From Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list:
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.
-Charles A. Beard
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Technorati tags: politics, Dan Galvin
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Another reason to eat right - to fight cancer
From a TED talk: "William Li presents a new way to think about cancer treatment: angiogenesis, targeting the blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that beat cancer at its own game."
At exactly minute 13 there is a list of food that help fight cancer. The foods are mostly fruits and vegetables. My mother will be excited to know that Licorice seems to help!
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Technorati tags: health, food, cancer
At exactly minute 13 there is a list of food that help fight cancer. The foods are mostly fruits and vegetables. My mother will be excited to know that Licorice seems to help!
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Technorati tags: health, food, cancer
Monday, June 14, 2010
I think this is a cool idea
One of the bottlenecks with computers today is pulling data off a hard drive, or writing data onto the hard drive. At the core of your hard drives is a spinning platter. Because the computer has to wait for the platter to spin around to the right place, and for the head to get to the correct grove, the computer has to wait a long time to get or store data on a hard drive.
In the future it appears hard drives will be replaced with Solid State Drives, or SSD. These are basically a collection of memory chips which retain the information after the power goes off. Currently they cost much more per Gig than hard drives, but the price per Gig is falling faster for SSD than hard drives, so the industry expect a big switch in a couple years. When this happens the performance increase of our computers will be huge. Boot up times may be in microseconds, instead of tens of seconds.
Seagate may bring some of the benefits of SSDs sooner that most of us expected. Seagate Demos First Hybrid Hard Drive explains:
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On Monday, Seagate released details of a new hybrid Flash memory-hard disk drive, which is intended to significantly boost performance of notebook computers.
The drives combine a traditional 250, 350 or 500 GB spinning platter drive (HDD) with 4 GB of single-level cell Flash memory, which is intended to be more reliable than cheaper varieties of flash memory. (Seagate says it has tested its SLC flash to levels reached after 5 years of use and found no degradation of performance or data loss.)
The result is a combined drive that approaches the performance of solid state drives, but at a fraction of the price. According to Seagate's own tests, the Momentus XT is 80% faster than a traditional notebook hard drive, and 20% faster than an ultra high-performance 10,000 RPM HDD.
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It is just such an amazing world.
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Technorati tags: computers, storage
In the future it appears hard drives will be replaced with Solid State Drives, or SSD. These are basically a collection of memory chips which retain the information after the power goes off. Currently they cost much more per Gig than hard drives, but the price per Gig is falling faster for SSD than hard drives, so the industry expect a big switch in a couple years. When this happens the performance increase of our computers will be huge. Boot up times may be in microseconds, instead of tens of seconds.
Seagate may bring some of the benefits of SSDs sooner that most of us expected. Seagate Demos First Hybrid Hard Drive explains:
----------
On Monday, Seagate released details of a new hybrid Flash memory-hard disk drive, which is intended to significantly boost performance of notebook computers.
The drives combine a traditional 250, 350 or 500 GB spinning platter drive (HDD) with 4 GB of single-level cell Flash memory, which is intended to be more reliable than cheaper varieties of flash memory. (Seagate says it has tested its SLC flash to levels reached after 5 years of use and found no degradation of performance or data loss.)
The result is a combined drive that approaches the performance of solid state drives, but at a fraction of the price. According to Seagate's own tests, the Momentus XT is 80% faster than a traditional notebook hard drive, and 20% faster than an ultra high-performance 10,000 RPM HDD.
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It is just such an amazing world.
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Technorati tags: computers, storage
I would love to know where the rest of the money goes
Bob Samuels has an interesting article called The Solution They Won't Try. His main point is that public universities can pick up a lot of extra money by accepting more students. The point I found most fascinating was in these two paragraphs:
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To calculate how much public research universities spend on educating each undergraduate student, we can look at national statistics regarding faculty salaries and how much it costs a university to staff undergraduate courses. According to a recent study by the American Federation of Teachers, "Reversing Course," the average salary cost per class for a tenured professor at a public research university is $20,000 (4 classes at $80,000), and it costs $9,000 for a full-time non-tenure-track teacher and $4,500 for a part-time instructor to teach the same course. Using these averages, we can determine the annual instructional cost for each student by considering the number of classes each student takes in a year and how much each individual course costs. Since we know that only a third of undergraduate courses are now taught by professors, and the other courses are taught by non-tenured faculty, we can calculate the per student cost, but we first have to determine the average class size to do this calculation, and this is the analysis that I believe no one has ever done.
Looking at transcripts from several public research universities, I have determined that the average annual course load for a student is six large classes (averaging 200 students) and two small courses (averaging 20 students). Next, by using the national faculty average salary per class, and determining who actually teaches the courses (1/3 professors, 1/3 full-time non-tenure-track faculty, and 1/3 part-time faculty), we find that the total average annual instructional cost per student is $1,456 (each large class costs $56 per student and each small class costs $560). In other words, public universities charge on average $7,000 per student and they get another $8,000 per student from the state, but in reality, it only cost about a tenth of this amount to teach each student.
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For me the key point is public universities have to pay out about $1,456 a year to teacher's salaries for each student, but the universities collect about $15,000 each year.
Where does the rest of the money go? I'm sure there are some reasonable administration costs. I know it costs some money to maintain the buildings and the grounds. But that shouldn't account for more than a couple thousand dollars a year per student.
Where does the remaining $10,000 a year per student go? Has anyone seen a good pie chart on the break down for where the money goes?
Keep in mind that this is happening while the cost of a college education is climbing three times faster than inflation.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
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To calculate how much public research universities spend on educating each undergraduate student, we can look at national statistics regarding faculty salaries and how much it costs a university to staff undergraduate courses. According to a recent study by the American Federation of Teachers, "Reversing Course," the average salary cost per class for a tenured professor at a public research university is $20,000 (4 classes at $80,000), and it costs $9,000 for a full-time non-tenure-track teacher and $4,500 for a part-time instructor to teach the same course. Using these averages, we can determine the annual instructional cost for each student by considering the number of classes each student takes in a year and how much each individual course costs. Since we know that only a third of undergraduate courses are now taught by professors, and the other courses are taught by non-tenured faculty, we can calculate the per student cost, but we first have to determine the average class size to do this calculation, and this is the analysis that I believe no one has ever done.
Looking at transcripts from several public research universities, I have determined that the average annual course load for a student is six large classes (averaging 200 students) and two small courses (averaging 20 students). Next, by using the national faculty average salary per class, and determining who actually teaches the courses (1/3 professors, 1/3 full-time non-tenure-track faculty, and 1/3 part-time faculty), we find that the total average annual instructional cost per student is $1,456 (each large class costs $56 per student and each small class costs $560). In other words, public universities charge on average $7,000 per student and they get another $8,000 per student from the state, but in reality, it only cost about a tenth of this amount to teach each student.
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For me the key point is public universities have to pay out about $1,456 a year to teacher's salaries for each student, but the universities collect about $15,000 each year.
Where does the rest of the money go? I'm sure there are some reasonable administration costs. I know it costs some money to maintain the buildings and the grounds. But that shouldn't account for more than a couple thousand dollars a year per student.
Where does the remaining $10,000 a year per student go? Has anyone seen a good pie chart on the break down for where the money goes?
Keep in mind that this is happening while the cost of a college education is climbing three times faster than inflation.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Do you have children who will be entering the workforce soon?
My mother sent our family a link to Fortune's 100 Best Companies to work for in 2010.
She made the point that too often students graduate from high school, and even college without a real understanding of the huge variety of jobs in the workforce. She added a note just for me:
"Henry, perhaps you could post this site on your homeschooling blog along with other sites that might help children being homeschooled get a vision of the variety of professions available for them to consider. Perhaps encouraging them to explore sites such as: Monster.com would help them get some idea of what is available. They could check what kind of jobs they could get and how much they would be paid with different combinations of education and job experience. Use such sites like a video game to check out what your job future might be with a either a BS or a PhD in physics or other types of training."
If you have a child fifteen or older you might encourage them to start with the list of the 100 best companies so they have a better idea of just exactly what is out there.
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Technorati tags: careers, jobs, workforce
She made the point that too often students graduate from high school, and even college without a real understanding of the huge variety of jobs in the workforce. She added a note just for me:
"Henry, perhaps you could post this site on your homeschooling blog along with other sites that might help children being homeschooled get a vision of the variety of professions available for them to consider. Perhaps encouraging them to explore sites such as: Monster.com would help them get some idea of what is available. They could check what kind of jobs they could get and how much they would be paid with different combinations of education and job experience. Use such sites like a video game to check out what your job future might be with a either a BS or a PhD in physics or other types of training."
If you have a child fifteen or older you might encourage them to start with the list of the 100 best companies so they have a better idea of just exactly what is out there.
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Technorati tags: careers, jobs, workforce
I think we'll be heading to Borders this week
Do you have a reluctant reader who needs a little encouragement?
Homeschool Bytes shares some good news in Read 10 Books Get One Free from Borders:
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Borders has a great summer reading program for kids:
Be 12-years-old and under
Read any 10 books
Fill out a form
Bring completed form to a Borders to get a FREE BOOK!
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Technorati tags: reading
Homeschool Bytes shares some good news in Read 10 Books Get One Free from Borders:
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Borders has a great summer reading program for kids:
Be 12-years-old and under
Read any 10 books
Fill out a form
Bring completed form to a Borders to get a FREE BOOK!
----------
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Technorati tags: reading
Two great graphs on public education
When talking about problems, especially complex problems, it always helps to have data. In The U.S. Economy Needs Fewer Public School Jobs, Not More, Andrew J. Coulson has this shocking report:
"Over the past forty years, public school employment has risen 10 times faster than enrollment (see chart). There are only 9 percent more students today, but nearly twice as many public school employees. To prove that rolling back this relentless hiring spree by a few years would hurt student achievement, you’d have to show that all those new employees raised achievement in the first place. That would be hard to do… because it never happened."
Here's his first graph:
Mr. Coulson continues with:
"Student achievement at the end of high school has been flat for as long as we’ve been keeping track—all the way back to 1970. But we did get something in return for all that hiring: a great, big, fat, BILL.
If you graduated from high school in 1980, your entire k-12 education cost your fellow taxpayers about $75,000, in 2009 dollars. But the graduating class of 2009 had roughly twice that amount lavished on their public school careers. The extra $75,000 we’re now spending has done wonders for public school employee union membership, dues revenue, and political clout. It’s done a whole lotta nothin’ for student learning (see chart)."
If you graduated from high school in 1980, your entire k-12 education cost your fellow taxpayers about $75,000, in 2009 dollars. But the graduating class of 2009 had roughly twice that amount lavished on their public school careers. The extra $75,000 we’re now spending has done wonders for public school employee union membership, dues revenue, and political clout. It’s done a whole lotta nothin’ for student learning (see chart)."
And here is his second chart:
These two graphs should convince any reasonable person that more money for government schools is not the answer. In fact you could even argue that more money may be contributing to the problem.
I asked Mr. Coulson if I could include his two graphs. He wrote:
"Thanks for writing. Please feel free to reproduce the graphs--I think it's important for as many people as possible to see them."
(Hat tip: AngryVillagers.net)
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Being prepared - suggestions on what to do in case we have a double-dip recession
There are some hints that maybe our economy is getting better. My belief is that many of the problems that caused this recession haven't been fundamentally fixed, so I'm expecting the economy to continue to struggle for a long while. People are calling this down, then slight up, and back down again a Double-Dip Recession.
How to Plan For a Double-Dip Recession has some great suggestions on how to protect yourself.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: economy, recession
How to Plan For a Double-Dip Recession has some great suggestions on how to protect yourself.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: economy, recession
Crash and Burn
Every year about this time, I "crash and burn." I always say that we will "do school" during the summer. In 9 years of homeschooling, it has never happened. That is not to say that we don't do worthwhile things, but I don't seem to be able to force myself to do structured educational activities like I planned.
This year might be a little different. I'm trying to keep some basic routines going. My goal is music (two of 3 instruments per child) and math, and just a little grammar, and while we are at it, a writing workshop or two. You may recognize a pattern here. I keep adding things until it looks like a full schedule and I'm tempted to go back to vacation mode.
It is too soon to tell whether this year's fantasy will turn into reality. Today is the first day of "summer break." The big test will be what I do after the girls get back from a week of church camp. Once you've let the routine go for a whole week, it gets harder to get the momentum moving again.
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
This year might be a little different. I'm trying to keep some basic routines going. My goal is music (two of 3 instruments per child) and math, and just a little grammar, and while we are at it, a writing workshop or two. You may recognize a pattern here. I keep adding things until it looks like a full schedule and I'm tempted to go back to vacation mode.
It is too soon to tell whether this year's fantasy will turn into reality. Today is the first day of "summer break." The big test will be what I do after the girls get back from a week of church camp. Once you've let the routine go for a whole week, it gets harder to get the momentum moving again.
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
The house is quiet
One of my favorite jokes is about the man who asks the rabbi to help him with his small house. Here is one version of the joke:
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A man goes to the rabbi at his wits end.
“Rabbi, I can’t take it any more. I have no peace in my home. I live in a shack so tiny
that my wife and children drive me crazy. The noise, the commotion, it’s driving me
crazy! I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you have a chicken?” the rabbi asks.
“I do,” the man answers.
“Bring your chicken in the house and come back tomorrow.”
The next day the rabbi asks how things are going.
“Awful,” the man replies. “The chicken clucks all night. There are feathers and
chicken poop everywhere.”
“Do you have a goat?” the rabbi asks.
“Yes, a Billy goat in a small pen.”
“Wonderful,” said the rabbi. “Bring your goat into the house.”
The man returns the next day. “The goat ate what little stuffing there was left in our one
chair, he bleats all night and passes gas all day,” the man exclaims.
“Wonderful,” says. “Do you have a cow?”
“I do.”
“You know what to do” says the rabbi.
The next day the man returns. “Rabbi, if you think a goat smells, you ought to try
living with a cow!”
“One more thing,” asks the rabbi. “Go home. Take the cow back to her pasture,
the goat back to his pen and the chicken back to her coop.”
The next day the man appears in shul smiling. “So how are things?” the rabbi
asks.
“Wonderful,” the man exclaimed, “Never better. With only my wife and children
around the house is so quiet and clean. I can stretch out for a good night’s sleep drifting
off to sound of chirping crickets and giggling children. What a blessed and fortunate man
I am.”
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Last week we had two more foster care children. Janine picked them up on Memorial Day. These sisters were three and six. The three-year-old played great with BabyBop. The six-year-old is a good kid, but my nine-year-old tended to butt heads with her.
It was a bit crazy with six children.
Friday we got the call that social services had been given the OK from a judge for the two girls to live with their mother, so Janine dropped them off at the social worker's office. Then Saturday our oldest flew to Washington DC for a homeschool field trip.
With only three children our house almost feels empty.
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Technorati tags: family
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A man goes to the rabbi at his wits end.
“Rabbi, I can’t take it any more. I have no peace in my home. I live in a shack so tiny
that my wife and children drive me crazy. The noise, the commotion, it’s driving me
crazy! I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you have a chicken?” the rabbi asks.
“I do,” the man answers.
“Bring your chicken in the house and come back tomorrow.”
The next day the rabbi asks how things are going.
“Awful,” the man replies. “The chicken clucks all night. There are feathers and
chicken poop everywhere.”
“Do you have a goat?” the rabbi asks.
“Yes, a Billy goat in a small pen.”
“Wonderful,” said the rabbi. “Bring your goat into the house.”
The man returns the next day. “The goat ate what little stuffing there was left in our one
chair, he bleats all night and passes gas all day,” the man exclaims.
“Wonderful,” says. “Do you have a cow?”
“I do.”
“You know what to do” says the rabbi.
The next day the man returns. “Rabbi, if you think a goat smells, you ought to try
living with a cow!”
“One more thing,” asks the rabbi. “Go home. Take the cow back to her pasture,
the goat back to his pen and the chicken back to her coop.”
The next day the man appears in shul smiling. “So how are things?” the rabbi
asks.
“Wonderful,” the man exclaimed, “Never better. With only my wife and children
around the house is so quiet and clean. I can stretch out for a good night’s sleep drifting
off to sound of chirping crickets and giggling children. What a blessed and fortunate man
I am.”
----------
Last week we had two more foster care children. Janine picked them up on Memorial Day. These sisters were three and six. The three-year-old played great with BabyBop. The six-year-old is a good kid, but my nine-year-old tended to butt heads with her.
It was a bit crazy with six children.
Friday we got the call that social services had been given the OK from a judge for the two girls to live with their mother, so Janine dropped them off at the social worker's office. Then Saturday our oldest flew to Washington DC for a homeschool field trip.
With only three children our house almost feels empty.
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Technorati tags: family
Yet another documentary on problems with education
I just showed the trailer for Waiting For "Superman" to Janine:
She said "It makes me want to cry."
There really are so many problems with government schools today. For decades thousands of experts have tried to "fix" them. Yet things keep getting worse.
Stupid is doing the same thing again and again, but expecting different results. As a country we are pretty stupid about education. I am afraid it will only get worse.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
She said "It makes me want to cry."
There really are so many problems with government schools today. For decades thousands of experts have tried to "fix" them. Yet things keep getting worse.
Stupid is doing the same thing again and again, but expecting different results. As a country we are pretty stupid about education. I am afraid it will only get worse.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Blame the Parents — I Do
I agree with most of what this teacher had to say.
Blame the Parents — I Do
This is where I'm not in quite so much agreement.
The suggestion of integrating social services into the public school programs sets off all sorts of alarm bells for me. The more responsibilities the public school system tries to handle, the less effective the system becomes at its (theoretically) main objective of teaching.
I agree that teachers should not act as social workers. Teachers should teacher. Students should behave themselves and study. Problem students should be expelled.
What to do after the student is expelled is debatable. There is no easy answer or quick fix. Every option should follow the basic swimmer safety rules: In a rescue attempt, don't create more victims.
Just as someone drowning can pull under another swimmer, problem students can pull down good students. No intervention to assist floundering students should put successful students at risk.
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Blame the Parents — I Do
This happens to teachers and counselors quite a bit. We wonder why a kid is failing in class. We meet their parents — then we know....
The biggest influence in a child’s education is not the school, or the teachers—it’s the parents. If we really want to change education in our country, we need to start in the homes.
This is where I'm not in quite so much agreement.
I guess at the heart of what I’m saying is that we need more social services at our school sites. And instead of having these services spread around our cities, why don’t we put them where they are needed most? Why don’t we take all these social outreach programs, and after school programs, and counseling institutions, and make them an integral part of our public schools? I think that by combining all the great things we have out there with the physical site where the learning takes place, we could improve things a great deal. Our teachers, administrative staff, and counselors, are doing jobs we are not trained to do. Half of what we do is social work, which takes away from everything else we want to get to. If we ever want to get serious about CHANGE, this is where we need to start.
The suggestion of integrating social services into the public school programs sets off all sorts of alarm bells for me. The more responsibilities the public school system tries to handle, the less effective the system becomes at its (theoretically) main objective of teaching.
I agree that teachers should not act as social workers. Teachers should teacher. Students should behave themselves and study. Problem students should be expelled.
What to do after the student is expelled is debatable. There is no easy answer or quick fix. Every option should follow the basic swimmer safety rules: In a rescue attempt, don't create more victims.
Just as someone drowning can pull under another swimmer, problem students can pull down good students. No intervention to assist floundering students should put successful students at risk.
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Friday, June 11, 2010
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Before you start your weekend, don't forget to send in your submission for the next Carnival of Homeschooling.
Mary Nix will be hosting the carnival at The Informed Parent.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Mary Nix will be hosting the carnival at The Informed Parent.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Other homeschool carnivals
It has been awhile since I promoted other homeschool carnivals.
Here are the active homeschooling carnivals I'm aware of:
The recent Charlotte Mason Carnival was hosted by Melissa at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys In the Yard. Go here to submit an entry.
The latest Hands-on Homeschool Carnival was hosted by by Cheryl at Talking to Myself. Go here to submit an entry.
The current Homeschooled Kids Carnival was hosted at World Star Academy. Go here to submit an entry.
The recent Homeschool Showcase was hosted by Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Go here to submit an entry.
A recent edition of the Spanish Carnival of Family Education is up at The Homeschooling Option. Here is an English translation of the carnival.
And as always, if you know of another active homeschooling carnival, please leave a comment or send me an email.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Here are the active homeschooling carnivals I'm aware of:
The recent Charlotte Mason Carnival was hosted by Melissa at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys In the Yard. Go here to submit an entry.
The latest Hands-on Homeschool Carnival was hosted by by Cheryl at Talking to Myself. Go here to submit an entry.
The current Homeschooled Kids Carnival was hosted at World Star Academy. Go here to submit an entry.
The recent Homeschool Showcase was hosted by Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Go here to submit an entry.
A recent edition of the Spanish Carnival of Family Education is up at The Homeschooling Option. Here is an English translation of the carnival.
And as always, if you know of another active homeschooling carnival, please leave a comment or send me an email.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
I wish I had meet this janitor
Damon Dunn just won the Republican primary for California Secretary of State. I watched his video last week:
The thing I was struck by was a life turing event for him in school. He had gotten in trouble and the teacher put Damon out in the hall. (Check out the video at 2:00) While there a janitor came by. The janitor asked Damon to look into the classroom and tell him what he saw. Damon didn't say anything. The janitor said "I see kids learning to be your boss." He didn't want anyone being his boss so Damon resolved to take education seriously and eventually went to Stanford on a football scholarship. He later played in the NFL.
I wonder if that janitor ever knew the profund effect he had?
This reminds me of the comic strip Frazz, about a janitor at a school.
(Anyone know how to tell Youtube to start a video at a certain point?)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
The thing I was struck by was a life turing event for him in school. He had gotten in trouble and the teacher put Damon out in the hall. (Check out the video at 2:00) While there a janitor came by. The janitor asked Damon to look into the classroom and tell him what he saw. Damon didn't say anything. The janitor said "I see kids learning to be your boss." He didn't want anyone being his boss so Damon resolved to take education seriously and eventually went to Stanford on a football scholarship. He later played in the NFL.
I wonder if that janitor ever knew the profund effect he had?
This reminds me of the comic strip Frazz, about a janitor at a school.
(Anyone know how to tell Youtube to start a video at a certain point?)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Without the GED more students might stay in high school
Here are some sobering thoughts about the GED:
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Although a growing number of high school dropouts are taking the GED, most who pass the exam discover that it doesn't help them much in finding improved economic opportunities or completing postsecondary education, a new analysis concludes.
In fact, through its widespread availability and low cost, the GED appears to be inducing some students to drop out of school, the study suggests. In 2008, almost half-a-million dropouts earned a General Educational Development credential, amounting to 12 percent of all high school credentials issued that year, according to the new study, published this month as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
"The GED is not harmless," says the study. "Treating it as equivalent to a high school degree distorts social statistics and gives false signals that America is making progress when it is not."
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This is a great example of the law of unintended consequences. Someone puts together a plan and doesn't anticipate all the consequences.
With the GED it isn't clear that in the net it is good or bad. It may be that with the option of the GED more people drop out of high school, but over all more are going off to college. I sort of doubt it, but it is hard to know.
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
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Although a growing number of high school dropouts are taking the GED, most who pass the exam discover that it doesn't help them much in finding improved economic opportunities or completing postsecondary education, a new analysis concludes.
In fact, through its widespread availability and low cost, the GED appears to be inducing some students to drop out of school, the study suggests. In 2008, almost half-a-million dropouts earned a General Educational Development credential, amounting to 12 percent of all high school credentials issued that year, according to the new study, published this month as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
"The GED is not harmless," says the study. "Treating it as equivalent to a high school degree distorts social statistics and gives false signals that America is making progress when it is not."
----------
This is a great example of the law of unintended consequences. Someone puts together a plan and doesn't anticipate all the consequences.
With the GED it isn't clear that in the net it is good or bad. It may be that with the option of the GED more people drop out of high school, but over all more are going off to college. I sort of doubt it, but it is hard to know.
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
College tuition has been climbing three times as fast as inflation - Wow!
For years I've heard that over many decades college tuition has been climbing twice as fast as inflation. This means that in real dollars, dollars adjusted for inflation, it will cost a lot more to send my children to college, than it cost me to go to college. I was able to work summer jobs and pay my own tuition. My children will probably not be able to self fund their college education. We're hoping that our children will be able to get enough scholarships and grants that what is left is something they can handle.
It looks like the truth is worse, Mark Perry reports that for the last couple decades college tuition has been climbing three times as fast as inflation:
"Actually, tuition has been been increasing annually (7.88%) at more than three times the rate of inflation (2.37%) since 1978, see chart above. The article points out that "unlike the housing bubble, in which foreclosure and bankruptcy allowed people to have a fresh start, the college tuition bubble will haunt young people for life unless bankruptcy laws change" (since student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy)."
For those of you who like graphs, and don't mind really seeing bad news, check out his post 8 Reasons College Tuition Is Next Bubble to Burst.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
I wrote last year:
"I have blogged in the past about the problem of rising cost of a college education. In a nut shell the cost of college education has climbed twice as fast as inflation for decades. It has gotten to the point that a college education is not an economic benefit for many."
I think things will have to change. This trend can not continue. At some point people will stop going to collge, or more likely, figure out a cheaper way to get the equivalent of a college education.
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Technorati tags: college, tuition, education
It looks like the truth is worse, Mark Perry reports that for the last couple decades college tuition has been climbing three times as fast as inflation:
"Actually, tuition has been been increasing annually (7.88%) at more than three times the rate of inflation (2.37%) since 1978, see chart above. The article points out that "unlike the housing bubble, in which foreclosure and bankruptcy allowed people to have a fresh start, the college tuition bubble will haunt young people for life unless bankruptcy laws change" (since student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy)."
For those of you who like graphs, and don't mind really seeing bad news, check out his post 8 Reasons College Tuition Is Next Bubble to Burst.
(Hat tip: Instapundit)
I wrote last year:
"I have blogged in the past about the problem of rising cost of a college education. In a nut shell the cost of college education has climbed twice as fast as inflation for decades. It has gotten to the point that a college education is not an economic benefit for many."
I think things will have to change. This trend can not continue. At some point people will stop going to collge, or more likely, figure out a cheaper way to get the equivalent of a college education.
----------
Technorati tags: college, tuition, education
The Lottery - Looks like another interesting movie on education and politics
The Lottery is the second of three documentaries I've heard about on education and Politics:
It could be an interesting summer.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
It could be an interesting summer.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
The launching of the SpaceX Falcon 9!
The launching of the Falcon 9 is a major event! The rocket made it into orbit. This was privately funded. I think of this as the rocket equivalent of Kitty Hawk.
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Technorati tags: space, rockets, moon, orbit
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Technorati tags: space, rockets, moon, orbit
The Cartel - a documentary about education and politics
Has anyone seen The Cartel Movie?
It looks worth watching.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
It looks worth watching.
(Hat tip: The Heritage Foundation / Instapundit)
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Technorati tags: children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - reflections on homeschooling
Shez is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at Homeschooled twins.
She is in the mist of a remodel and the carnival gave her a chance to reflect on homeschooling:
"My brain is so fried by all the decorating choices I have been making that I could not come up with a theme for this carnival, so instead of having a theme, I broke the posts up into topics and have placed pics of my delightful offspring at random spots within the copy. We start this topic off with posts that recap this last school year."
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
She is in the mist of a remodel and the carnival gave her a chance to reflect on homeschooling:
"My brain is so fried by all the decorating choices I have been making that I could not come up with a theme for this carnival, so instead of having a theme, I broke the posts up into topics and have placed pics of my delightful offspring at random spots within the copy. We start this topic off with posts that recap this last school year."
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Monday, June 07, 2010
Homeschooling - no wasted time!
Janine and I have been blogging just over four and a half years. We have written about dozens of reasons why homeschooling is a good option. We strongly believe that most children would greatly benefit if they were homeschooled. As public schools get worse, it is easier to point out the great advantages of homeschooling.
Today I was thinking a bit about how homeschooling is more efficient in the education process.
Carpooling
Last week we got a call from social services asking if we could take two sisters. Most of the children we have taken in for foster care are young. The majority of them are under five, so school is rarely a distraction. The older sister of the two we have now is in kindergarten. Today Janine got up at 6:40 AM, woke the poor girl up at 7:00 AM, and they left the house at 7:30 AM. Because this is the last week of school Janine decided to keep the girl enrolled in her school, which is about twenty minutes away from us. Between dropping the young girl off and picking her up, Janine will spend almost an hour and a half driving each day. This is not an efficient use of Janine's time, or of the girls. I acknowledge that it normally isn't this bad.
But many of our friends spend ten to fifteen minutes in the morning, and then again in the afternoon dropping off and picking up. And if they carpool, there is more time driving around from house to house. Children can easily spend a half hour a day sitting in a car, being bored. And after a long day, the children will frequently be exhausted and tired.
With homeschooling our daughters get up from the breakfast table, and sit down with their schoolwork. Maybe ten or fifteen seconds; there is no wasted time.
Waiting for someone to help
When learning new material students will encounter concepts they don't quit get. What do they do? They have to ask for help. I remember in third grade not even understanding a set of questions on a worksheet. I've long forgotten the topic, but I remember having no clue what I was supposed to do. I asked the substitute teacher. She just read the instructions to me. I asked what they meant. She didn't know and told me to sit back down in my seat. I spent the whole hour frustrated and angry because I didn't know what to do.
Again, this is an extreme, but day after day children spent countless minutes waiting for someone to help with a new concept.
With homeschooling, if a student gets stuck someone can often help them in seconds. My younger daughters get help for other sisters. My wife is almost always available. And if they hit something when no one is available to help, they can just move on to another topic. They are not forced to do math from nine to ten, at the exclusion of everything else. When Janine or I am available our daughters ask us for help, and they move on. There is no wasted time!
One of the ways homeschooling speeds up the learning process is to make more effective use of the student's valuable time. I'm glad we can homeschool our children and increase the rate at which they learn.
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
Today I was thinking a bit about how homeschooling is more efficient in the education process.
Carpooling
Last week we got a call from social services asking if we could take two sisters. Most of the children we have taken in for foster care are young. The majority of them are under five, so school is rarely a distraction. The older sister of the two we have now is in kindergarten. Today Janine got up at 6:40 AM, woke the poor girl up at 7:00 AM, and they left the house at 7:30 AM. Because this is the last week of school Janine decided to keep the girl enrolled in her school, which is about twenty minutes away from us. Between dropping the young girl off and picking her up, Janine will spend almost an hour and a half driving each day. This is not an efficient use of Janine's time, or of the girls. I acknowledge that it normally isn't this bad.
But many of our friends spend ten to fifteen minutes in the morning, and then again in the afternoon dropping off and picking up. And if they carpool, there is more time driving around from house to house. Children can easily spend a half hour a day sitting in a car, being bored. And after a long day, the children will frequently be exhausted and tired.
With homeschooling our daughters get up from the breakfast table, and sit down with their schoolwork. Maybe ten or fifteen seconds; there is no wasted time.
Waiting for someone to help
When learning new material students will encounter concepts they don't quit get. What do they do? They have to ask for help. I remember in third grade not even understanding a set of questions on a worksheet. I've long forgotten the topic, but I remember having no clue what I was supposed to do. I asked the substitute teacher. She just read the instructions to me. I asked what they meant. She didn't know and told me to sit back down in my seat. I spent the whole hour frustrated and angry because I didn't know what to do.
Again, this is an extreme, but day after day children spent countless minutes waiting for someone to help with a new concept.
With homeschooling, if a student gets stuck someone can often help them in seconds. My younger daughters get help for other sisters. My wife is almost always available. And if they hit something when no one is available to help, they can just move on to another topic. They are not forced to do math from nine to ten, at the exclusion of everything else. When Janine or I am available our daughters ask us for help, and they move on. There is no wasted time!
One of the ways homeschooling speeds up the learning process is to make more effective use of the student's valuable time. I'm glad we can homeschool our children and increase the rate at which they learn.
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
Saturday, June 05, 2010
A candidate for homeschooling theme song?
Do you remember this song?
The opening words are:
And though my lack of education
(Hat tip: radio free school)
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
The opening words are:
When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
(Hat tip: radio free school)
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education, homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education
Friday, June 04, 2010
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Don't forget to send in your submission for the next Carnival of Homeschooling.
Shez will be hosting the carnival at Homeschooled twins.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Shez will be hosting the carnival at Homeschooled twins.
Go here for the instructions on sending in a submission.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Thursday, June 03, 2010
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - the recital edition
Katherine is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at No Fighting, No Biting!
She starts with:
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At the end of May and beginning of June you can't miss being invited to a music or dance recital. The recital is the culmination of a year or decade of work in one of the arts and many homeschoolers are part of the crowd in the audience as well as the talent up on stage. Our children are in the midst of recital mania with the girl's ballet recital last week (actually 3 shows) and piano later this week.
For our 7 year old Maggie this is her first experience with recitals and I can easily compare her to a homeschool mom finishing up her first year teaching the kids at home. She is so excited that she reminds me of someone walking into her first homeschool conference seeing all the vendors hawking shiny new editions of workbooks in every subject, art videos, sheets of music, vintage books, fancy manipulatives, CDs for learning about the great composers, and more lesson plans than one person could use in a lifetime.
At Mary's first piano recital she was completely overwhelmed and wanted to walk out, but her teacher calmly took her by the hand and led her up to the stage. She sat and played her piece beautifully and has been confident at every performance since. During that first year of homeschooling we all felt a little intimidated by the sheer volume of options and the occasional worry that they were missing something. But sometime during the year we realized that something great was happening at home with our children and our confidence was restored.
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We've also had several concerts and performances in the last month. Our last was Tuesday evening. Like soccer, I'm glad the children have the experience, and I'm especially glad when we get the time back.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
She starts with:
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At the end of May and beginning of June you can't miss being invited to a music or dance recital. The recital is the culmination of a year or decade of work in one of the arts and many homeschoolers are part of the crowd in the audience as well as the talent up on stage. Our children are in the midst of recital mania with the girl's ballet recital last week (actually 3 shows) and piano later this week.
For our 7 year old Maggie this is her first experience with recitals and I can easily compare her to a homeschool mom finishing up her first year teaching the kids at home. She is so excited that she reminds me of someone walking into her first homeschool conference seeing all the vendors hawking shiny new editions of workbooks in every subject, art videos, sheets of music, vintage books, fancy manipulatives, CDs for learning about the great composers, and more lesson plans than one person could use in a lifetime.
At Mary's first piano recital she was completely overwhelmed and wanted to walk out, but her teacher calmly took her by the hand and led her up to the stage. She sat and played her piece beautifully and has been confident at every performance since. During that first year of homeschooling we all felt a little intimidated by the sheer volume of options and the occasional worry that they were missing something. But sometime during the year we realized that something great was happening at home with our children and our confidence was restored.
----------
We've also had several concerts and performances in the last month. Our last was Tuesday evening. Like soccer, I'm glad the children have the experience, and I'm especially glad when we get the time back.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
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