Weekend Update, March 14

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Not much to report this week, things have been very slow and steady. The boys had school off Monday, March 8, but J's school was open for business, so she went to work and I stayed home.

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We went to flag football yesterday, and last week's win was offset by a loss this week. M had a reception and two tackles to continue his solid season, but it wasn't enough to beat a team with a couple of very fast runners.

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I thought this Onion article was pretty funny. I enjoy jokes and comics about reading.

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One thing that's changing in schools from when I was growing up is their focus, or lack thereof, on handwriting. The kids learn cursive in second and third grade, but after that, they're really not required to use it if they don't want. It's been happening a lot in the US. The advent of computers is starting to make handwriting less important, but I think that standardized testing also has a hand in it. Since MEAP tests don't have a handwriting component, it's not studied at length and stressed by teachers. (Science is also downplayed until 5th or 6th grade, don't get me started on that.) They are learning lots of math, which is good, and they're doing research papers, lots of reading, and many other good things in school, so I'm willing to take the good with the bad. And I'm looking forward to the kids getting more science instruction - I think science, and the procedures and clear-thinking that science requires, is more important than the MEAP writers feel it is.

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1 comment:

Nancy said...

I am soooo impressed that Mark is writing music! Of course, since I gave him my piano, I have to play his songs in my head, but they sound great! And he's so well-rounded that he's a star offensively & defensively in football. What a guy! Tell him "wowie" for me. Also, I tried your right-click link tip--cool. And I LOVED the Onion jab at the long paragraph, tho it's not funny--it's true! I always learn stuff from your blog. This is the first time I may have successfully posted a comment.

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