Preschool

I have seen some interestin advertisements on my TV, telling parents that kids should go to preschool. For some reason, (this such a fake excuse) they say it well help them learn better. Listen, I have known some people who didn't go and they are pretty smart now. So, it is my belief that the want kids to go to preschool for a different reason. Maybe they can have more control over them since they are younger, to explain to them lies. Toddlers minds are so young, that they will believe everything.

Perfect chance for govt to seize the opportunity.

The sooner the system can get kids out of the hands of their parents and begin indoctrinating them, the easier it is to control them. Young minds have lots of questions, but don't yet understand that people will lie to them in order to get them to believe things that aren't true. The things that they learn at an early age will provide the foundation for everything that comes after, so it's vitally important to the system to make certain that they learn the official, approved propaganda as early as possible. If they wait too long, then they run the risk that the kids will have begun to develop their own ideas, and will recognize the system's lies for what they really are.

I'm sure that kids really do better in school if they go to preschool, if for no other reason than that they never learn to question what they're told or to think for themselves-- they simply absorb the information that they're spoon-fed, then regurgitate it on command, and one's success at that process is the way in which one's ability in school is measured.

Are you actually interested in why preschool is being promoted, or do you just want to vent some angst against the education system?

If the former, there's a couple reasons we're trying to get kids learning at a younger and younger age:

1) Kids below the age of 7 learn remarkably quickly, we want to take advantage of that. Things are a little scattered right now, and nobody's quite decided what's the best thing to teach them. Some people say languages, others maths, others still say that music's the thing. The one thing that's agreed on, though, is that young kids are very good at learning, and that the stuff taught to them at this age seems to stick well.

2) There's a big concern about kids not coming into the school system prepared for it. I'm not talking about discipline or "not questioning authority", but rather simple things like "what letter comes after C" Preschool is seen as a way to make up for those parents who either lack the will or ability to give their kids even the minimum skills needed for school.

3) Kids like learning, they're going to do it one way or another, so a lot of people figure that we may as well oblige them. This kind of comes from the "assembly-line" school of thought[1] about education, though, so it's somewhat suspect anymore.


If the latter, go on ahead. I'm sure we'll have someone wander along eventually who can tell how teaching, as a profession, is a conspiracy that came into being and caused the last physical tidal crust shift at the pole-reversal when Atlantis and Mu collided sending the Reptiloids to seek shelter in the Talos colony under Mount Shasta

[1] For more on this, pick up The Imperfect Panacea. Basically, a lot of America's public education system got started in the middle of the Industrial Revolution where the assembly-line was the latest and greatest of technology. We've tried to apply it to schools and found that it's not a perfect fit, but we have so much infrastructure behind it anymore that it looks like a harder job to tear down and rebuild than to keep on patching it.

Originally posted by Whiskey Jack
Are you actually interested in why preschool is being promoted, or do you just want to vent some angst against the education system?

Opening up your post with a dismissive implied ad hominem really doesn't speak well of what's to follow.

For the record, I'm familiar with the propaganda, and I'm quite clear on why preschool is really being promoted. Your use in the following of the first person plural leads me to believe that you're a part of that system, so, axiomatically, you do not really understand the motives behind the push for preschool. If you did, (hopefully) your sense of honor would prevent you from being a part of it.

If the former, there's a couple reasons we're trying to get kids learning at a younger and younger age:

1) Kids below the age of 7 learn remarkably quickly, we want to take advantage of that.

I doubt I could've said it better myself.

Things are a little scattered right now, and nobody's quite decided what's the best thing to teach them. Some people say languages, others maths, others still say that music's the thing. The one thing that's agreed on, though, is that young kids are very good at learning, and that the stuff taught to them at this age seems to stick well.

So far, you're arguing my point. Of course young kids learn well-- they do it continuously. And of course it sticks well-- that's why those who wish to indoctrinate people want to start at the earliest possible age. And of course there's debate as to what to teach them-- divide and conquer is always a useful strategy.

2) There's a big concern about kids not coming into the school system prepared for it. I'm not talking about discipline or "not questioning authority", but rather simple things like "what letter comes after C"

Last I checked, "what letter comes after C" is one of the fundamental things that schools are supposed to teach. No wonder there's debate as to whether to teach young kids "languages or maths or music." If you're not teaching them the alphabet, then you have to earn your pay somehow, hmm?

It should be the norm that kids come into the school system without such knowledge as "what letter comes after C," as it is the very job of the school system to impart such knowledge.

Preschool is seen as a way to make up for those parents who either lack the will or ability to give their kids even the minimum skills needed for school.

School is supposed to impart those skills-- that's its JOB. If parents choose to teach their children such skills before they start school (as mine did), all the better, but the ENTIRE reason that schools nominally exist is specifically to impart those skills. That should already be a fundamental part of any existing curriculum, and there should be no need to add another level of education to the beginning simply in order to teach those skills. That's what first grade used to be for.

3) Kids like learning, they're going to do it one way or another, so a lot of people figure that we may as well oblige them.

Kids not only "like learning," they do it continuously. Every time they look around, they learn-- they can't help but learn. The issue at hand is not "obliging" them, since it's something that they're going to do anyway. The struggle is to control exactly what it is that they do learn. I submit that this immense power has been coopted by people with an agenda that has little to do with education, and far more to do with indoctrination.

"No Child Left Behind" was instituted specifically to give the federal government (unconstitutional) control over curricula.

This kind of comes from the "assembly-line" school of thought[1] about education, though, so it's somewhat suspect anymore.

Which part? That kids like to learn, or that you should oblige them?

If the latter, go on ahead. I'm sure we'll have someone wander along eventually who can tell how teaching, as a profession, is a conspiracy that came into being and caused the last physical tidal crust shift at the pole-reversal when Atlantis and Mu collided sending the Reptiloids to seek shelter in the Talos colony under Mount Shasta

Another dismissive implied ad hominem, not at all to the point.

[

Basically, a lot of America's public education system got started in the middle of the Industrial Revolution where the assembly-line was the latest and greatest of technology. We've tried to apply it to schools and found that it's not a perfect fit, but we have so much infrastructure behind it anymore that it looks like a harder job to tear down and rebuild than to keep on patching it.

Which is a large part of the reason for the rise of home schooling and charter schools. The existing system is ill-suited for doing anything other than spoon-feeding pre-digested, dissociated and largely useless bits of trivia to kids who are medicated into sitting down and shutting up so that they can absorb it and regurgitate it on command. The system is only getting worse as those who administer it say "oh well, it would be too hard to tear it down, so we'll just patch it a bit more."

What you apparently fail to see is that there's a relatively small group of people who are progressively gaining more and more control over the nature of those patches, and their agenda is certainly not to teach children to think and wonder and ponder and come to understand-- it's to teach them to listen and to accept without reservation whatever it is that they're told. And they know that the earlier they can get ahold of kids, the easier their job will be. And they're right.

Ok, so now teacher's are in on the NWO plot or are they just uneducated? I don't think I'm understanding where your getting your conclusion's from...

IDK, maybe me being a parent, fails to see the problem with preparing your children for school is wrong. Maybe it would be best to send kids into school uneducated and unprepared. Definatley something for all future parent's to consider right?

Originally posted by Produkt
Ok, so now teacher's are in on the NWO plot or are they just uneducated? I don't think I'm understanding where your getting your conclusion's from...

They're neither-- they're successfully propagandized. They (for the most part, apparently) sincerely believe that they're doing good.

The federal government has taken control of the curriculum and teaching has already gone from imparting knowledge and skills to training kids to pass the standardized tests. That means that, regardless of any other factors, teachers are relegated to teaching kids specifically that which the government decrees that they will be taught. The reason that preschool is being pushed is simply to simplify that process by getting kids into the system before they have an opportunity to learn anything other than the government-mandated curriculum.

IDK, maybe me being a parent, fails to see the problem with preparing your children for school is wrong. Maybe it would be best to send kids into school uneducated and unprepared. Definatley something for all future parent's to consider right?

You misunderstood me, as I assumed at least some would. Clearly it's advantageous for parents to prepare their children for school. My point is that they should not HAVE to do that. Whiskey Jack stated that part of the reason for the call for preschool is so that the system can impart the knowledge that many parents are remiss in imparting themselves. My point is that the primary reason that schools exist is to impart knowledge. Complaining about the failure of some parents to prepare their children and claiming that schools need to go to new lengths in order to compensate for that failure is much like your local sanitation company announcing that they are instituting a new trash pick up service in addition to the one for which you were already paying in order to deal with all of the people who failed to take their own garbage to the dump.

There's something fundamentally wrong with the argument that parents are not doing what schools are already supposed to be doing, and that schools therefore need to go to new lengths to do it.

[edit on 9-1-2006 by Bob LaoTse]

I still fail to see your point. So, is it wrong or not wrong for a parent to choose to send they're kid to preschool? I mean, no one is forcing these kids into preschool. Not every kid in america goes to preschool, so how is this being used by the government in what you make sound like a bad way? I just don't get it.

Dude I totally know what you mean, I went to preschool and I totally understand, I feel like taking over the world and blindly following a leader to my doom!

Give me a break... You do realize a mighty big veil has to be pulled over someone's eyes for indoctrination to actually work right?

Quit acting like the whole world is a conspiracy, your kids are safe at preschool learning what letter comes after "c".

If i remember correctly, preschools are not public institutions. So are you saying that all education is part of the "system" and potentially government controlled?

---Pineapple

The public schools are funded by tax dollars, and the Department of Education never educated a single child. It's not government, but the School and teachers unions you should be worrying about

I heard about a year ago that some north-central state was already talking about homosexuality in preschool, and through 6th grade.

Also, about the same time, there was a study of 30-some pre-schools and their students..... turned out the kids did no better than those who didn't go (a control group).

Originally posted by Produkt
I still fail to see your point. So, is it wrong or not wrong for a parent to choose to send they're kid to preschool? I mean, no one is forcing these kids into preschool.

I've said nothing about whether it's "wrong or not wrong for a parent to choose to send they're (sic) kid to preschool."

Not every kid in america goes to preschool...

Thus the advertising campaign that was mentioned in the threadstarter's original post.

...so how is this being used by the government in what you make sound like a bad way? I just don't get it.

What I've said, and what I maintain, is that there is a concerted effort to get parents to send their kids to preschool so that they can be indoctrinated as early as possible.

The purpose of the educational system should be to teach kids to think. However, the real purpose has come to be to teach kids to sit down, shut up, listen, memorize and to, on demand, regurgitate the dissociated bits of "knowledge" that they have been spoon-fed. The problem isn't even so much the specific "knowledge" with which they're indoctrinated (although that is an issue), but rather the process of teaching them to NOT think, but simply to accept, memorize and recall on demand. If kids are NOT placed into the system as soon as possible, there's a chance that they might begin to learn (more accurately, to be taught by their parents) to actually think for themselves. Placing them in the system at the earliest possible age denies that possibility.

Originally posted by MrJingles
Dude I totally know what you mean, I went to preschool and I totally understand, I feel like taking over the world and blindly following a leader to my doom!

Give me a break... You do realize a mighty big veil has to be pulled over someone's eyes for indoctrination to actually work right?

Quit acting like the whole world is a conspiracy, your kids are safe at preschool learning what letter comes after "c".

Sarcasm duly noted. I would point out that it seems apparent that you have been successfully indoctrinated into greeting with scorn and derision any notion that there might be people in the world with a focus on their own best interest, even at the expense of yours. There are people in positions of power who can, will and do rig the game, whenever possible, in their favor. Really.




[edit on 9-1-2006 by Bob LaoTse]

Originally posted by pineappleupsidedown
If i remember correctly, preschools are not public institutions. So are you saying that all education is part of the "system" and potentially government controlled?

---Pineapple

Now that's a valid point.

It would seem to me that, with or without direct government control, preschools would serve the same funciton of getting a head start on the process of "teaching" kids to sit down, shut up, listen, memorize dissociated factoids and regurgitate them on demand, which I believe is the true purpose of our educational system. As I mentioned above-- the problem isn't even so much specifically what it is that they're being taught (although that is a problem), but the fact that they're NOT being taught to actually think on their own, but are rather being trained to be non-discriminating vessels, ready to blindly accept whatever information is served up to them.

However, you have raised a valid point. I'll have to look into that a bit and to think further on it.

I want to say I am very dissappointed with everyone except Bob LaoTse because I am suprised people have such closed minds.

Okay Preshool is not really needed I mean have you noticed most preschools are like based on Christiantity? I mean thats almost all thats left. They are trying to convince kids to join that religion. Now there is nothing wrong with that but, what if there are also politics involved? They want to learn everything right? So it would be a great opportunity for some sort of subliminal politcal influence. To me that is sort of like an NWO.

Jr. K is just like pre-school I don't see why people just send their kids there. It gets kids ready for kindergaten, showing them hand-eye coordination and other things, mostly physical.

(edit) Right bob exactly the whole point of school is not to learn what causes earthquakes, 5 x 8, etc... the whole point is to teach kids to obey a higher authority, something I have never been good at.

[edit on 1/10/2006 by Conspiracy Theorist06]

Really it just sound's like you guy's have a poor understanding of the education system and should go back to school. Please back up your claim's. Source's would help immensly for those of us already a part of the system.

Originally posted by Bob LaoTse

Originally posted by Whiskey Jack
Are you actually interested in why preschool is being promoted, or do you just want to vent some angst against the education system?

Opening up your post with a dismissive implied ad hominem really doesn't speak well of what's to follow.

I apologize if I came off a bit harsh. I've seen a lot of posts on ATS lately that are from people who are only willing to listen to those that agree with them. I'll try to keep from being bitter here.

For the record, I'm familiar with the propaganda, and I'm quite clear on why preschool is really being promoted.

And it's phrases like this that trip my alarms, honestly. I'm suspicious of anyone who comes to me saying they possess The Real, Secret Truth™. It may not have been your intent to give that impression, but it's how I read the quoted text.

Your use in the following of the first person plural leads me to believe that you're a part of that system, so, axiomatically, you do not really understand the motives behind the push for preschool.

Former member, actually Though my interest in the field has been rekindled by impending fatherhood. Not so much towards becoming a part of it again, but rather seeing if the BS that I encountered in my tenure there still exists, and in what measure.

If you did, (hopefully) your sense of honor would prevent you from being a part of it.

Honestly, it wasn't my sense of honor that rebelled as it was being tired of putting up with everyone's BS. There's a lot of finger pointing, but little acceptance of responsibility. Teachers blame parents and administrators, parents blame teachers and administrators, and administrators blame parents and teachers. It reminds me of the old IT adage "If you fix the blame, you can go home. If you try to fix the problem, you could be there all night."

Things are a little scattered right now, and nobody's quite decided what's the best thing to teach them. Some people say languages, others maths, others still say that music's the thing. The one thing that's agreed on, though, is that young kids are very good at learning, and that the stuff taught to them at this age seems to stick well.

So far, you're arguing my point. Of course young kids learn well-- they do it continuously. And of course it sticks well-- that's why those who wish to indoctrinate people want to start at the earliest possible age. And of course there's debate as to what to teach them-- divide and conquer is always a useful strategy.

I'd be more inclined to follow you here if, in my own experience, the squabbling seemed more like arguments over territoriality. Each teacher will generally argue that his or her specialty is best for young children to learn, and can often point to research to back this up. In my experience, they're all sort of right. What each of those things (music, science, language, even religion) does is to provide a child with a framework through which to understand the world. This framing can really help when you're still figuring out how basic (ie. "wind makes leaves move" basic) aspects of the world work.

2) There's a big concern about kids not coming into the school system prepared for it. I'm not talking about discipline or "not questioning authority", but rather simple things like "what letter comes after C"

Last I checked, "what letter comes after C" is one of the fundamental things that schools are supposed to teach. No wonder there's debate as to whether to teach young kids "languages or maths or music." If you're not teaching them the alphabet, then you have to earn your pay somehow, hmm?

And here you and I differ. While I think that teachers should be prepared to teach the basics (ABCs, toilet training, etc) to children, I don't think that they should be expected to do so. Indeed, using your own framework, that of the educational conspiracy to indoctrinate our children, it is this job-creep of the teachers that has allowed the educational institutions more and more control over our future. I didn't like it at the time, nor do most teachers, honestly. We'd love it if we could count on families to provide the support for their children to learn the basics they need to stay off welfare in our country, but we can't. Some of the responsibility for this rests with the teachers, ourselves, for not pushing back and saying "Hey, this is your responsibility," but an equal measure rests with those parents and administrators who want such tenuous ideas as "morality" and "right thinking" to be imparted by an assembly-line.

Preschool is seen as a way to make up for those parents who either lack the will or ability to give their kids even the minimum skills needed for school.

School is supposed to impart those skills-- that's its JOB. If parents choose to teach their children such skills before they start school (as mine did), all the better, but the ENTIRE reason that schools nominally exist is specifically to impart those skills. That should already be a fundamental part of any existing curriculum, and there should be no need to add another level of education to the beginning simply in order to teach those skills. That's what first grade used to be for.

Yep, and now we're trying to pack more and more education in to the 12 years alloted to primary and secondary education, so is it any surprise that, if we can, we want to encourage kids to learn the fundamentals earlier? We're not just teaching basic "Readin', writin' and 'rithmatic" anymore. As a relic from the middle of the 20th century, when a high school education was enough to get a decent, middle-class job, we're teaching vocational skills (carpentry and mechanics). Imported from the girls finishing schools come the home economics courses. Heck, we get physical education from the Enlightenment-era reconstruction of ancient Roman educational ideals. It's a big mish-mash of things, and we just keep adding more and more on to it.

I'm not saying that schools should teach the ABCs, but that there are unrealistic expectations on all sides, and nobody's doing anything serious to fix that.

3) Kids like learning, they're going to do it one way or another, so a lot of people figure that we may as well oblige them.

Kids not only "like learning," they do it continuously. Every time they look around, they learn-- they can't help but learn. The issue at hand is not "obliging" them, since it's something that they're going to do anyway. The struggle is to control exactly what it is that they do learn. I submit that this immense power has been coopted by people with an agenda that has little to do with education, and far more to do with indoctrination.

To a certain extent, I agree with you. As I said before, I'm very suspicious of anyone espousing grand conspiracy theories, or who claims to hold up the light of The Truth™, but there are those, on many sides, who want schools to breed nice, quiet, obedient citizens (or subjects, if your thoughts run a bit darker than my own). I don't, myself, see this trend as an active malignancy, but rather resulting from laziness on the part of parents, administrators, and teachers. "This child is always asking questions, he must be a troublemaker. That one always stares out the window, she must have a learning disability. Billy over there can't stop tapping his feet, so we need to drug him." Instead of figuring out what they, the teacher/parent/administration, are doing wrong, they shift the blame over to the students.

"No Child Left Behind" was instituted specifically to give the federal government (unconstitutional) control over curricula.

Yep, and I'm sorry if my previous post suggested that I supported NCLB. There are few educational initiatives that have come down the pipes in recent years that disturb me more.

At best, it's poor teaching. At worst, as you say, a direct power grab by the federal government.

This kind of comes from the "assembly-line" school of thought[1] about education, though, so it's somewhat suspect anymore.

Which part? That kids like to learn, or that you should oblige them?

The part where schools are automatically assumed to be the best venue to educate any child, regarless of age.

If the latter, go on ahead. I'm sure we'll have someone wander along eventually who can tell how teaching, as a profession, is a conspiracy that came into being and caused the last physical tidal crust shift at the pole-reversal when Atlantis and Mu collided sending the Reptiloids to seek shelter in the Talos colony under Mount Shasta

Another dismissive implied ad hominem, not at all to the point.

Not exactly an ad hom attack, at least not in intent. I didn't mean to say, with that paragraph, that nobody should listen to you because you're a screaming loon (nor do I suggest that here), but rather that if you wanted to hear conspiracy theories about the state of education in the US, someone would oblige you soon enough. That's the beauty, and the tragedy, that I see on ATS a lot. There's a huge number of peope here willing to say "Hey, maybe the world isn't exactly like I've been told it is, let's find out." but there's also a huge number who will jump to champion any cause merely because "the establishment" finds it lacks credibility.

Which is a large part of the reason for the rise of home schooling and charter schools. The existing system is ill-suited for doing anything other than spoon-feeding pre-digested, dissociated and largely useless bits of trivia to kids who are medicated into sitting down and shutting up so that they can absorb it and regurgitate it on command. The system is only getting worse as those who administer it say "oh well, it would be too hard to tear it down, so we'll just patch it a bit more."

Yep, I agree with you here as well. What I'd love to see from this thread is an honest look at redesigning the educational system to fix the problems. Not a bunch of people shouting "NEA sucks, schools suck, I hate teachers, just send all the kids home" which is, I'm sorry to say, the outcome I've seen most often on this, and other, boards. Homeschooling, itself, is a patch on the current system. That doesn't mean I'm not planning on using that patch if the jury-rigged system still stands as it is when my son's ready for school, but that, ultimately, it's not the answer in and of itself.

What you apparently fail to see is that there's a relatively small group of people who are progressively gaining more and more control over the nature of those patches, and their agenda is certainly not to teach children to think and wonder and ponder and come to understand-- it's to teach them to listen and to accept without reservation whatever it is that they're told. And they know that the earlier they can get ahold of kids, the easier their job will be. And they're right.

So what, specifically, can we do about this. I had a professor in college who held much the same view, actually, but was very defeatist about it. He maintained that, at this point, the only thing we can do is wait for the system to collapse under the weight of the collective incompetence of the federal regulations and the teacher's union[1] then rebuild.

Me, I'm more in favor of setting up, at least the groundworks, for a parallel system right now. Homeschoolers, as they organize more and more, are doing the same thing. The hard part is to get the folks who're interested in fixing the problem (rather than the blame) organized enough to actually accomplish this.


[1] While I support the union, as it exists in the ideal, it does all too often cause more problems than it fixes.[2]

[2] Yes I do, in fact, foonote. I may as well put that English teaching degree to some use

For the most part, Head Start (pre-school) is nothing more than another opportuniuty for more teachers union workers, most of which don't have a clue. Most teachers today don't have specialties... they go to school to learn how to teach to groups of kids, then the school just positions them where they're needed. Math today.... science tomorrow, etc.
..............................................

".... The most comprehensive synthesis of Head Start impact studies to date was published in 1985 by the Department of Health and Human Services. It showed that by the time children enter the second grade, any cognitive, social, and emotional gains by Head Start children have vanished. By second grade, that is, the achievement test scores, IQs, achievement-motivation scores, self-esteem, and social behavior scores of Head Start students are indistinguishable from those of their demographically comparable peers. The net gain to children and taxpayers is zero."
From: www.cato.org...

I have an eighth grade test from 1895, from Kansas, that most every 12th grader and teacher couldn't pass. In fact, I've sent it to about 25 college professors, and THEY couldn't pass it either. President Reagan warned us about the "dumbing down" of our children, and not many listened; now they wish they had.

The test:

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, KS. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -- 1895
-----------------------------------------------------------

Grammar -- (Time, one hour)
----------------------------------------
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb?

Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.

5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic -- (Time, 1.25 hours)
--------------------------------------------
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 or incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 perm?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?


10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History -- (Time, 45 minutes)
-----------------------------------------------
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery
of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography -- (Time, one hour)
--------------------------------------------
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane,fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography -- (Time, one hour)
--------------------------------------------
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of N.A.

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall, and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

------------------------------------------------------
Comments?

* Imagine a recent college student who went to public school trying to pass this test, even if the few outdated questions were modernized.

* Imagine their professors even being able to pass the 8th Grade! :-)

* With fluency and agility we could do it. We could get Americans, students and professors alike, back up to the 8th Grade level of 1895!

Originally posted by MrJingles
Dude I totally know what you mean, I went to preschool and I totally understand, I feel like taking over the world and blindly following a leader to my doom!

Give me a break... You do realize a mighty big veil has to be pulled over someone's eyes for indoctrination to actually work right?

Quit acting like the whole world is a conspiracy, your kids are safe at preschool learning what letter comes after "c".

REPLY So you think our kids are safe, huh?

".... Last week the school board in Provincetown, Mass. voted to begin educating preschoolers about homosexual lifestyles, according to an article in theWashington Times. The board also decided in favor of hiring preferences for "sexual minorities," a move that puts Provincetown on the cutting edge of the homosexual agenda. "We are on a trailblazing path," said Susan Fleming, superintendent of Provincetown schools. "We are going to be a change agent."

www.apfn.org...

Our tax dollars at work........

Originally posted by zappafan1

Originally posted by MrJingles
Dude I totally know what you mean, I went to preschool and I totally understand, I feel like taking over the world and blindly following a leader to my doom!

Give me a break... You do realize a mighty big veil has to be pulled over someone's eyes for indoctrination to actually work right?

Quit acting like the whole world is a conspiracy, your kids are safe at preschool learning what letter comes after "c".

REPLY So you think our kids are safe, huh?

".... Last week the school board in Provincetown, Mass. voted to begin educating preschoolers about homosexual lifestyles, according to an article in theWashington Times. The board also decided in favor of hiring preferences for "sexual minorities," a move that puts Provincetown on the cutting edge of the homosexual agenda. "We are on a trailblazing path," said Susan Fleming, superintendent of Provincetown schools. "We are going to be a change agent."

www.apfn.org...

Our tax dollars at work........

Lets see that sounds to me like POLITICAL INFLUENCE if you don't mind me. Teaching kids that are under 5 about homosexuals doesn't make sense, okay there is DEFINTELY some subliminal stuff in preschool. Just more proof that school isn't as good as what it is thought to be.

Have any of you people have ever been ridiculed by talking about aliens anywhere including school, the public, anywhere, it is something that they teach you in preschool and school, not to have an opinion of your own. This is a method the illuminati use for control over the population. I is called the dephi method. You are laughed at for having a different opinion and eventually you become sort of mind controlled, like you have to believe what the majority believes all the time otherwise you feel uneasy. It is what all school is about. If you guys don't see this, then make sure your kid has his own opinion before he or she becomes something I would like to call, a suckup.

Originally posted by Conspiracy Theorist06

Originally posted by zappafan1

Originally posted by MrJingles
Dude I totally know what you mean, I went to preschool and I totally understand, I feel like taking over the world and blindly following a leader to my doom!

Give me a break... You do realize a mighty big veil has to be pulled over someone's eyes for indoctrination to actually work right?

Quit acting like the whole world is a conspiracy, your kids are safe at preschool learning what letter comes after "c".

REPLY So you think our kids are safe, huh?

".... Last week the school board in Provincetown, Mass. voted to begin educating preschoolers about homosexual lifestyles, according to an article in theWashington Times. The board also decided in favor of hiring preferences for "sexual minorities," a move that puts Provincetown on the cutting edge of the homosexual agenda. "We are on a trailblazing path," said Susan Fleming, superintendent of Provincetown schools. "We are going to be a change agent."

www.apfn.org...

Our tax dollars at work........

Lets see that sounds to me like POLITICAL INFLUENCE if you don't mind me. Teaching kids that are under 5 about homosexuals doesn't make sense, okay there is DEFINTELY some subliminal stuff in preschool. Just more proof that school isn't as good as what it is thought to be.

Have any of you people have ever been ridiculed by talking about aliens anywhere including school, the public, anywhere, it is something that they teach you in preschool and school, not to have an opinion of your own. This is a method the illuminati use for control over the population. I is called the dephi method. You are laughed at for having a different opinion and eventually you become sort of mind controlled, like you have to believe what the majority believes all the time otherwise you feel uneasy. It is what all school is about. If you guys don't see this, then make sure your kid has his own opinion before he or she becomes something I would like to call, a suckup.

A serious thread, and good posts.... then the old "Illuminati" crapola......