Our educational system in action, folks! Read it and weep ... literally.
Link
Monday, October 12, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
What I'm reading now
...and have actually been working on for quite a while. It's The Arcadian Friends by Tim Richardson, a book not presently in print in the US. (I ordered it from an eBay seller in the UK.) It's a long book and on a subject -- the evolution of the English landscape garden -- that made Tommy ask me why, exactly, I was reading it, but well-written and not at all dry, as evidenced by this passage which opens Chapter 11:
Binfield, in Berkshire, is a village which still feels hemmed in by trees. The lanes are canopied with boughs, and ploughed fields picked over by crows are suddenly interrupted by thickset parcels of woodland. In hedgerows of hawthorn stand dark and ancient oaks that improbably sprout fresh green leaves each spring, and I well remember thirty years ago the felled carcasses of once-grand elms blighted by disease strewn across the fields, thousands of woodlice seething beneath their tawny skins, orange fungus erupting wildly from crumbling joints.
As to Tommy's question why I am reading it, the book connects the landscape garden of the early 18th century to the political outlooks of the landowner, and while the focus of the book antedates Jane Austen's novels, I was very much intrigued at the prospect of comparing, say, Pemberley and Sotherton to the gardens and concomitant ideas discussed by Richardson, for what they might say about Darcy and Rushworth.
What I'm reading now to Faith at bedtime is Peter Pan. She is a big fan of the movie (not the Disney version, but this live-action one) and lives in constant hope that Peter will fly in her window and take her off to Neverland. We have been through The Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, Alice in Wonderland, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I've learned that Alice has far too many jokes incomprehensible to modern American children to make it a successful bedtime read for under-7s, and House at Pooh Corner is far more child-oriented than the original Winnie for similar reasons.
My mom suggested Charlotte's Web to Faith, which has put it in our future-reading stack, but I'm dreading it, as I can never make it through without crying. (I couldn't even make it through an abridged version of The Velveteen Rabbit several months ago.) Spoilers be danged, I've already warned Faith that the spider dies at the end. We had better both be steeled for that circumstance.
Binfield, in Berkshire, is a village which still feels hemmed in by trees. The lanes are canopied with boughs, and ploughed fields picked over by crows are suddenly interrupted by thickset parcels of woodland. In hedgerows of hawthorn stand dark and ancient oaks that improbably sprout fresh green leaves each spring, and I well remember thirty years ago the felled carcasses of once-grand elms blighted by disease strewn across the fields, thousands of woodlice seething beneath their tawny skins, orange fungus erupting wildly from crumbling joints.
As to Tommy's question why I am reading it, the book connects the landscape garden of the early 18th century to the political outlooks of the landowner, and while the focus of the book antedates Jane Austen's novels, I was very much intrigued at the prospect of comparing, say, Pemberley and Sotherton to the gardens and concomitant ideas discussed by Richardson, for what they might say about Darcy and Rushworth.
What I'm reading now to Faith at bedtime is Peter Pan. She is a big fan of the movie (not the Disney version, but this live-action one) and lives in constant hope that Peter will fly in her window and take her off to Neverland. We have been through The Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, Alice in Wonderland, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I've learned that Alice has far too many jokes incomprehensible to modern American children to make it a successful bedtime read for under-7s, and House at Pooh Corner is far more child-oriented than the original Winnie for similar reasons.
My mom suggested Charlotte's Web to Faith, which has put it in our future-reading stack, but I'm dreading it, as I can never make it through without crying. (I couldn't even make it through an abridged version of The Velveteen Rabbit several months ago.) Spoilers be danged, I've already warned Faith that the spider dies at the end. We had better both be steeled for that circumstance.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Dinosaur Train
Proof that the people behind PBS Kids are evil geniuses. Dinosaurs and trains? Together in one show? I can only imagine how much money we'll be spending on licensed merchandise from this cash cow, er, "educational programming."
Monday, August 3, 2009
Why I love Prime
So, after nine years, Tommy's lawn mower needs replacing. The new model which is the "replacement" for our old Black & Decker cordless is, by most accounts, inferior to the version we have, so we did some comparison shopping and decided to buy the Neuton 6.3. Decision made, I navigate to the Amazon page. As a Prime member, I have two One-Click options: 2-day shipping by Thursday for free or 1-day shipping for arrival Wednesday for $3.99.
I pause. It's not that we really need the thing by Wednesday instead of Thursday. Lawn-mowing is for the weekend, after all. But this is an over-70-pound box. And they're offering to overnight it. For $3.99.
I actually went to the UPS website to check the cost of overnight shipment for such a heavy package. It's almost $300. They're offering me $300 worth of shipping for four bucks. Is there any way I'm not taking them up on this deal?
So, feeling very Marie Antoinette-ish, I chose one-day shipping. Now I sit back imagining an oversized box being rushed out of the warehouse and loaded on an airplane, winging its way toward me along with much more urgent items going to people who have paid many more dollars for the privilege. It's an insane bit of unnecessary luxury, and it's so much fun!
I pause. It's not that we really need the thing by Wednesday instead of Thursday. Lawn-mowing is for the weekend, after all. But this is an over-70-pound box. And they're offering to overnight it. For $3.99.
I actually went to the UPS website to check the cost of overnight shipment for such a heavy package. It's almost $300. They're offering me $300 worth of shipping for four bucks. Is there any way I'm not taking them up on this deal?
So, feeling very Marie Antoinette-ish, I chose one-day shipping. Now I sit back imagining an oversized box being rushed out of the warehouse and loaded on an airplane, winging its way toward me along with much more urgent items going to people who have paid many more dollars for the privilege. It's an insane bit of unnecessary luxury, and it's so much fun!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Summer "Reading" List
To get students to read, summer lists mix classic with contemporary favorites Schools Star-Telegram.com
Shared via AddThis
This feature article was in my newspaper this morning. These are the motes of wisdom which jumped out at me:
."
"...students often find those must-read classics stodgy and hard to understand.... modern girls can't relate to such traditional women's roles.... The answer, educators say, is to prepare students in advance for the eccentricities of the older works.... 'The older classics are there mostly because they will be referred to in newer works, even in movies.... We always encourage them to have the actual book in front of them if they're listening on tape.'"
Now, they're very careful never to specify which classic books exactly they're referring to as "stodgy" or full of harmful "traditional women's roles" (fear of hate mail from benighted readers who might value those classics, no doubt), but considering that "educators" are only including classics so students can understand references in movies and "encourage" students to have an actual printed book on what is referred to as a summer reading list, I pose this question: Is the problem with the classic books or with the modern student who is so self-referential that he cannot be expected to understand a lifestyle and/or time period different than his own?
Shared via AddThis
This feature article was in my newspaper this morning. These are the motes of wisdom which jumped out at me:
."
"...students often find those must-read classics stodgy and hard to understand.... modern girls can't relate to such traditional women's roles.... The answer, educators say, is to prepare students in advance for the eccentricities of the older works.... 'The older classics are there mostly because they will be referred to in newer works, even in movies.... We always encourage them to have the actual book in front of them if they're listening on tape.'"
Now, they're very careful never to specify which classic books exactly they're referring to as "stodgy" or full of harmful "traditional women's roles" (fear of hate mail from benighted readers who might value those classics, no doubt), but considering that "educators" are only including classics so students can understand references in movies and "encourage" students to have an actual printed book on what is referred to as a summer reading list, I pose this question: Is the problem with the classic books or with the modern student who is so self-referential that he cannot be expected to understand a lifestyle and/or time period different than his own?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Mouse and the Ogre
dictated by Faith to her Mawmaw
Once upon a time, there was a little mouse laying an egg. The little mouse was with her mother and her father. On the other side of her house lived an angry ogre. He wanted the little mouse to eat for lunch and dinner and breakfast.
The ogre was thinking how to get the little mouse who layed an egg.
The ogre got it! He would walk over and get the little mouse and get her without waking her up.
That night, he sneaked over to the little mouse's house. (It was the little mouse who layed an egg.) He picked her up and sneaked back home with the little mouse and then went to his bed and laid her down.
The next morning, the mouse woke up and said, "This isn't my rock!" Then she walked to the window and noticed she was at the angry ogre's house. And he was ready to eat her. The little mouse squeaked away. She was home again.
The daddy woke up, and the daddy went to the ogre's house. The daddy poked the ogre in the tummy, and the ogre was dead.
The daddy went home to sleep.
The End
Once upon a time, there was a little mouse laying an egg. The little mouse was with her mother and her father. On the other side of her house lived an angry ogre. He wanted the little mouse to eat for lunch and dinner and breakfast.
The ogre was thinking how to get the little mouse who layed an egg.
The ogre got it! He would walk over and get the little mouse and get her without waking her up.
That night, he sneaked over to the little mouse's house. (It was the little mouse who layed an egg.) He picked her up and sneaked back home with the little mouse and then went to his bed and laid her down.
The next morning, the mouse woke up and said, "This isn't my rock!" Then she walked to the window and noticed she was at the angry ogre's house. And he was ready to eat her. The little mouse squeaked away. She was home again.
The daddy woke up, and the daddy went to the ogre's house. The daddy poked the ogre in the tummy, and the ogre was dead.
The daddy went home to sleep.
The End
Thursday, May 28, 2009
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