Do Kids Need School? Inside the "Unschooling" Movement

Dixie Outdoor Classroom is now open

The Dixie Outdoor classroom is open today at Dixie Elementary School on Idyleberry Rd.  Created with a generous grant from the Las Gallinas Lions club and with labor provided by the Friends of Marinwood-Lucas Valley, the Friends of Miller Creek Watershed and the children of Dixie Elementary School.  

Debra DiBenedetto, the teacher that spearheads the project is justifiably proud of her accomplishment,  "The kids have been just great".  The classroom will be used to teach about environmental science and the natural history of Lucas Valley.

x

Child Endangerment? Dad Leaves 8-Year-Old in Parking Lot to Teach Him a Lesson.

Mike Tang is refusing to reply with a court order and may face more jail time.

Disruptive Education (Is this a better approach to Marin public schools?)

Disruptive Education from Amanda Horvath on Vimeo.

No Child Left Alone: Getting the Government Out of Parenting

"Every rule that gets written has a cost," explains Abby Schachter, author of the new book No Child Left Alone: Getting the Government Out of Parenting. "I don't know if parents [understand] that under the headline 'we're going to keep your children safe' [or] 'we're going to protect the kids' that that is really code for 'we're taking your rights away.'"

---

Consider the downside of government institutionalized daycare.

Earth Day Teaches Kids All The Wrong Lessons

Earth Day Teaches Kids All The Wrong Lessons

Hey kids, everything is awesome!

APRIL 22, 2016 By David Harsanyi

Have you experienced a school “science week” lately? You should.

The chances that you’ll find a student whose goal is to one day extract fossil fuels more effectively or use genetically modified crops—or any real innovation, for that matter—to help the fortunes of billions of impoverished humans around the world is around zero. Most students will mimic what they hear, and claim to want to turn pond scum or discarded plastic bottles into eco-fuel. They get an A for caring.

Many kids confuse science with environmental activism. Who can blame them? Science isn’t only the systematic study of structure and behavior in physical and natural world through observation and experimentation, but a moral elixir.

“Science” means “panic over climate change.” “Innovation” means pretending to deal with it. And so “science week” at your local public school is probably more like “green week”—which, in turn, is just part of green year. Because every day is Earth Day.

In many states science standards are plummeting, though the prevalence of green education programs is rising. Perhaps this is not coincidental. Children seem exceptionally concerned about overpopulation and a variation in the climate, which they are told portends dystopia despite all evidence to the contrary. “Science” means creating apprehension about human progress.

‘Science’ means creating apprehension about human progress.

How many teachers do you think point out on Earth Day that human existence—despite our generally indifference to climate change—has quantifiably improved in almost every area? Do they know the world is effectively “drowning in oil”? How many kids understand that air and water are all cleaner today than they were when their teachers were kids?

How many comprehend that climate change is a mildly negative externality of the greatest poverty-killing project ever devised by man? Has anyone asked these kids if they believe a billion people should be deprived of basic modern necessities and be forced to continue live in destitution? How many teachers explain to their students that if innovators of the past had agonized over “environmental friendliness,” we’d be living in mud houses and most of us would be dead at the hands of untreated infections?

And how many of these smart, idealistic kids are incentivized to find careers in the busted green-energy sector rather than doing something useful with their lives? Earlier this month at White House Science Fair, there was not one mention of someone proposing to help people with autism or obesity or infant mortality. But there was plenty of jibber jabber about fixing the nonexistent energy crisis.

Has anyone asked these kids if they believe a billion people should be deprived of basic modern necessities and be forced to continue live in destitution?

Here’s a sampling:

“These Kids are In Charge: California Students Build Solar-Powered Charging Station for Electric Vehicles”

“Missouri Girl Scouts Develop Recycling Program and Discover a New Glue—Now Seeking Two Patents”

“Florida Teen Develops Novel Solution to Pen Pal’s Power Challenge” (The novel solution is saddling poor kids in Africa with what sounds like prohibitively expensive energy ideas that have to do with the ocean.)

“Idaho Teen Looks to Prehistoric Past to Understand Climate Challenges”

“Las Vegas Middle School Team Takes on Sustainable City Design”

Even teens working on a perfectly cool-sounding robot projects feel compelled to load up their idea with fustian eco-talk. One Los Angeles duo is now partnering up with “a program focused on advancing technology and constructing environmentally-friendly schools, built from recycled bottles, for children in Guatemala.”

I didn’t make that up.

On this Earth Day, let’s  remember to never let ideologues dictate what science should look like. Look what they do to schools and simply extrapolate.
One imagines, for instance, that more high school kids know who Bill Nye is than Jonas Salk. (Though, I guess, more adults know of Elon Musk — who, let’s face it, builds toys for millionaires — than those who’ve created innovations in agriculture, nanotechnology, or medicine.) When Nye, one of the president’s favorite Malthusians, become the standard bearer of “science,” you know we have misplaced priorities. I mean, is it wrong to call fascist a TV personality who toys with the idea of prosecuting people he disagrees with?

On this Earth Day, let’s remember to never let ideologues dictate what science should look like.

Nye isn’t alone in warming up to the notion of meting out retribution to those who are not committed to the oxymoronic idea of “settled science.” Mainstream left journalists cheer these witch hunts and the authoritarian impulses of attorneys general who seek to retroactively punish thought criminals and insure conformity moving forward.

Not all kids, of course fall for it. Thankfully, many young people possess the intellectual curiosity, critical faculties, and ingenuity to overcome our public education system. And thankfully, there is a market and profit motive that lifts desirable science and ideas and leaves wishful and wasteful thinking to government subsidies.

We have president who advocates for Project Apollo-like effort to make windmills economically feasible, but laments the rise of the ATM.  Today, “science” means supporting inefficient pie-in the-sky green projects that are force-fed to the public through the regulatory state and propped up by subsidies. These are not innovations.

By definition, an innovation is an idea or more-effective process, application, tool, or solution that meets the demands of the market and the needs (known and unknown) of people.  Many of the Right do a great disservice to their cause by failing to argue contemporary issues like climate change on scientific and economic grounds. But the inability of leftists to make a distinction between their ideological desires and reality is a why they can’t be trusted to define the parameters of science, either. This Earth Day, you don’t need to look any farther than your kid’s corrupted science curriculum or the authoritarian disposition of your local Science Guy to understand why.

Golden Gate Village Redevelopment Discussion on "Education"

VIDEO: Plain Talk about the impact of Marinwood Village on Dixie Schools

For the Full planning meeting: February 11th Planning Commission Meeting




In this clip from the February 11, 2013 Planning Meeting discussing the Housing Element for unincorporated Marin,  Lele Thomas, Planner describes the taxes that Marinwood Village will pay.

The total tax burden of Marinwood Village is around $10,000 and they expect to apply for a tax rebate because they are a non profit.

It appears that they DO NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY SCHOOL BONDS!

The Dixie school district will receive a one time impact fee of $200,000 which must be used for construction only.  It cannot be applied to teachers.  A portable classroom is estimated to cost $150,000 each.  With at least 150 school children expected, an estimated 7 teachers, 5 portable classrooms, administrators, teaching materials, computers costing in the millions will be the sole responsibility of the local taxpayers.

For this reason alone,  Marinwood Village project should be rejected.  It is shocking that neither the planning department, politicians or neighborhood leaders have considered this fundamental problem.

Lele Thomas concludes her remarks with "The bottom line is whether or not there is funding for Dixie Schools, this is not a reason for the Marinwood Village project to be rejected."


We must not let our community be exploited like this.  Join us today. The next big planning meeting is March 11th. Please attend. 

For related post see: Marinwood Residents Testify at Feb 11 Planning meeting

Video: In CA schools, 3 X 4 = 11 in the Common Core Curriculum

see article Video: In CA schools, 3 X 4 = 11
August 20, 2013
By John Seiler

Back in the early 1990s, California schools adopted “New New Math” and “Whole Language” to dumb down the kids. Parents revolted. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the state reformed the curriculum and adopted some decent standards.

But in California, no bad idea stays down for long. This time, it’s adopting President Obama’s Common Core, which brings back “conceptual math” from the New New Math. Instead of just learning the multiplication tables by rote, which people have been doing for centuries, students instead are instructed  to “think through” the answer, and that there really is no wrong answer. So, the answer to 3 X 4 can be 11. Really.

There’s a trick involved here. Of course, it’s good to teach kids about concepts. Until the Deweyite reforms of a century ago, students learned critical thinking as a separate subject. That was dumped in John Dewey’s earlier dumbing down. But critical thinking of the real type isn’t involved here, only muddy thinking.

Here’s a YouTube that explains the Common Core approach to math. It’s serious. As the teacher says, “The emphasis is more toward the explanation.”

Motivational Song for Common Core (not Satire)

For more fun songs see: Common Core Open Mic Night. 

 Who says our education dollars are not well spent!?

Big Business Supports the Common Core

by Diane Ravitch  see her blog HERE

Yesterday, 72 business corporations published a full-page advertisement in the New York Times supporting the Common Core State Standards.

The ad asserts that the CCSS will prepare all children “to be successful in a competitive global economy.” How do they know that since the standards are only now being implemented and have never been demonstrated to be successful?

The ad says that “the need for a strong employer voice is greater than ever.” Why would that be? Is it because so many educators are concerned that the Common Core standards will bust the budgets of their district?

The ad says that the big corporations support “these new, tougher academic standards that are currently being rolled out in classrooms across the country.” Are they concerned that tougher standards might widen the achievement gap?

The ad gives no indication that any of its signatories has ever read the CCSS.

This ad is very curious.

Why would business leaders take out a full-page ad to urge support for something that 46 states and the District of Columbia have already agreed to do?

I am reminded of the wacky report from a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations a year ago (co-chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleeza Rice), which claimed that the public schools posed a “very grave threat to national security.” Its three recommendations: 1) open more charters and vouchers; 2) adopt the Common Core standards; and 3) create a “national security readiness audit” for every school. Thus: privatization and the Common Core are necessary for our survival as a nation.

All very puzzling. How will the Common Core standards protect our national security?

Why are 72 corporations lined up to pledge support for standards that are already adopted but never field-tested?

Do they sell products that have never had a trial?

What gives?

The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards

Not Everybody is joining the Common Core Parade of Dunces

Diane Ravitch
Historian, NYU professor
from the Huffington Post:  The Biggest Fallacy of the Common Core Standards

Posted: 08/24/2013 8:08 am

Boosters of the Common Core national standards have acclaimed them as the most revolutionary advance in the history of American education.

As a historian of American education, I do not agree.

Forty-five states have adopted the Common Core national standards, and they are being implemented this year.

Why did 45 states agree to do this? Because the Obama administration had $4.35 billion of Race to the Top federal funds, and states had to adopt "college-and-career ready standards" if they wanted to be eligible to compete for those funds. Some states, like Massachusetts, dropped their own well-tested and successful standards and replaced them with the Common Core, in order to win millions in new federal funds.

Is this a good development or not?

If you listen to the promoters of the Common Core standards, you will hear them say that the Common Core is absolutely necessary to prepare students for careers and college.

They say, if we don't have the Common Core, students won't be college-ready or career-ready.

Major corporations have published full-page advertisements in the New York Times and paid for television commercials, warning that our economy will be in serious trouble unless every school and every district and every state adopts the Common Core standards.

A report from the Council on Foreign Relations last year (chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleeza Rice) warned that our national security was at risk unless we adopt the Common Core standards.

The Common Core standards, its boosters insist, are all that stand between us and economic and military catastrophe.

All of this is simply nonsense.

How does anyone know that the Common Core standards will prepare everyone for college and careers since they are now being adopted for the very first time?

How can anyone predict that they will do what their boosters claim?

There is no evidence for any of these claims.

There is no evidence that the Common Core standards will enhance equity. Indeed, the Common Core tests in New York caused a collapse in test scores, causing test scores across the state to plummet. Only 31 percent "passed" the Common Core tests. The failure rates were dramatic among the neediest students. Only 3.2 percent of English language learned were able to pass the new tests, along with only 5 percent of students with disabilities, and 17 percent of black students. Faced with tests that are so far beyond their reach, many of these students may give up instead of trying harder.

There is no evidence that those who study these standards will be prepared for careers, because there is nothing in them that bears any relationship to careers.

There is no evidence that the Common Core standards will enhance our national security.

How do we know that it will cause many more students to study math and science? With the collapse in test scores that Common Core brings, maybe students will doubt their ability and opt for less demanding courses.

Why so many promises and ungrounded predictions? It is a mystery.

Even more mysterious is why the nation's major corporations and chambers of commerce now swear by standards that they have very likely never read.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for high standards. I am opposed to standards that are beyond reach. They discourage, they do not encourage.

But the odd thing about these standards is that they seem to be written in stone. Who is in charge of revising them? No one knows.

When I testified by Skype to the Michigan legislative committee debating the Common Core a couple of weeks ago, I told them to listen to their teachers and be prepared to revise the standards to make them better. Someone asked if states were "allowed" to change the standards. I asked, why not? Michigan is a sovereign state. If they rewrite the standards to fit the needs of their students, who can stop them? The federal government says it doesn't "own" the standards. And that is true. The federal government is forbidden by law from interfering with curriculum and instruction.

States should do what works best for them. I also urged Michigan legislators to delay any Common Core testing until they were confident that teachers had the professional development and resources to teach them and students had had adequate time to learn what would be tested.

Do we need national standards to compare the performance of children in Mississippi to children in New York and Iowa? We already have the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which has been making these comparisons for 20 years.

Maybe I am missing something. Can anyone explain how the nation can adopt national standards without any evidence whatever that they will improve achievement, enrich education, and actually help to prepare young people -- not for the jobs of the future, which are unknown and unknowable -- but for the challenges of citizenship and life? Thebiggest fallacy of the Common Core standards is that they have been sold to the nation without any evidence that they will accomplish what their boosters claim.

Across the nation, our schools are suffering from budget cuts.

Because of budget cuts, there are larger class sizes and fewer guidance counselors, social workers, teachers' assistants, and librarians.

Because of budget cuts, many schools have less time and resources for the arts, physical education, foreign languages, and other subjects crucial for a real education.

As more money is allocated to testing and accountability, less money is available for the essential programs and services that all schools should provide.

Our priorities are confused.

NEWS FLASH: Marin Community Foundation pulls out of Grady Ranch but....

Lucas Valley is home to the pristine Miller Creek Watershed

Just released:

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_23454105/marin-community-foundation-drops-george-lucas-grady-ranch

http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/74781/marin-community-foundation-pulls-back-from-grady-ranch/

but George Lucas may still develop affordable housing on his own.   More news surely will surely follow.

We hope that Mr. Lucas will recognize the unique location at the head of the Miller Creek Watershed and build an environmental education facility that can serve Bay Area schools.  It is located at a nexus of two huge parcels of open space and is uniquely suited for this purpose.

CitizenMarin invites you to Save the Date & Make Your Voice Heard !

Save the Date!

 

 

The 1st Annual Marin Town Hall Meeting
 

"Our Planning and Affordable Housing Challenges in Marin"

 

Wednesday, March 20th 2013

6:30 to 9:30 pm
 

Al Boro Community Center,

San Rafael, CA 94901

 

  Learn about how regional planning is robbing our communities of local control and threatening our chance for a sustainable future! Join us and make your voice heard!

Details to follow for this tax deductible event!