It's something to celebrate when a family argument ends up with a positive solution to the problem. Oksana has been concerned that Eddie is neglecting his studies. In her view he should be reading Ukrainian literature and history and studying grammar. In my view, he should as well be doing math and writing in both languages.
I was upset that a new 200 page book of Ukrainian stories showed up that he was supposed to read. We had agreed that I was in charge of his education, but nobody told me about it. Where did it come from? Eddie and I had picked a Ukrainian history for us to work with. Somehow a teacher suggested another book, and that is what Oksana was expecting him to read. Five pages a day. I don’t even know the teacher. Who’s in charge here?
I got my hands on the history book and started to read it. I offer a translation of a scan of one passage about an encounter between the Anti people and Goths in 3rd century Ukraine :
Bozhan looked at Germanarchis in much the same way as Kuchma did at Putin's time: Anti is not Oium! ” The Germanarch, who longed to create at least some kind of empire, honestly did not understand what it was like to "break away from us." And he began to cling to the Ants with his integration ideas even more insistently.
Only here on the ancient Ukrainian historical scene, on horseback and in caravans, a giant gypsy camp went fair fairs. In other words, the appearance of the Huns on the territory of Ukraine coincided with the dramatic moment of Germanarch's coercion of the Ants to build a "Gothic measure": Germanarchus insisted, the Anti resisted.
Then king of the Huns Balambert, seeing what deeds the Goths had done, shouted to Hermannrich:
— Anu, come here. There is a conversation.
— What is it ?! Hermannich parted his feathers.
— You don't wave this, but come here. Because I will f*ck you, son of a bitch, without any information from the UN Security Council so much that you will not recognize yours. Do you want to wear socks? Balamber replied calmly.
— Sniff them yourself! - offended Germanarchus, who understood geopolitics, like a wolf in the stars.
Humorous histories seem to be a genre these days. I read and reviewed a Russian book, Америка как есть: история Америки для тех, кто не любит историю. “America as it is,” with a humorous take on race relations in the antebellum South that certainly could not have been published in the United States.
I note as well that British author Terry Deary has a whole series of Horrible Histories that touch on historical facts while pounding home the point that the white people have been evil since the inception. They are giving these to American school children. Awful!
I did not think this supposedly funny “History of Ukraine by Grandpa Sverida” was going to teach Eddie much useful. Moreover, I didn’t want to let things spin out of my hands.
We straightened it out yesterday. I wrote a plan. As a start, Oksana helpfully gave me at the curriculum for from the sixth grade. It is laid out as discrete subjects.
1. Ukrainian language
2. Ukrainian literature
3. English / German
4. Foreign literature
5. History of Ukraine and world history (integrated course)
6. Musical art
7. Fine arts
8. Mathematics
9. Biology
10. Geography
11. Labor training
12. Informatics
13. Basics of health
14. Physical culture
Real life doesn't work like that. Skills that every kid needs to develop are the 3R's: reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. Other subjects that kids would study in this scheme, biology, history and literature are simply grist for the mill - opportunities to employ reading, writing and arithmetic in learning subject area material. They should be recognized as such.
Here is a the first draft of my plan.
Schools for at least the last 40 years have included something called Informatics, as if computers were a topic apart. That is a fundamental mistake. In the modern world, computers are a tool that is applicable to every other subject.
Though the curriculum I've laid out for Eddie names various realms of computer applications separately, I don't intend to teach them that way. The use of word processors, movie software, presentation software, spreadsheet software should be integrated with the study of everything else. They are tools for manipulating intellectual material.
My longtime observation as a parent and teacher was the teachers don't understand computers. Even my now grown family used primitive software back in the 80s for drawing pictures. I don't see that it's progressed much past that.
Kids do become rather skillful at using software, but just as the joke goes, they teach themselves and then they teach their parents how it works. I'm in a rare position as a parent to teach my children how to use software and I expect them to learn and to use it well. That that will set them apart from from other kids and it will make them more productive in learning other subjects.
In particular, I want Eddie to dictate his written work. Dictating is much faster than typing and typing in turn is faster than handwriting. He needs to know enough handwriting to write a test, but he should otherwise produce written work with the most productive tools possible.
Automating the writing process has many other benefits. Once it is in the computer it can be checked. I've just downloaded the Grammarly grammar checker, which I think Eddie can use. Microsoft already has a spellchecker.
The checking device that I haven't seen recommended but I find very useful is to have the dictation software read my writing back to me. When I write an article, such as this, I will often word it awkwardly. I may use the same word repeatedly in three sentences, or use run-on sentences. My ear will catch mistakes that my eyes miss.
Most people now get their information from video. Eddie knows my prejudice that reading is faster and gives you a deeper knowledge. I will encourage him to read. On the other hand, the spoken word is often the best tool for reaching an audience. To that end I will encourage him to use PowerPoint, a video camera, the computer’s built-in camera, and video editing software to put together presentations. I’m not allocating time to them in a curriculum, simply observing that when the time is right I will introduce him to the appropriate tools.
We already use Excel and dictation software to check his math homework. He can dictate an equation to the computer and it will show him the solution. I am lucky that Eddie has the integrity to do it by hand and use the computer only for a check. But, since the answers are in the back of the book anyhow, I would prefer that he use Excel, through which he at least learns something.
As a programmer I learned that the skill one needs is programming, not a particular programming language. The same for writing. The skill is not writing Ukrainian or English, but writing anything at all. Every parent knows the anguish of a child come September when he has to write about “My summer vacation.” It’s not that he didn’t have a vacation, and not that he doesn’t know his native language. The question is committing it to paper. Every kid seems to have a built-in writer’s block.
I am going to encourage Eddie to write in one language or the other, and then translate. This will help him in several ways:
· It will help him learn dictation software in both languages
· It will help him use translation as a means of finding out that the source text doesn’t make sinse. In the sentence the dictation software substituted since four cents for for sense. You see how easy it is. When he sees gibberish in Ukrainian, he will recognize that the English doesn’t make sense.
· He will have to polish his writing in both languages, learning grammar and vocabulary.
Toastmasters comes into the picture someplace. Members of the club have already said that they’re looking forward to Eddie speaking. When he has something to say, I will help him write it, rehearse it, and practice in front of a camera so he can work on his technique.
Before other people put their hand in the process, Eddie and I were doing okay with Ukrainian history. He read about the events of Ukraine’s early recorded history, 9th to 11th centuries, and dictated notes. We’re going to go back to that, picking up where he left off in the same book.
Eddie and I have already studied biology as we went through the Smithsonian book of natural history. Two alternatives come to mind for next year. First, we have six books in two languages about Ukrainian wildlife, flowers and trees. It would be useful to simply identify and classify what we see in our neighborhood: conifers, broadleaf trees, monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants and so on. If Eddie is interested and his English reading is strong enough – a couple of big ifs at the moment – I have some excellent books such as “How the Earth Turned Green” about the geological history of the earth and evolution, in this case of plants.
Those are my thoughts on what will occupy Eddie this year. He gets to be the guinea pig. Zoriana shows interest butts in on whatever we are doing. I expect we can give her a start as well.
Eddie and Zoriana continue to bicycle to their music lessons. I have gotten proficient at carrying Zoriana and my bicycles, one in each hand, up the six flights of stairs leading to the pedestrian bridge across the railroad yard. Eddie goes on his own. Eddie is continuing his bee work, taking the stings in stride. Grandpa Sasha is contentedly bedridden. He has yet to try the wheelchair we bought two weeks ago. Grandma Nadia grumbles but she does everything he needs.
That’s the news from Lake WeBeGone, where life is more or less back to normal despite the fact war is ravaging other parts of the country. The strong man consoles himself with the thought that they don’t need 80-year-olds with guns, and raising the next generation of Ukrainians is a valuable contribution. The good-looking woman concurs. What else could one ask? Marianna is at the age where she understands the word “No” and needs to hear it more and more, and as noted above, Eddie and Zoriana are happiest when they are busy and we try to keep them that way.
Just a note to tell how interesting I find your daily updates.
This one on education was no exception. I've thought about this a great deal over the years and arrived at the same conclusion. Focus on the 3Rs and use other subjects to reinforce the learning of the 3Rs. You've added a lot of new technology to the basic premise, but I can't see a single thing wrong with your thinking. Keep up the good work.
Your lesson planning seems quite well thought out, likely better than a teacher would have done. The obvious skills integration seems easy enough. You may convince me to try dictation even.