SCHOOLS ONCE DID EDUCATE

"One of the more illuminating reality TV shows screening is "That'll Teach `Em", a British series appearing on Foxtel. The 2004 series took 30 16-year-olds, who had just sat their GCSE exams, to a fictional `King's School', where they received 1950s-style tuition and then sat O-levels in English, maths and history. For one month, the world of a 1950s state boarding school was re-created in almost every detail. The pupils were placed under the supervision of a headmaster, matron, housemaster, housemistress and a number of subject tutors, all former or working teachers. They confronted strict discipline, challenging lessons, cross-country runs and cold showers, while the school dinners reflected the austerity of the time.

The most revealing aspect of the series was just how woefully educated were these modern kids; none could locate the west coast of India or the Suez Canal on a map of the world, they were completely mystified by calculus and parsing and most had the reading skills of a 1950s 10-year-old. After several weeks one 16-y-o showed off her new skill of reciting the four-times table. As she haltingly chanted something that a student half her age 30 years ago would have breezed through, one could only condemn the lazy, ideologically driven policies that have denied a generation a proper education.

Initially, most of the kids resented their journey into the past. But when quizzed about the experiment three months later, their response was telling. Ryan Smithson: "At times, the term at King's was hard to cope with, but, on the other hand, there are moments I wish I could relive! I also feel real pride in knowing I had the opportunity to be taught by some of the greatest characters ever".

Alistair Unwin: "Overall I enjoyed the experience and felt I learned a great deal about myself and how half-hearted and, in some ways, disappointing the current education system is".

Kathryn McGeough: "It was one of the most rewarding learning experiences I will ever have the pleasure to be involved in, a deep insight into the changes in education."

Simon Waller: "I learnt more about all the subjects (especially English and grammar!) and about myself than I have done in 16 years. It was a window into another world, and although it was hellish at times, I'm glad I did it - I look at everything differently now!"

Tarot Wells: "I have also learned to appreciate the kind of education system that was followed in the 50s. In my opinion, if the 50s education was placed in today's society, I for one would learn a lot more!""

(Post lifted from Bernard Slattery)






This is the 8th Grade Final Exam of 1895

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas. USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal. I won't make the obvious comments.

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal parts of do, lie, lay and run.

5. Define Case. Illustrate each Case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

8. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?

9. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of theRebellion.

7. Who were the following:

Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates:

1607

1620

1800

1849

1865

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following:

alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each:

trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word:

bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound:

card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentence:

cite, site, sight,

fane, fain, feign,

vane, vain, vein,

raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America.

5. Name and describe the following:

Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.


Source.

The Leftist debunking site "Snopes" does not seem to question the accuracy of the above record but says that kids today could not pass it because they have not been prepared for it. You bet they haven't!






RADICALISM PAID FOR BY THE PUBLIC

No thought that encouraging early sexual activity might lead to bad decisions by those too young to make well-informed decisions

"Being a home educator and mother of two, I have often been asked the question: "Why do you homeschool?" But I've come to the conclusion that the question most begging to be asked is: "Why do you public school?" It's a legitimate question, especially in light of the recent news out of Maryland. According to news reports, the Board of Education in Montgomery County wants to show all 10th-grade students a video ironically dubbed "Protect Yourself" in which a young woman shows students how to put a condom on a cucumber while giving helpful tips.

Not only is the video an outrage, but it has been both produced and paid for by the taxpayers through the Montgomery County Public School system. A grass-roots action group called Citizens for Responsible Curriculum is to be commended for efforts to counter this insanity, which bears a frightening resemblance to the downward slide of our movie ratings systems. Today's PG ratings resemble what R used to be. Evidently, parents are growing more complacent and comfortable with what sex-ed purveyors peddle before innocent eyes. While the very idea of public sex-ed itself once offended, now it takes more raw sexual content to get the same result.

Consider this quote from CRC's website:

The CRC was surprised at the graphic content of this video that the school system itself created. We question the judgment of the MCPS Board of Education's decision to include oral and anal sex in the video when the Surgeon General of the United States has said: "Condoms provide some protection, but anal intercourse is simply too dangerous to practice." Parents need to consider the language and concepts included in this video in order to make an informed decision about allowing their child to view it.

While I applaud Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum in fighting this outrageous move, I don't know why they're surprised. What shocks me the most is the fact that parents continue placing their kids in public schools.

It hits like a brick between the eyes when you understand CRC's questioning of the school board's decision to include oral and anal sex in the video and then their request for parents to make an informed decision about whether their child should view the video or not.

Although I'm sure the CRC agrees that any type of sex is inappropriate for teenagers, there is a perceptible implication in their statement expecting that many parents will not object to their children viewing a sex-ed video as long as it leaves out anal and oral sex.

Think about that. The very fact that public schools continue to be big business says that most parents either see no problem with their children viewing such trash, or that they cling to the false notion that schools are wonderful institutions of learning. The question must be asked of every parent continuing to place a child in the government school system: Why do you continue trying to work within a broken, failed, corrupt system aiming to undermine your every parenting effort? Isn't it time we stopped working to mend a hopelessly broken system and simply look to alternative education methods?

Studies now indicate that your child's school is failing academically and morally. It does not matter if your child's fourth grade teacher is a kindhearted Christian or not. She cannot speak the truth about these issues without getting disciplined, fired or being dealt a lawsuit. It doesn't matter if your child is an honor student. He or she is still being fed immoral and historically incorrect garbage.

Like the frog slowly being heated to death in the pan, have we American parents grown so accustomed to the concepts of sex education that we now barely blink knowing our children are being instructed in intercourse?

The CRC is warning parents about graphic content, including anal and oral sex. How much worse is it going to get before you make the decision to pull you child out of the system? Do you think the time will never come when drama presentations will be utilized? Don't kid yourself. The public school system is being used to feed the financial coffers of pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood through these sex-ed courses.

Could it be that we as parents have grown so lazy in teaching our own children moral standards that we actually desire that the public schools do our job for us? And are we so na‹ve as to think that if abstinence education is included as part of the sordid "do-it" sex ed, that our children will do the right thing?

It's way past time to wake up and take action. I'm not necessarily talking about joining groups fighting the system, although they have their place. I'm talking about pulling your child out. Don't fool yourself into thinking your child won't be negatively affected by the system. Studies are showing that most Christian public schooled children are losing their faith, not gaining converts, within the system.

Twenty years ago it may have been a challenge to home educate, but today there is huge support - academically, through curricula choices, and emotionally, through support groups for any parent considering homeschooling. Grandparents now home educate their grandchildren. Single mothers are accomplishing it. Take the blinders off. Stop making excuses. Teaching and evangelizing your own children is a prime responsibility, and there will never be a better time to do it than now."

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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