Re: Better Book Bargains?

[dinoboygraphics@aol.com]

> > > Well, it's obvious he made every effort to cover the "all ages," and 
perhaps 20+  years ago I'd have more faith in middle-school kids 
'grasping' the text - but I  have to go by what I see in the public 
school system today, and the state of  education has fallen so much 
from learning to crowd-control ... a special 'advanced' class for 
younger kids could probably tackle chunks of it. Sorry to be 
pessimistic but this country is in trouble, education-wise.<<<

Sorry, you ARE being pessimistic and NOT realistic:

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/15/c9/a4.pdf

There is no statistical evidence to substantiated that reading level or 
comprehension has dropped in our public schools.  That's not to say 
that there aren't problems that need to be addressed (many of them 
involving funding) but qualitative generalizations like yours usually 
reflect objections to larger sociopolitical issues rather than any 
actual data on how well our kids read (or do math, or 
even...gasp...science).

Now, our adults on the other hand, are indeed performing worse in terms 
of both reading level and science understanding, but that's a different 
issue.  And so I end with two quotes worth reflecting on:


"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for 
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their 
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at 
the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

(Attributed to Socrates in Plato's Republic Book 4)


"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on 
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful 
of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"

(Hesiod, 8th century BC).



Scott Hartman
Science Director
Wyoming Dinosaur Center
110 Carter Ranch Rd.
Thermopolis, WY 82443
(800) 455-3466 ext. 230
Cell: (307) 921-8333

www.skeletaldrawing.com

-----Original Message-----
From: B tH <soylentgreenistrex@yahoo.com>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Sent: Fri, Aug 7, 2009 11:01 am
Subject: Re: Better Book Bargains?







Well, it's obvious he made every effort to cover the "all ages," and 
perhaps 20+
years ago I'd have more faith in middle-school kids 'grasping' the text 
- but I
have to go by what I see in the public school system today, and the 
state of
education has fallen so much from learning to crowd-control ... a 
special
'advanced' class for younger kids could probably tackle chunks of it.
Sorry to be pessimistic but this country is in trouble, education-wise.

> From: Raptorial Talon

> Hey, that's just how the Amazon promotional materials pitch
> it. Really
> explicitly so, in fact, albeit with much praise for
> something with
> such breadth and scope for a "kids'" book. I've glanced
> through it
> before and didn't think of it as primarily children's
> literature, but
> who am I to judge intent?