Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for December 13, 2010
December 12, 2010
December 14, 2010
Transcript:
Baldo: I figured out how to raise my grades. Dad: Let me guess... you're studying harder. Baldo: Actually, I'm asking my teachers to make their tests easier.
So do I! I bet he’ll get the same speech I gave my teenage students: I’m not going to make it “easier” because I’m preparing you for life. Life is not easy, it does not grade on a curve, and its tests can be life and death.
Potrzebie: The purpose of studying things like algebra and geometry isn’t to give you everyday skills – it’s to train your mind in logical reasoning, and to teach you that some things are true always, everywhere, for everyone, not as a matter of opinion, and whether you like them or not. It’s like P.E. for the brain. (Likewise, the purpose of P.E. isn’t to teach you how to run laps around the gym, but to strengthen and toughen your body against the physical challenges of life.) Nobody likes rigor and discipline, but everybody absolutely needs it.
Having those tools in your kit can be a matter of life and death, or at the very least a good life versus a poor one. I’d say they’re well worth suffering through a few quadratic equations and theorems, wouldn’t you?
As a homeschooling mom who has taught my sons all the way up to college, I’ve suffered through the quadratic equations and theorems with them. Yes, they needed that for college, which is why we required it of them. However, I’d much rather teach them about discipline and absolute truth using subjects which they will continue to use throughout life, instead of just retaining the information long enough to pass the course and then forget it. Too many young adults don’t know how to balance bank accounts, budget, shop for the best deal, do simple maintenance on vehicles and homes, repair clothing, cook basic meals, use logic to spot flaws and fallacies in arguments, how to have healthy relationships, etc.
I would have preferred to take the time we spent learning higher math, and used it to increase the time we spent on those life skills. There are only so many hours in a day, during those critical years, to cover everything they need to know for adulthood.
I salute you for your dedication and effort, Rmom. One of the great failings of our education system is that it forces even the best teachers to “teach for the test” rather than cultivate the mind.
And you’re right, a complete education includes all of it: practical life skills, relationship skills, an appreciation of our culture and our place in history, and honing of logical reasoning. No school can do all of that – it takes formal education, good parenting, good friendships, and life experience. It sounds like you’ve given your sons a start in life that’s the equal of any, and far better than most.
But we started by talking about math, and I still maintain that it has its larger place in forming a mature, civilized mind – not just learning something by rote because someone says you have to. That kind of “education” has its necessary place, but if it’s all there is, it has ruined more minds than it has helped by turning kids off of education as a whole. There has to be a full balance.
One never knows what path their life will really take. Someone who absolutely hates math may suddenly discover the reason for their hate really being terrible teachers, or they just think they hate it because they think they’re supposed to, and a great teacher inspires them to love numbers and become an astrophysicist. Or a kid who despises biology may discover a knack that leads him to be a great doctor.
In life the pop-quizzes can be pretty rough, too. I took my aunt (who speaks approximately 3 words of Chinese) shopping in Shanghai yesterday. I had to do the haggling, explaining, and direction-giving. I’ve never taken classes in Chinese, I just learned from the environment and taught myself. It wasn’t life or death, but it was a very tough quiz!
rayannina almost 14 years ago
Yeeeeeeah … lemme know how that works out, Baldo.
cubsmagic almost 14 years ago
As a teacher, I totally “get” this strip!
Gigantor almost 14 years ago
Recalls the title of the old Jerry Lewis movie. “Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.”
ejcapulet almost 14 years ago
So do I! I bet he’ll get the same speech I gave my teenage students: I’m not going to make it “easier” because I’m preparing you for life. Life is not easy, it does not grade on a curve, and its tests can be life and death.
Potrzebie almost 14 years ago
ejcapulet: When was the last time the average American used the Quadratic equation in every day tasks?
Plods with ...™ almost 14 years ago
good choice olmail
peter0423 almost 14 years ago
Potrzebie: The purpose of studying things like algebra and geometry isn’t to give you everyday skills – it’s to train your mind in logical reasoning, and to teach you that some things are true always, everywhere, for everyone, not as a matter of opinion, and whether you like them or not. It’s like P.E. for the brain. (Likewise, the purpose of P.E. isn’t to teach you how to run laps around the gym, but to strengthen and toughen your body against the physical challenges of life.) Nobody likes rigor and discipline, but everybody absolutely needs it.
Having those tools in your kit can be a matter of life and death, or at the very least a good life versus a poor one. I’d say they’re well worth suffering through a few quadratic equations and theorems, wouldn’t you?
Smiley Rmom almost 14 years ago
As a homeschooling mom who has taught my sons all the way up to college, I’ve suffered through the quadratic equations and theorems with them. Yes, they needed that for college, which is why we required it of them. However, I’d much rather teach them about discipline and absolute truth using subjects which they will continue to use throughout life, instead of just retaining the information long enough to pass the course and then forget it. Too many young adults don’t know how to balance bank accounts, budget, shop for the best deal, do simple maintenance on vehicles and homes, repair clothing, cook basic meals, use logic to spot flaws and fallacies in arguments, how to have healthy relationships, etc.
I would have preferred to take the time we spent learning higher math, and used it to increase the time we spent on those life skills. There are only so many hours in a day, during those critical years, to cover everything they need to know for adulthood.
peter0423 almost 14 years ago
I salute you for your dedication and effort, Rmom. One of the great failings of our education system is that it forces even the best teachers to “teach for the test” rather than cultivate the mind.
And you’re right, a complete education includes all of it: practical life skills, relationship skills, an appreciation of our culture and our place in history, and honing of logical reasoning. No school can do all of that – it takes formal education, good parenting, good friendships, and life experience. It sounds like you’ve given your sons a start in life that’s the equal of any, and far better than most.
But we started by talking about math, and I still maintain that it has its larger place in forming a mature, civilized mind – not just learning something by rote because someone says you have to. That kind of “education” has its necessary place, but if it’s all there is, it has ruined more minds than it has helped by turning kids off of education as a whole. There has to be a full balance.
syke34 almost 14 years ago
Dream on.
Coyoty Premium Member almost 14 years ago
One never knows what path their life will really take. Someone who absolutely hates math may suddenly discover the reason for their hate really being terrible teachers, or they just think they hate it because they think they’re supposed to, and a great teacher inspires them to love numbers and become an astrophysicist. Or a kid who despises biology may discover a knack that leads him to be a great doctor.
ejcapulet almost 14 years ago
In life the pop-quizzes can be pretty rough, too. I took my aunt (who speaks approximately 3 words of Chinese) shopping in Shanghai yesterday. I had to do the haggling, explaining, and direction-giving. I’ve never taken classes in Chinese, I just learned from the environment and taught myself. It wasn’t life or death, but it was a very tough quiz!