Schoolish Thoughts

Did you like school? I don't mean liking college or grad school, I mean elementary-middle-high school, or as I used to call it, School school. 

Elementary school for me was a day school for Jewish children, and I think there was a lot about I liked. I made one spectacular friend there, and still know her, so in that sense it was more than worth it--plus I learned Hebrew and could speak it fluently (though sadly, not any more).

Middle school went badly for me when I switched to a public school and encountered complete culture shock. Fortunately I found one friend in eighth grade who saved the experience for me. 

High school turned out better as I started trying out and winning leading roles in plays, and hung around with the theater kids. I did well in English-based subjects, but struggled with math and science. I got through algebra, geometry and chemistry because the teachers knew how to make their subjects understandable. My calculus teacher in junior year tried to explain things to me, but I didn't get anything she was saying.

I'm thinking about all this because it's vacation time and kids are supposed to be home for a week. I always used to experience vacations as freedom--which makes me wonder if kids feel the same today. I do love hearing from parents who say their kids really like going to school.

I don't know how schools are teaching math and science these days, and I'm glad more girls are doing better with it. I feel like I missed that boat entirely, and just being able to fulfill a recipe or balance my checkbook is a pretty wondrous accomplishment. (New math went in and out of my head like a rocket).

At this point, I can't help wishing I'd had more attention from science and math teachers, but of course there wasn't time or funds for that. When my son was in first and second grade, he was able to get individual help in reading, and I have to say that really helped him understand what he was reading. 

I know many communities need much more money than they have for schools, and the pandemic was horrible for a lot of kids who need a classroom setting. I don't know what to do about any of this, but I do hope more kids are happy with their schools this year, and getting the help they need and deserve.

Because school lasts a long time, you know? And you only get one chance to go through it.

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Just an Idea: Schools, Teachers and the Year Ahead

What's going on in your life right now? I feel like some of us are getting through OK and trying our best to do that. Some of us are falling and slipping through the cracks - having lost jobs and even our homes. Others are so rich they don't even notice.

Make no mistake: we are living through a disaster. A lot of what I read says it was a preventable disaster, and here's what I worry about, no matter what political party you favor:

If politicians can't do simple things like keep the post office running, what help are they going to be in a pandemic? 

No where is this failure more evident right now than in our schools. Teachers in every state are saying it's too soon to bring children back to in-person classrooms. 

At the same time, experts are saying that not being in physical schools and using distance learning is robbing a generation of children from successful outcomes.

Is too much screen time bad for kids? Experts say yes to that, too. Is it harder to supervise them when you're trying to work from home or going to an office? Yes. Could plexiglass around each socially distanced desk help children from catching or spreading COVID-19?

Could be. Should we try that for every classroom? Maybe we should. But I'm also trying to listen to what teachers are saying. Forcing kids to wear masks all day and stay at their desks really scares me. Plus, it isn't really giving them social time.

What do parents who homeschool their children do? From what I hear via home schooling friends, parents create a family classroom with a lot of learning experiences, inside and outside. And children who are home schooled are keeping up well with peers in regular schools.

But if both parents are working full or part time and can't be with their kids all day? What then?

This may be a crazy idea, okay? But.

What if there could be robot teachers that looked either like real people or cool versions of them that could actually come to people's homes? 

What if they were programmed each week with real teacher's voices and lesson plans so teacher's would still be doing their jobs and getting paid for them?

I don't know whether we'd wind up with actual replicas of the teachers or a more "embodied" Alexa or  Star Wars types. I don't know exactly who would pay for it. To me, it seems that should be the government's responsibility for as long as children have to stay home from conventional schools.

Whatever we do, teachers should still be able to keep their jobs as the weekly force behind the robots; and kids should still be able to get the socialization time they need through their interactions with the robots. No living teacher is replaceable--and this is just a stopgap idea.

I can't really say much more about how to navigate our current dilemmas, but I think we have the technology to do it. I'm saying this because our kids need solutions, and they need them fast. 

Will robotics work? I don't know. It's just an idea, and we really need new ideas. I don't know what to suggest, and of course I'm not in charge.

If you are, and you're reading this, I hope you are at least doing some outside the box thinking on how to deal with school. Most of all, I hope you come up quickly with some good ideas of your own.

Robot photo: Didricks

American Anthem: or, as the Commandments Say, Do Not Steal

What are your favorite songs about America? Do you have any?

Did you know "My Country Tis of Thee" used to be sung by schoolchildren every day?

The first time I heard that song, my little songwriter's heart was not pleased. The words a little saccharine; and the melody required very high notes and for an alto, it was hard to sing.


THEN I heard it performed by the band Queen, and could instantly see how cool it sounded. But let's back up a little and look at the history:

Sources tell me that  the lyrics for "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The melody used is the same as that of the one of "God Save the Queen," arranged by the celebrated British composer Thomas Arne.

I say "arranged" because there are several other composers (including Handl) who may have had a hand in creating the melody. It's a little complicated, as they say on Facebook, but I do know that the song was primarily a British one and "God Save the Queen" became Britain's national anthem, some time after it was "arranged" in 1745.

Meanwhile, Smith was a writer and lyricist in the 1800s and while studying in a theological seminary in Germany, he got excited around the idea that German schoolchildren started their day by singing hymns. He wrote "My Country Tis of Thee" for America's schoolchildren to sing in the same way. Not being a composer, I guess, he cribbed the melody from "God Save the Queen," embarrassing American songwriters for all time.

(Yet somehow he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame???)

Dr. Smith. Really? Couldn't you have found an American composer to write a new melody? You HAD to steal one from the British, making us look like talentless dorks? Weren't we trying to show them we could make it on our own? And then you made us look like we couldn't even write our own tunes?

Moving on to "Star Spangled Banner," I have to say that singing that tune at any age made me have to get waaaaaay up my toes to reach the high notes and always scared me voiceless halfway through. Not a song for the masses. Not even close. (And the melody isn't particularly inspiring, either, and it SHOULD be patriotic to say so.

Because we need a better song.

It took a Jewish immigrant, Irving Berlin (aka Israel Beilin) to write "God Bless America," a song that most everyone can sing, even altos. The next time someone bugs you about immigration, in fact, you can let them know who wrote that song. (Berlin also wrote "White Christmas," which is another Jewish legend, in its own way).

"This Land is Your Land" came next, by Woody Guthrie, who is said to have been irritated by hearing "God Bless America" all the time. (Not a bad reason to write a song, but then, there IS no bad reason to write one).

I think of all of these, "This Land is Your Land" is my favorite -- with "God Bless America" as a close runner-up. I wish one of these could replace the "Star Spangled Banner," which could certainly be thanked for its service and retired gracefully. Don't you think?

Because anthems should have really GREAT melodies, not good ones. 

And if there's someone out there who wants to write a new one... a composer, say -- let me know? I'd love to try writing the lyrics and I promise you -- I won't steal a thing.


Photo of children singing: Jeff Sandquist


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Breaking the Homework Rule

Yes, there are a lot of rules for kids, but guess what, Virginia, there are a LOT of rules for parents too. One of the biggest ones is DO NOT help your kids with their homework. Parents who do get called helicopter parents, hover crafters and worse.

So  it's at considerable risk I'm posting here today to say I was one of those parents who DID help. I have my reasons, and IMHO they weren't because I was into helicopters.

My mother helped me with homework in early elementary school, most especially with math work and even more with reports for science or English studies. I cut out the pictures we pasted into the reports, but she helped me find them. She wasn't "supporting" me from the sidelines, by the way. She was actively helping me to put things together.

While my mom helped with math problems (though she wasn't great at math), I mostly remember hours of working on reports with her, and those times together were some of our best. I'm not sure why she did it, because I don't think she got a lot of help as a kid (unless that's why).

Working on school projects with my mother taught me something I was NOT learning in school, namely, HOW to create reports and do assignments carefully and how to be disciplined about doing them. And as a six or seven year old, I didn't know and wouldn't know how to do that unless someone SHOWED me. 

If left to my own devices, would I have created reports like the ones I did? I doubt it. I would have written something, maybe, but I had no real idea of how to go to a library or comb through magazines to find pictures or even how to write my thoughts down in any way that made sense. I also learned that writing was IMPORTANT, because my mother clearly thought so and wanted to take time out of her day to make sure I did, too.

So, okay, say I learned that from my mother doing ONE report with me. Did she really need to help on subsequent ones for the next year or two when I was in first and second grade? Technically, no, she didn't.

But we don't always learn something by doing it once. I think learning is really more a process of absorption, of doing and doing again until it becomes second nature to you. These days, when I have writing assignments or deadlines, people tell me they appreciate how fast I am and I'm happy to say I found a lot of success as a writer, artistically and otherwise. 

In other words, I don't need anyone to help me anymore. But I'm glad I had help when I needed it.

And when my son was little I helped him with his reports (though I stunk at math so he was pretty much on his own there unless he got extra help and time from a teacher at school). But these days he writes his own papers and I enjoy reading them. 

That's why I think showing, rather than telling him how to put reports together in first and second grade was a good idea. I'm not saying every parent has to agree with me, but it really worked in our family and I don't think it was "bad" or "helicopter" parenting. And maybe I'm not supposed to say this, but sometimes, it was even fun.

So much for rules, I guess. 

Here's what I found on this topic:

"Yes, I help my children do their homework, and here's why"

Can parents help with math homework--YES

19 Tips for Helping Your Child with Writing Assignments

Girl with homework photo: anthony kelly

Father helping son with homework: Oakley Originals