Here’s what we are talking about over at Charming Farming. It’s not a book post, but it’s something to think about in the days and weeks to come.
The signs are everywhere. Houses and yards are adorned with twinkling lights and plastic snowmen. Stores festively display Christmas decorations and the latest must-have items of the season. Our mailboxes are bursting forth with invitations to gift exchanges, tasting parties, and other holiday festivities. At long last that magical season is upon us. But wait! It’s mid-November I still have fall leaves in my yard and a pumpkin on my porch. I haven’t even planned our Thanksgiving meal yet? How did it get to be the Christmas season already?
That’s easy. The retailing powers that be have decided long age that the more shopping days there are in the Christmas (or as it in now known, holiday) season, the more people will shop. The lines that begin forming outside some large chain stores before the pumpkin pie is even off the Thanksgiving table, prove that the retailers are…
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Every school child in America should get a letter like this with his or her test scores.
Just received from a friend, Joan Baratz Snowden:
My daughter’s new elementary school principal sent this to all the students as they received their state standardized testing scores this week:
“We are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you– the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do. They do not know that many of you speak two languages. They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture. They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or…
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Recently my younger son was involved in what I thought was a minor incident at school. I don’t mind my child being punished, and I know school teachers, principals, and playground attendants aren’t perfect. I’m a teacher. We are human. Sometimes we come down too hard on a kid, or we let things go we shouldn’t have. So, what bother’s me about what happened with my child is not really that he got in big trouble over a small thing. That happens. What bothers me is what this incident says about society as a whole – because I know schools everywhere are cracking down on recess. I blogged about the whole thing over at Charming Farming, my hobby farm blog. I’d love to hear your thoughts on recess, rough housing, raising boys, and our societies attempt to tame it all.
Read my blog post about it here.
What Kids Are Reading 