Are Our Kids Falling Behind?

 

When I took the ACT Test, I didn't know it might have been wise to have prepared for the test.  Today, students do that, with tutoring, practice tests, often taking the test more than once.  When I took the LSAT to apply for Law School my husband brought home a brochure, with a few sample questions on it.  I answered those and thought I was good-to-go.  I don't know if other students prepared for those  tests back when I was taking them.  Did my good fortune indicate that our educations several decades ago prepared us better for the tests or that the tests are more difficult now or something else?

The newspaper headline that prompted me to write this blog had a headline in bold black letters:  State lags in national marks, followed by "Kansas' class of 2023 has record-low ACT scores.  The article went on to say that Kansas fell behind the national average.  

This blog is not meant to belittle Kansas students, nor is it meant to criticize teachers.  It is meant to make all of us think.  I have blogged about how expensive college is.  I have blogged about people in our community who have chosen not to attend college and who have become successful business owners.  I have blogged about what I see as unfairness of paying off college student loans for students that knowingly went into debt to get a college diploma, while other students chose a career path that did not put them into a huge debt, settling for a path that they could afford.  It troubles me that kids that had the judgement to find another path--working part time, alternating college one semester-work the next, getting through college in twice the time but without debt, getting a 2-year degree and then working and taking night or online classes to finally get the 4-year diploma, or finding various ways to fulfill their dream in ways they could manage economically.  

Part of a college student's education should be awareness of the debt they are accruing and having a reasonable plan for how they will repay the debt.  This is a problem that needs to be addressed in some logical way, and the government simply paying off student debt is not going to resolve the problem of continuing expense for those who want a college education. Neither is it fair to those students who acted responsibly and did not accumulate excessive debt.  Colleges and universities also have a responsibility to find ways for the expense of a college education to be manageable, and that does not mean just asking others to sponsor scholarships while costs continue to rise.

We haven't figured out how to guide responsible capable students to affordable education, if that is what they want, nor how to recognize and aid those students that need help.  Universities do not need climbing walls and other perks to entertain and attract students.  They should not need to lower criteria for top grades.  I was an honor student, and I did not have a straight A average.  Sorry, but just because today's students are smarter than I will ever be on a computer does not mean, in my opinion, that other ways of measuring education are no longer relevant.  I have not been in a classroom in a very long time, and I do not know how students are evaluated today.  However, I do know that universities feel pushed to be competitive with other universities when graduates enter the hiring market.  It seems almost unavoidable that they might be tempted to flatten the old bell curve to help their graduates find jobs, if they perceive other universities are doing that.  

I cannot but wonder how today's students are tested.  Have they shown discipline, preparation, responsibility, reason, on a daily basis.  Are they tested regularly or only at the end of the semester?  Are they tested without access to phones and laptops?  Are the class sizes limited enough for professors to even recognize individual students and character traits? 

What I do know is that we are entering a time when education is about more than asking AI to solve our problems.  That is why reading is so important.  It trains our minds to follow information, whether we are reading history, fiction, logic, instructions,--all of which develop reason, logic, sequence, discipline, empathy, and so many other things that make us intelligent humans.  Our phones, our computers, and AI give us answers.  They do not teach us how to be humans.    

Here is one thing I do know.  High Schools are still free.  That is the time to take advantage of getting as much education as you can.  Do your best work in High School and take advantage of extra classes if they are offered.  And read!  It is wonderful that kids are more proficient on computers than I am, but reading does more for your brain than just surfing online.  The world seems mired in problems, and we need thoughtful, responsible people to resolve those problems.       

Memories of Family Recipies

The holiday season has arrived, and once that would have been easy to describe, at least in my family.  If grandparents were living, we gathered at their homes and traditional meals were prepared.  We alternated years, since both my paternal and maternal grandparents were living.  Because my father had inherited the family home, after my grandmother's death, we often hosted Beck family gatherings.  

According to my internet search, family Thanksgiving dinners are still common, and holiday classic meals remain popular, "prime rib, baked ham, and roast turkey to scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce" as typical choices.  

My Mother's traditional Thanksgiving recipes were turkey, mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, dressing, and corn.  Her special holiday salad was strawberry Jello with grated fresh apple, and pumpkin pie was the dessert.  As I recall, Christmas was about the same.  The only thing I didn't like was the cranberry sauce. 

According to the internet, Christmas celebrations continue to include family gatherings, but they now include travel for some families, who may prefer trips to faraway places, some preferring warmer climates while others head for skiing destinations.  

When my husband and I graduated from college, he left for Officer Training School, leaving me alone in a small town, teaching a class of 6th graders. I do not recall that town having a restaurant, but if it did, I lacked the courage to dine alone.  When he left for his first assignment, he took the car, so I had no transportation other than my two feet.  Those evenings in a rented house with no television were lonely, and the meals I prepared for myself were very simple.  One evening, the parents of one of my students invited me to dinner.  I enjoyed the evening, and although I do not remember the rest of the meal, I remember a salad I was served.  It was delicious, and I am embarrassed to recall that I liked it so much that I had 3 servings.  In my defense, because it included cranberries, my Mother's cranberry sauce had made me think I didn't like cranberries, so I only took a tiny amount to be polite.  It was delicious!  I reached for a little bit more.  The embarrassing part was that when I had finished the meal, I asked if I might have a third serving with my dessert!  I not only left with a full tummy, I left with the recipe!!   In my special recipe's cookbook, I have given it the name of my 6th Grade student, Kathy Swenson's Salad.  Here is that very special recipe.

1,  Grind 1 lb. cranberries.  Add 1 1/4 cup sugar; let stand 30 minutes and then cook  to taste.

2.  Add 1 1/2 small package strawberry jello and 1 cup water.  Set in refrigerator until chilled. 

3.  Then add 2 diced bananas, a cup or more of crushed pineapple, and one half cup of black walnuts.

4.  While that chills, mix a package of Dream Whip and fold into fruit mixture.  Allow to set. 

(The black walnuts may be hard to find, but do your best.  I do not think such a thing as a 'package of Dream Whip' can be found, but whipped cream is fine to substitute.)

If you live in the community where I live, I just hope I get to the last package of black walnuts before you do!  The last time I made the recipe, I bought the last package, and the package was very small.  I cannot blame the supplier.  The husks on black walnuts are so difficult to remove, but other nuts just are not quite as good in matching the tart cranberry flavor.

Happy Thanksgiving!  The salad is also wonderful for Christmas!!

Are Children's Books Today too Obvious?

I can not help but wonder if some children's books are trying too hard to get a point across.  Are authors guilty of emphasizing the objective rather than just telling a great story in which the young reader can discover the 'lesson' for themselves?  Albert Einstein said, "When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract positive thinking."  Perhaps we need to trust the ability of children to discover the message for themselves, even when they are very young.  As Einstein said, "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.  If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."  

A drawing by one of my favorite illustrators, Scott Gustafson, whose illustrations from nursery rhymes to Peter Pan are in my collection

Children are good observers of the world around them, and they may see more clearly than we realize.  Or, as G.K. Chesterton said, "Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.  Children already know that dragons exist.  Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed."  As one author suggested, by allowing children to read fairy tales or other age-appropriate books in a safe environment, they can learn that bad things happen to everyone.  Sharing fairy tales with them when they are young, and continuing to provide them with age-appropriate books as they learn to read will avoid leaving them unrepaired for anything requiring the reason and courage found in those stories.

Even very young children can learn from Fairy Tales, not just about the basics of stories, like characters and the setting, but also the plot and how the story evolves.  When they are older, they will have a grounding in the structure of storytelling.  These early stories will also stoke their imaginations and   arouse curiosity about what can be discovered in books.  They will learn about heroes and villains, as well as moral lessons about right and wrong.

Recently, I discovered the following:  "The more a child reads, the likelier they are able to understand the emotions of others."  That quote was followed by the sad statistic that "80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year."  (Quoted statistics from 2022.)  When a child (or an adult) reads, the characters become real to them.  Stories share the emotions, the disappointments, the hurt of the characters, in a way that allows the reader to experience the emotions of the characters, something they cannot always understand about real life feelings of others. 

In very early times people gathered to listen to storytellers, and children listened with adults to stories of all sorts of tales of talking animals, elves, fairies and imaginary events.  Fairy tales are the descendants of those stories, and as parents read fairy tales to their children, they continue the tradition of hearing these stories in the safety of their parents' protection.  Many scholars view this as a continuation of the experience that helps children work through anxieties that they are too young to express.

By reducing that tradition, or eliminating it entirely, we miss the opportunity to allow children the gradual learning of those lessons found in fairy tales.  Perhaps, by waiting too late to read to them, they never develop the habit of reading for themselves.  If we wait too late, and they are given books that seem to lecture, the lessons will never be learned.

I began by quoting from some early commentators, so I will close by quoting from a popular author of today.  "If you are protected from dark things," said Neil Gaiman, "then you have no protection of, knowledge of, or understanding of dark things when they show up."  

I hope there are some ideas gathered in this blog to encourage the importance of reading to children early, including dusting off the old fairy tales you may have ignored too long.   

The Power of Music

 We are very fortunate in the community in which we live to have many gifted people, and none more so than pianist Duane Hanks.  Recently, he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and on November 5, 2023 he was the solo artist for the Glenn Mccaslin Guest Artist Series in Pratt, Kansas, which my husband and I had the privilege to attend.  It was no wonder that he had received a 1st prize rating in the 2023 New York Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition and was given the honor of closing the concert.

Those of you who follow my blog may remember the blog "Have We Forgotten History?" which can be found at https://www.blogger.con/blog/post/edit/6321257453868183589/1104479535986519588 . In that blog I suggested reading Herman Wouk's The Winds of War and War and Remembrance as a way to learn the history of WW II from a well researched novel, especially as a way for young people and those who are unlikely to study academic books about WW II.  I have been studying that war, and I decided to take my own advice and read Wouk's books myself.  Perhaps that is why I was so very moved by Chopin's Nocturne in C# Minor as it was performed by Duane Hanks so beautifully.

Before he began playing, he shared two stories.  First was the story of Natalia Karp, who at the age of 18 made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, although by 1943 she was living in the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp as a Jewish prisoner.  Knowing of her talent, Commandant Goth ordered her to play for him on his birthday.  She played Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor.  Goth was a cruel and evil man, charged with killing more than 10,000 people, primarily Jews, during the Holocaust, but  he was so impressed with her performance that he spared her life, as well as the life of her sister.  Ultimately they were sent to Auschwitz, where both were fortunate to have survived.  As Duane Hanks played Chopin's Nocturne with such beauty and emotion, I could not help imagining the emotions of Natalia Karp as she played for Commandant Goth in the concentration camp.  

 The second story Duane Hanks shared was of Wladyslaw Szpilman, also a Polish Jew, who had studied in Germany but had returned to Poland after Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933.  In Poland, Szpilman joined the Polish Radio, performing classical and jazz music.  He was a celebrity and a featured soloist at Polskie Radio prior to its bombing by Germany in September of 1939.  Like all Jews in Warsaw, he and his family were forced to move into the Warsaw Ghetto.  When his family was deported in 1942 to Treblinka, an extermination camp in Poland, a Jewish Policeman assisting with the deportations yanked him from the transport train.  None of his family survived, 

He managed to survive by hiding in Warsaw, helped by friends from the Polish Radio and fellow musicians.  About 30 non-Jewish Poles were involved in helping him during the war.  However, it was a German officer, Captain Wilm Hosenfeld who may have played a particularly important role, beginning in August of 1944, when Hosenfeld discovered his hiding place and did not turn him in but rather brought him supplies on several occasions.

I have tried to better understand the situation of Israel-Palestine relations, including my research about WW II and the horrific treatment of the Jews, who believe the Hebrew Bible states that Palestine has been promised to them by God, and the Palestinian Arabs who believe they had the most recent control of the land and it should stay in their possession.  These two groups have at least tried to work things out to some extent, but Hamas, which was founded in 1987, their full name being the Islamic Resistance Movement, defeated Fatah, the Palestinian party that still controls the Palestian Authority based in the West Bank, the 2nd Palestinian Territory, while Hamas and its military organization covers the Gaza Strip and claims full authority, with the goal of excluding Israel.  That does not even take into account the strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, which involves other nations.

These were the thoughts that brought tears to my eyes as Duane Hanks played Chopin.  I thought of  Herman Wouk's books and the history I have studied, recalling the struggles of the Jews trying to escape Hitler and dreaming of a safe place to live after the war ended.  There were tears in my eyes for Israel and for those in Palestine.  I thought of the boy in my high school English class decades ago, so excited about spending the summer in Israel.

I have no answer, only tears.  But do those demonstrators, waving flags and protesting really have any understanding of all of the things that brought tears to my eyes.  Instead of marching and waving flags, perhaps we should go to the library and study the history and complexity of this tragic situation.  The world needs wisdom, compassion, and less greed.  Perhaps listening to Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor might help all of us pause for reflection, and a deeper understanding of the situation.  

Intentional Hurtfulness

 Recently I read an article on Hazing that had resulted in a young man's death.  The irony was that he was a student that other young men respected enough to select him to become one of their own, a member of their fraternity.  Yet, they killed him with excessive hazing.  The article acknowledged that hazing is not confined to college campuses.  It occurs in high schools and other student groups, the military, and even in professional workplaces.  Neither is it a recent practice, the article I read dating it back to 1838.

We are well aware of abuse of people unlike ourselves, different because of ethnicity, religion, social status, and even artificial differences, such as sports competitors.  We invent reasons to shun or haze.  However, it seems particularly unexplainable when such cruelty is released against one of our own, someone we like.  That is certainly not to say that if someone is different the mistreatment is justified.  Not at all, although differences may be found to make it seem more explainable.  

Examples of Hazing are at different levels of severity, from assigning demerits, imposing silence, or using demeaning names; or at a more mid-level, such as embarrassment, humiliation, and sleep deprivation; or at an even higher level, as in the case of the young man in the newspaper article, forced alcohol or drug use, branding, or endangering.  I suspect that many of you reading this have experienced some level of hazing, although you may not have called it that.  I know I have. 

Making friends with someone different...Do I have to?

Unfortunately, it seems to be part of human nature.  An article online titled "Little Bullies?  When Kids Leave Kids Out" states that peer exclusion, when one child excludes another child from being a part of the group, is very common among preschoolers.   That seems disheartening, but I have observed it, as I am sure you may have also.

 While it may be common, and a certain amount may be unavoidable, surely it deserves attention, by parents, teachers, and organizations.  In 2021, federal Legislation titled "Report and Educate About Hazing Act" was introduced into Congress.  It stalled, but new proposed federal legislation, called the Stop Campus Hazing Act is being prepared that recognizes the need to take hazing seriously. 

 We humans can be incredibly generous and kind, but we can also behave badly.  Perhaps we cannot regulate kindness, but perhaps we can find a way at least to recognize unintentional hurtfulness, whether it is hazing or simply overlooking thoughtless behavior.  We need to start somewhere.