A Line in the Sand has been crossed in England. So sad.....

I usually do not post apocalyptic stuff, but this is just such a red flag for me....

History and geography axed in primary schools for lessons on healthy living and the environment.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Snippets of article worth a look:

* Traditional subjects such as history and geography are to be axed in the biggest overhaul of primary education for 20 years.

* Pupils will spend more time learning how to deal with "deep societal concerns" such as violence, drug abuse, obesity, teenage pregnancy and debt. (This is PRIMARY SCHOOL, mind you)

*All children will start school at the age of four even if they are born in the summer and are considered too young by their parents.

*Schools will be expected to nurture children's emotional wellbeing and their social skills.


* Schools that are judged to do well at promoting pupils' 'wellbeing' may score good grades even if their exam results are middling or poor.










I fear for the future more and more each day.

:shock:

 

As I read it, they aren't doing away with the subjects, just changing how/when they are taught.

I read somewhere that English students are like two years ahead of their American peers, so they must be doing something right.

 

Sorry Becky, but i have to agree with Jen. I mean come on, making a parent start a child that just turned 4, against their wishes? Talk about socialism! And im sure any history or geography they teach will be their own version. Seems to me this is why i homeschool!

 

Nope, axed means axed.
In place of other subjects.

 

I thought I read where they would be integrated into the other subjects, like history through technology was their example.

 

I just read the other day in England kids that are consider "gifted" are being held down by peers and teachers because it is consider ELITIST to give them special advancements that the government has in place for them.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...hool-teachers-who-fear-promoting-elitism.html

On the OP, all I can say is I'm glad I homeschool.

As Becky pointed out , the article said:

Under the plan, history, geography and religious education will be merged into 'human, social and environmental' studies.

So they are not eliminated they are integrated. So its not geography, history, math, social studies , etc by themselves its paired down to 6-7 classes instead of 11.
So history, geography and social studies ( or concerns as they state) are all one class now.

BUT mandating that children MUST go to school at 4 and that forgien languages MUST be taught to 7-11 years and that the schools can ONLY choose 2 languages to teach is too much!

 

I can see the foreign languages, and I can see starting at 4. The younger they are, the easier it is. Isn't there Baby Einstein dvds or cds for languages? I thought I saw one even for Japanese, at the library.

 

Thank you! I knew I read that right.
Integrating subjects is something we all do along the way. I wish I could read ahead enough to do that here more.

 

Yes, Becky, you read right, but as much as "integrated curriculum" can be a good thing, I still think it's bad to cut it like they are.

Did anyone see this article that was linked form the same page...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...ildren-enter-Channel-4s-cruel-experiment.html

It's about a TV show where the kids are more or less left totally on their own without rules. Remember reading "Lord of the Flies" in high school?

 

Ok, i get it now.
Then why did they say "AXED"?
(Slowly remembers why I don't normally post apocalyptic stuff/....)

 

lol, you are too funny! I think the bad thing is even if they are "integrated" into another umbrella subject, i doubt that it will be honest and truthful, have you noticed how public school history books have changed so much? Like history all of a sudden changed.

And as for the school at 4 years old, they say statistics prove that even if kids have started at 3 in preschool that they are basically the same level acedemically by grade 3 or 4.

Why cant we just let our kids be kids? I mean honestly, i know the foreign countries have smarter kids according to testing, but look at how their government runs the countries. Personally, i would rather have children a little behind children from other countries and live with the freedoms we still have than to to have children with the top scores in math and no freedoms.

lol well, actually id like both, top scores and freedoms, but from the looks of the countries with the top scores, it might not be possible, lol

this is just my opinion, and in no way means anyone has to agree with me, i just think that it makes sense to be aware of where europe is heading, bc usually we follow.

 

It's the sensationalism of the British Press. Still, I do get disturbed by a lot of stuff I hear from Britain. It does seem to be headed in a more more nanny-state direction then either of our governments.

 

The teenager I took in my house last summer (My cousins daughter) graduated from an American highschool and has never heard of:

The 1993 World Trade Center attack.
The 1980 hostage crisis.
The watts riots
The 1992 Rodney King entire situation.
How to file a basic 1040ez
How to open a checking account
Cannot name more than two bill of rights
Had no clue WHY we wanted to be separate from England.
Wonders why "All of the sudden" there are earthquakes everywhere" (Even though a HUGE one happened the year she was born (1989 California)

It goes on and I cannot remember everything.

This is not an issue of knowing everything that happened before your were born. But geesh! Even though I was a four year old when it happened, I still know what Watergate is.

The issue is that in schools they do not teach REAL stuff..... like REAL history, its just Columbus and silly hats.....

She passed THEIR tests based on what the school felt would make THEIR scores look good, NOT based on what a person truly needs to know to get along in this world.

Every day that I have to educate her on things we take for granted knowing, reminds me of why I do not want my kids' education dictated by "Committee".

 

yep, jen that is what i am talking about

 

Where do you get your info that schools in the UK are so far ahead? The English really have never been known for their great scientists or math or sciences..or really, incredible intelligence.

 

Age 4! Crazy is all I can think. Apparently having time to be a kid is going by the wayside.

You know, this brings up a subject that I have been thinking about a lot lately – indoctrination. Every school does it but I can’t get my mind around how to pick it apart to see exactly what is going on there. Does anyone know what PS kids are being indoctrinated with today? What type of ideology?

Sorry to go off on a tangent. My mind seems to go everywhere.

 

I don't remember what site I read it on, but I got linked to the story after getting linked to a British site while looking for a lesson plan.

 

Um. Never?

Charles Darwin, Fred Hoyle, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, James Watt, Edward Jenner, John Dalton, Sir Charles Lyell, James Prescott Joule, James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Alexander Fleming, Francis Crick, Charles Babbage, Lewis Carroll, David Hume...

One of the very things the English are known for are the absolute giants in science, math and philosophy that have come from their country. Some English have invented whole fields of science and math.

No need for generalizations.

 

(Sorry if I sounded snarky. I had to defend my Commonwealth brethren )

 

No, I was thinking the same thing, I just couldn't think of a nice way to say so it, so I had lunch instead

Also they have 4 levels of school in England and if you are an advanced student they have schools that are just for you paid by the government because they want their brightest students to succeed in a proper environment.