjective to avoid the political malfeasance (ie. indoctrination) rampant in government schools.
Could one actually teach Philosophy in a government school without the usual leftist tripe rearing its ugly head? Given the current state of affairs, any such attempt would replace enlightened open-minded abstract discourse with a descent into political doctrine, pseudoscience, and groupthink. The mere thought of teaching Theology in a government school is the secular version of heresy. There is a reason these subjects thrive best in a college setting.
Algebra forges abstract thought in a way that students can grasp and teachers can measure. Students cannot pull the wool over the teacher's eyes with the usual warm fuzzy "Its how I feel" or "My heart tells me so" nonsense abundant in less regimented courses. If a student fails to grasp the concepts of Algebra, this shortcoming can be exposed and corrected.
If this is Mr. Hacker's idea of "too difficult", too bad. We don't send our children to school to "follow their heart" like some sobbing American Idol contestant leaving the stage for the last time. We send them to school to learn.
Oh and by the way, Algebra has that not-so-minor virtue of being useful.
No discussion of the merits of Algebra can avoid the anecdotal "I've never needed Algebra" tales. Most of us who made it through Algebra understand the scientific method well enough to reject anecdotal evidence. These stories also miss the point; of course it is possible to get by without Algebra, but at what cost?
Cross country travel by horseback is possible, but how many of us choose this option? It sounds great if you've never heard of cars, planes, or trains. Leonardo DaVinci could have done wonders with AutoCAD, but he never missed having it. Galileo could have saved a great deal of time if he had a pocket calculator, but he still advanced astronomy.
Silly? Perhaps, but it puts to light the obvious "You don't know what you're missing" problem. Those who never grasped the power of Algebra are inherently the least capable of appreciating its value. Such appreciation itself is part of the learning experience.
Calls for the elimination of Algebra showcase the woeful inadequacy of the American K-12 educational system. These naive protestations are an ineloquent form of shooting the messenger. Our duty as a society is to expose and correct these shortcomings rather than mask them by dumbing down an already anemic course load.
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