Friends of Early Childhood-NM Lesgislators Reception

One of the most important aspects of educational reform is to recognize the importance of early childhood programs in developing children who are ready for schooling.  That is why the Friends of Early Childhood reception for New Mexico Legislators at Rio Chama Steakhouse was a lobbying event in truly in the public interest.  Hosted by the NMAEYC, Voices for Children and the New Mexico Community Foundation should have been attended by every NM legislator.  For even if a legislator believes that responsible parenting is the key to child development, it is important for them to recognize that it is not the fault of the child if the parents are not responsible parents.

The attendance was better than anticipated with many familiar faces from both the house and the senate showing support for our youngest citizens.  There were over 40 supporters from the legislature and various departments of state government impacted by early childhood programs.  Of particular interest was the attendance by Representative James P. White from District 20 in Bernalillo County which includes some of the East Mountain communities.  That is one of the areas in NM in need of assessing their early childhood programs because of the rapid pace of change due to an exploding population.

Aron Segotta, the NM State Police Chief, addressed the gathering and stated his belief that early childhood programs will eventually reduce the amount of crime in our state and reduce our prison population.  Dorian Dodson, the cabinet secretary of CYFD,  was there to show her support.  She stated that close to half of her budget goes to early childhood programs and the rest to programs in the juvenile justice system.  With funding of more early childhood programs the future of this department could be one which spends less money repairing the damage done to children in their early stages of development.

The program included a viewing of the video Change The First Five Years and You Change Everything made available to all NM legislators by the Decade of the Child organization.  This video was produced to help develop a better understanding of why preschool children need these programs and influence the legislature to find more money to help early childhood programs in New Mexico. 

Baji Rankin from Decade of the Child and Emily Nunez-Darnell from the New Mexico Community Foundation were hosts of this event.  Our youngest citizens are grateful for your attendance, but talk is not enough.  Will the programs to help children in need be funded?

College For All: An Unnecessary Goal for Public Schools

Some Useful Websites
Lure of the Labyrinth- A cool way to develop pre-algebra skills
Map Maker is a great site for middle school and high school students who want to add maps to a report.
Architect Studio 3D On this Web site, you can design a house, walk through it in 3D, and then share it with the world. You can also learn more about architecture, past and present, and explore Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work.
The How-To Series The five posts from the blog Free Technology for Teachers give directions on how to use Web. 2.0 tools in the classroom

Articles to To Read
Revolution and Evolution in Educational System by PRof.MSRO ICFAI, University of India

 Education and character are two sides of same coin and one without the other makes no sense. Money can come and go, but it is the character that is valid from the beginning to the end of life. Any person, whether they can be equipped with the formation of character of each part of the world beyond. To put it in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Put “The function of education to teach an intensive course, to think and think critically intelligence and character ….. .. .. This is the goal of true education. “

Meeting Kids Where They Are-Not Where We Wish They Were  by Jack Schneider From Education Week

Precious, in all likelihood, is not going to college.
This runs contrary to the aims of the dominant players in modern school reform, who, whether they are in government, school districts, or philanthropic organizations, routinely employ the phrase “excellence for all” in justifying their expenditures. The theory of change among the educational entrepreneurs, it seems, is simple: Find what works and make it available to all students. As Teach For America’s chief executive officer, Wendy Kopp, has said of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: “He just wants to find and scale the ideas that work"

 Adolescence and Mistake-Based Education by Carl Pickhardt PHD in Psychology Today

In childhood, the age of dependence, a conscientious parent is often the best teacher. In adolescence, the age of independence, confronting hard consequences is often the best teacher. 

The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Is it Connected to the Decline in Play and Rise in Schooling? by Peter Gray in Psychology Today 

Rates of depression and anxiety among young people in America have been increasing steadily for the past fifty to seventy years. Today five to eight times as many high school and college students meet the criteria for diagnosis of major depression and/or an anxiety disorder as was true half a century or more ago. This increased psychopathology is not the result of changed diagnostic criteria; it holds even when the measures and criteria are constant.

Books to Read
Happiness and Education by Nel Noddings

Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities and Ordinary Resurrections  says, 'Noddings' thesis and argument that happiness and education not only can but should coexist must be taken seriously by everyone concerned about preparing children and young adults for a truly satisfying life in our democratic society.'

Quote of the Week

I used to think that a college degree was the leg up to success in life, an accomplishment that made you a better person, a stronger contributor. I thought it mattered less where you went to college than what you did with that education. Now, I understand that as a first-generation graduate of Regional State U, and a Baby Boomer, I was simply part of "credential creep."         Quote from Nancy Flanagan in the blog, Teacher in A Strange Land

Thoughts from Yrisarri
Educational policy reform is being driven partially by the idea that our public school system should prepare all students for college.  This is not only unnecessary but it is unrealistic and based upon arrogant beliefs about the value of work.

The goal is being proposed by well-intentioned people who believe in diversity and want all Americans to have the advantages of a college degree.  The argument is that statistics show that a person with a college degree is more likely to have a higher salary than their peers who do not.  As a matter of fact, as you progress on the educational ladder you statistically improve your chances of higher lifetime earnings.

While that is true, what about individual desires?  Why should we base educational goals on population wide statistical analysis?  There will always be individuals who are not ready or do not want to enter into a program of studies at a college.  Many of our high school graduates can benefit from going to work, or doing volunteer work to help them make informed decisions about their futures.  Why should they have to prepare for college in the public schools?

It is arrogant to think that the only pathway to success in America is through a college education.   There has been a misguided notion about the trades and their importance in our society.  After all, Benjamin Franklin was a printer who was as erudite as his better educated peers.  The value of work should not depend upon completion of a program but upon the quality of that work.  It seems to me that in today’s world the value of work is determined by the needs of corporations.  They provide large salaries to workers they need to create more money, not those who provide a high quality of work.

We seem overly concerned about another set of statistics.  Those that measure success in being able to make high scores on tests.  Our children’s relative standing among nations of test takers seems too low for many and we have to improve.  Once again we are not thinking about quality education but about being able to pass a test.  America has always been at the forefront of innovation because our educational system has worked.  We have provided the best scientists to the world, not the most.

College is not truly necessary for success in America.  What contributes to America’s success, however, is our ability to go to college whenever we are ready.  This requires a citizenry that values education for its own sake and pursues learning as a normal part of life.  A recent study indicates that anxiety and depression have increased exponentially in our children over the past 50 years.  This is not going to provide a foundation for success in the future.  As long as we place our values on statistics and corporate needs and not on individual needs and desires, our foundation for success will be weak.