The Art of Home-Making, by Margaret Sangster, 1898. A bit old-fashioned some may say but I think it's a lovely book. As it is well over 400 pages, I have not gotten very far. Sometimes I chuckle reading this- some can be found true, some not so much.
Vaccines. Such a touchy topic. But it's like other things in the life of a child, in the life of a family: It is something that each family decides. Or it should be. It is very important to be informed. For the record, my daughter received her schedules immunizations until around 8 months old. She had terrible reactions to each one. She has since only had a tetanus shot (which is really DPT- sneaking those others in is pointless, imho). My son has had 1 DPT his whole life, for the tetanus. My daughter had measles when she was 9 years old; no issues. My son hasn't had anything. Neither have had chicken pox either (which admittedly, concerns me some). Anyway, vaccines, immunizations are something that need to be understood, not just blindly done because that's whatchya do. The linked article is just one; there are tons out there for one side or the other. "Do your research. Form your own opinions. Vaccinate in a way that you deem to be safe and appropriate for your child."
Online education- but who's your teacher? Taking distance education courses about teaching distance education courses has been interesting. One of the 'important' features of a 'successful' course is that it is standardized. Wait...does that worry you like it does me? Don't tell anyone but I don't agree with majority of what I am 'learning' in my courses but if I were to voice those sentiments, my grade would most likely be quite poor. And we all know how important that grade is. Anyway, recently I was blessed to find Karen McArthur's blog (I'd known about Accessible Art Historian but didn't realize it was one-and-the-same person!) and read her rather scary story of being copied in the distance education world. Fortunately, the classes I am taking are rather generic, without much in the way of stories or scenarios but what's in our texts. We have a generic template that's been designed by...someone...but most often not our current instructor. There is no personality to the courses, except when the instructor actually converses with us.
And more technology and education: Virtual Preschool. Oh, my word. According to the article, the purpose is to guide parents "how to interact with their child." It's also supposedly grounded in Montessori..."the focus on fostering each individual child's interests and natural inclination to learn, often in the context of practical life skills and hands-on play...and might include using a bucket of water and scooping tools."Supposedly the "materials have been developed in cooperation with various academic and cognitive-development experts." Oh my word. Dr. Dan Yang, "inspired by her then-toddler daughter who was addicted to her iPad...created VINCI Education to transform how young children are educated...If young children love mobile devices, instead of fighting against their will, we might as well create a learning structure, based on brain science and academic standards, so that the games- the lessons can be interconnected with traditional teaching." I'm sorry but she's got it wrong.
Oh, goodness. And I just received Brandy Vencel's Newbie Tuesday CM newsletter! I'm not a newbie but it is always helpful to get other perspectives and experiences. There's always something to be learned. The first issue is on narration.
Vaccines. Such a touchy topic. But it's like other things in the life of a child, in the life of a family: It is something that each family decides. Or it should be. It is very important to be informed. For the record, my daughter received her schedules immunizations until around 8 months old. She had terrible reactions to each one. She has since only had a tetanus shot (which is really DPT- sneaking those others in is pointless, imho). My son has had 1 DPT his whole life, for the tetanus. My daughter had measles when she was 9 years old; no issues. My son hasn't had anything. Neither have had chicken pox either (which admittedly, concerns me some). Anyway, vaccines, immunizations are something that need to be understood, not just blindly done because that's whatchya do. The linked article is just one; there are tons out there for one side or the other. "Do your research. Form your own opinions. Vaccinate in a way that you deem to be safe and appropriate for your child."
Online education- but who's your teacher? Taking distance education courses about teaching distance education courses has been interesting. One of the 'important' features of a 'successful' course is that it is standardized. Wait...does that worry you like it does me? Don't tell anyone but I don't agree with majority of what I am 'learning' in my courses but if I were to voice those sentiments, my grade would most likely be quite poor. And we all know how important that grade is. Anyway, recently I was blessed to find Karen McArthur's blog (I'd known about Accessible Art Historian but didn't realize it was one-and-the-same person!) and read her rather scary story of being copied in the distance education world. Fortunately, the classes I am taking are rather generic, without much in the way of stories or scenarios but what's in our texts. We have a generic template that's been designed by...someone...but most often not our current instructor. There is no personality to the courses, except when the instructor actually converses with us.
And more technology and education: Virtual Preschool. Oh, my word. According to the article, the purpose is to guide parents "how to interact with their child." It's also supposedly grounded in Montessori..."the focus on fostering each individual child's interests and natural inclination to learn, often in the context of practical life skills and hands-on play...and might include using a bucket of water and scooping tools."Supposedly the "materials have been developed in cooperation with various academic and cognitive-development experts." Oh my word. Dr. Dan Yang, "inspired by her then-toddler daughter who was addicted to her iPad...created VINCI Education to transform how young children are educated...If young children love mobile devices, instead of fighting against their will, we might as well create a learning structure, based on brain science and academic standards, so that the games- the lessons can be interconnected with traditional teaching." I'm sorry but she's got it wrong.
Oh, goodness. And I just received Brandy Vencel's Newbie Tuesday CM newsletter! I'm not a newbie but it is always helpful to get other perspectives and experiences. There's always something to be learned. The first issue is on narration.
Blossom, glad to read that you are enjoying Margaret Sangster's book - so very 'out of fashion' but it's delightful and (I think) full of charming advice.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad to read that you made the connection between me and the Accessible Art Historian...interesting that you are taking a class on distance education and best practices. Teaching online is no longer truly teaching - it's more facilitating, I guess. I had to complete a self-evaluation for some online courses I'm teaching this term and I didn't do so well with compliance...I figure that if my student evaluations aren't any good, then feel free to find someone else. Otherwise, I'll do it my way, thanks so much. :) It's an evolving industry and I'm not sure I like the direction in which it is headed.
Karen, I agree with you about teaching online nowadays. That is the understanding I am getting as well from my courses; but it's a mixed message really. They insist that the *teacher* be sure to supply absolutely everything that could possibly *make* a student do well. And yet, there is much that suggests they want the student to be more responsible. Perhaps there is a very fine line and it's tough to not fall off the edge.
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