CAUTION: INCULCATION IN PROGRESS
Awaiting our out-of-town guest at the A-East baggage claim at the Philadelphia airport on Saturday, we were treated to dozens of stupid poems which all sounded strangely alike, courtesy of The Dream Flag Project.
My wife got pretty torqued about it. It was a disturbing example of what grade school education has become in the USA.
The Project exposes the children to the poetry of Langston Hughes. In itself there is nothing wrong with that I suppose.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
But then telling the kids what to dream about seems to defeat the purpose.
I should be fair. There were a few good poems that we cheered, that came from honest kids:
"I dream of lots of candy and Mario Super Party 8."
"I dream of playing football with my dad when he comes home from work."
"I dream that when I am big I will race a motersikel and win big troffees."
Those are normal dreams for kids. Kids don't dream of world peace and a world without guns and abundant natural habitats for polar bears unless someone tells them to.
So I am not a fan of The Dream Flag Project. And where the Dream Flag Project is, The Dreamy Fag Project cannot be far behind. Your tax dollars at work.
Unjustly privileged girl regurgitates same blather as oppressed girl in equitable harmony.
We pulled our kids out of public school when we saw that the warm liberal bath begins in the very earliest grades, even in a conservative community like ours. At our kids' school they study the who/when/why/how of war without glorifying nor disparaging it. War is a fact. They make Viking helmets and build catapults and make swords and breastplates and fight with toy light sabers at recess. The culminating event of third grade was the Barbarian Invasion, fourth grade vs. third grade, with launching of missiles, simulated slaughter and general mayhem. They study the historical context of war and learn to think for themselves and I like it much better that way. Call me old fashioned.
4 comments:
Excellent. With the election over there is so much more time to talk culture and the public schools do their best to influence culture.
What really irks is that adults think that their issues transferred to kids is education when it is nothing but self congratulation. Thanks for pointing this example out.
Being an involved parent is what counts these days. I had Donovan in the "best" College-Prep school in Central Florida allegedly and they were still pumping him full of left-wing propaganda. So I put him back into Public school, but now constantly inoculate him against their non-sense by taking part in the Political debates and discussing what is happening with his assignments. He's learned very well how to spot bias in his teaching (much better than I could at that age) and he's all the better for it. Although I don't disagree with you. I wish we had a comparable Christian school here. However, our kids are going to live in the same world we live in and have to be prepared for the radical non-sense that they will encounter. That's why I encourage my son to read "Junto Boys" and he's become so excited about it, that he has even become a regular contributor, as you well know.
Donovan is all the better for having conversations with a Junto member at dinner. I had some fairly impressive schooling in retrospect until college where there is no escape for liberalism outside of business and technical schools. I survived by having fellow Junto member, Stamper at my side for several of the more liberal classes. We gave each other the courage to speak out and laugh in the face of the craziness around us, but always in a fun way that endeared us even to the fringey lefties amongst us. All we can do is send our kids into the world and hope they keep their heads on straight and choose well with the company they keep.
In response to Sir S, not to rebut but to agree, I was not in favor of sending our kids to Christian school. It was not even an option. I did not want them in a bubble, afraid of and criticizing the world, unprepared to encounter the world as it is. What a pleasant surprise, then, to find a classical Christian school a few blocks from our house. They teach the trivium in the medieval tradition, reading the classics and teaching in a way that neither fears nor embraces the world. History, rhetoric and Latin are staples. I have no beef with my own public school education, but I would have loved a school like this. It's a Junto Boy's dream. Details at veritasacademy.com.
Welcome Donovan, I am proud to call you brother.
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