Thursday, October 31, 2013

I knew it.

My colleagues are so fucking out of touch that they think Hemmingway is a developmentally appropriate read for third graders.  That's eight and nine year olds.  Never mind the (stated lack of) complexity of the vocabulary and sentence structure--what about the themes and imagery? 

Yep, according to the thcientific meathurements of the newly-invented "Lexiles," Mr. Popper's Penguins is more complex than To Kill a Mockingbird, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night is appropriate for a fifth grader in the complexity of sentence structure and vocabulary.  Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory--a violent celebration of anti-Christianity and Communism--is deemed appropriate for a third grader.

And my colleagues?  They say "Wouldn't it be wonderful if our elementary students read The Sun Also Rises?"

People wonder why I hold public schools in general and Common Core in specific in such contempt.  By their measures, the only thing complex enough for a high school reading level is a product and consumer safety manual (but then again, that's probably the aim of the program.  Damn them.). 

Catholic school.  It's the only thing outside of home schooling that I'll accept.

10 comments:

  1. I'm guessing the goal is to discourage future reading with literature that's too complicated for the reader. Teach them to read only enough to follow directions and vote appropriately.

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    1. They've deemed real literature "not complex enough to challenge," paying attention only to vocabulary and sentence structure, and ignoring the themes and motifs in the classics. No culture or critical thinking allowed.

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  2. Look at a grade school social studies book and you'll be even more disconcerted. Those are propaganda for the left to such an extent that the history of the United States is completely warped to support their agenda.

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    1. Oh, I'm aware. It had started when I was in third or fourth grade. Good thing I've always been good at spotting bullshit.

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  3. More indoctrination. Remove the DoE and clean out the schools of the Liberal Femocrats. It's the only way.

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    1. Parochial schools or home school--it's the only way.

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    2. Catholic schools always work god/religion into every course of study...math, science, etc.

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    3. I've spoken with the principal--ours doesn't. It was, at one time, the ONLY private school in town, and still serves all religions and denominations (even if it charges less tuition for Catholics). Yes, it does teach Bible stories, but that's not the main focus (like in the other schools).

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    4. When I went to Catholic school 50 years ago, we also went to mass every single day.

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    5. Now, see--I really wouldn't mind if they did. I don't have a problem with the faith in specific, just with church buildings in general.

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