Posted on 06/20/2018 6:29:08 PM PDT by huckfillary
If your kids don't know these things, it's time you seriously considered educational alternatives for your child. And please don't say you can't afford it, because you can't afford not to. If you love your children, take them out of public school, find a good private/parochial school, homeschool, or simply keep them at home. They'll learn a lot more watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune than spending seven hours in a government-run holding tank for the children of dysfunctional parents.
Below are subject matters that my peers and I learned between the ages of 10-17. These issues and facts were taught during the 60s and 70s. Minorities had no problems learning these things. Why do they have problems with them now ? It's called the "soft racism of low expectations."
Ask your children or grandchildren these questions. If they can't answer a good many of them, your children are the victims of child abuse.
QUESTIONS
Who invented the cotton gin?
The steamboat ?
The electric lightbulb?
Movable press?
The reaper?
The sewing machine?
Vulcanized rubber?
Can you identify all 50 states from a map of the United States? And name their capitals?
Can you diagram a sentence?
Do you know the rules governing the use of "less vs. fewer?"
Can you quickly recite the multiplication tables? Like, right now.
Can you discuss the significance and meaning of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution?
Can you name five major figures of the Renaissance? The Enlightenment?
On which date was Julius Caesar assassinated?
Could you identify most of the countries on a map of the world ?
Can you briefly discuss the early American settlements at Plymouth and Jamestown? What drew these early settlers to risk life and limb to come here?
Can you name the major battles of the War of Independence? Which war preceded the War of Independence that, in fact, helped set the stage for the War of Independence?
Can you prove that a triangle is 180 degrees?
Can you prove that alternate exterior angles are equal?
Can you name the formula of the Pythagorean Theorem?
Can you name the formula of Einstein's theory of relativity?
Can you cite the four rights enshrined in the First Amendment?
Can you name your Natural Rights? HINT: There are three.
Do you know the rules of punctuation, grammar, and syntax, i.e. the King's English---the correct use of quotation marks, when to use a semi-colon instead of a comma, the rules of capitalization, etc. ?
Can you name the seven continents?
Can you the name seven parts of speech?
Can you name the seven auxiliary verbs?
Do you know the "rule of three" in mathematics?
Have you read any of the following---A Tale of Two Cities, any Shakesperean plays, Oliver Twist, Wuthering Heights, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Last of the Mohicans, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Little Women, Scarlet Letter, The Red Badge of Courage, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Democracy in America ? If not, can you at least name the authors of these classics ?
Do you know the difference between a peninsula and isthmus?
Can you briefly discuss the Protestant Reformation, Counter Reformation? Can you name the major players of these historic periods?
Who is Charlemagne and why is he important? On which day was he crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor and what was the name of the crown?
Can you discuss the Age of Discovery? Columbus, Pizarro, de Leon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Magellan, Balboa ? What can you say about these conquistadores and explorers?
Can you identify at least five major figures of the Enlightenment ? Can you identify the generally accepted years during which the Enlightenment took place? What was the significance of the period? Explain its impact on our own history?
Our country is routinely called a democracy. This is soooo incorrect. Our Founding Fathers loathed the idea of democracy, likening it to the "rule of the mob." Which term correctly describes our form of government?
What is a synonym? An antonym ? A homonym?
Do you know when to use there, their, and they're ? Your and you're ?
Do you know the formulae for converting Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa?
Can you name the planets? In order of their distance from the sun ?
Can you name the oceans ?
What was the first battle/act of aggression in the War of Northern Aggression (i.e. Civil War) ?
Can you name the Great Lakes ? In order of size ?
I could go on and on. But these are just the basics of grammar, mathematics, and history that all of us were required to learn while attending school in the 60s and 70s. Minorities were required to learn these things, and did. I don't recall any minorities struggling with these things. If they are, it's termed the "soft racism of low expectations."
Poetry, GOOD POETRY, should be taught and kids made to memorize it, as it once was.
You're being proud of being an uneducated lout?
Not all fiction is worth reading/knowing; however, much of it is! Not only are good. well written stories fun, you will expand your vocabulary, if you read older works, especially those considered to be "classics".
Heck, even the Sherlock Holmes books are written with such an extensive, beautiful vocabulary, that you'll probably need to sit with a dictionary.
I'm now basically only a non-fiction reader; however, I read /was read to, so much great fiction in my youth ( and remember it!), that I can well afford to not read fiction now and for the past many decades.
By NOT knowing this part of Western Culture, you help to destroy it. And many things will elude you, because so much of it is referenced in every day conversation and yes, in non[-fiction work.
Knowing the dates of historical events ( and why they are important ), is hardly "trivia"!
Being able to tie a quote, a character ( today, most people don't even understand what the stupid, uneducated insult, "UNCLE TOM" means, where it comes from, nor why it is inaccurate )from a work of fiction, isn't "trivia" either!
And nobody is claiming that knowing these things makes one a "genius"; it just makes one WELL EDUCATED!
Schools no longer teach kids how to diagram sentences. I really never understood why it is that important anyway.
You conflated multiplication with division!
With due respect FRiend, do be careful calling someone you do not know uneducated or a lout.
Let us agree to disagree, and leave it there.
Knowing how to think and reason are fine qualities; however, that, alone does NOT make one "well educated"...knowing dates and lit and math skills etc. does!
Actual quick mental status ? used 50 yrs ago:
y = mx + ____.
I suspect most millennials cannot get one question right.
But THAT’S the point, Mears...that what passes for an education, today, isn’t.
E=mc^2 +/-3dB
Well, private schools do.
I never liked nor thought that diagramming sentences was worth a damn, but that's because I have always spoken and written grammatically correct English. But perhaps it can help others who don't.
I did and do understand that it was a stab at being funny and/or clever; however, it was neither.
And just WHAT would YOU call someone who uses a colloquial, heavily accented English of an UNEDUCATED LOUT, who conflates multiplication with division?
I was dragged to a lot of performances of Shakespeare when I was a teen. All I remember is some dude peeing on the stage and how funny my Old Maid aunt English teacher (liberal!) thought that was. The places we visited were more memorable because they were beautiful and full of history. We read Shakespeare in junior high and high school. I did not have any appreciation for the language at the time. I took a Shakespeare course in college and loved it!
Four out of five of our oldest children are extremely well read. They all attended public schools and had at least one year of home schooling. They love reading. The outlier had trouble reading for years due to some undiagnosed reading issue. By the time he was in high school, he was reading much better. He can take apart and put together the most complicated of military equipment, so I guess it is ok that he doesn’t quote Shakespeare. :-)
An actor urinated on the stage? REALLY? That's NOT called for in ANY play written by Shakespeare!
The thing is, one does NOT have to "like" Shakespeare or any other great work; just knowing it, really is enough. OTOH,there are almost as many everyday quotes, used in every day speech, that come from his plays, as the ones we use that come from the Bible. So it is a good thing to understand/know that.
Being a well rounded, well educated person has more or less fallen out of fashion, today; sadly.
Good for ALL of your kids!
It's a damned shame that you child with the reading problem wasn't helped with it at school! There actually ARE methods which can and DO help people who have an underlying problem.
Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15th., 44 ad in Rome.
Wow, they killed him while he was on a date? Harsh!
Actually there was a time when I could answer all of them, but I am appalled that no longer can do so. I have printed off the questions and intend to do some reprograming of my brain. It’s amazing how much we forget with old age. I think that is the saddest thing about aging.
“But THAT’S the point, Mears...that what passes for an education, today, isn’t.”
—
Yes it is-——I went to school through the forties,it was a different world.
(Hope all is well with you):-)
-—Off to bed,I’m exhausted.————
Ciao!
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I’m a fan of engineering courses and books from the 1920s and 30s
They’re fascinating so much was learned in that period
Pleasant dreams, my friend; sleep well!
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