You, Shellback, mind if I borrow your taupe colored SAS Velcro strapped shoes ? Time for me to shuffle out on my “When I was a kid…” soapbox.
A couple of weeks ago I was helping Junior w/ his homework – 3rd grade public school math homework , that is. It was clear that he was struggling on a problem or two, so daddy big-brain here decided to step in and provide instruction. I looked over his shoulder for a second, silently reading the question as I watched. “Basil had not seen his father for 2 years. Basil’s old man was doing 5 to 7 on a possession with intent to sell rap. What is the least number of years it will be before Basil sees his father again? The most number of years?” Turns out, the kiddo wasn’t stumbling with the math part of it, nor was he shocked/dismayed/concerned by the subtle inference to societal inequities in the U.S. justice system. No, he was trying to figure out who/what the hell a “Basil” was and how to pronounce it.
Now, the first time I sat down and read one of my son’s first grade reading assignments to him, I realized that I was going to have to deal with the fact that our schools seem more intent on teaching our kids that drug use, single parent homes, 2-daddy/2-mommy homes, violence, divorce, etc. were cultural norms than they were on teaching them that 2+2=4. I decided that as long as the school taught him the basics of math, science, etc., we would deal with the rest at home.
A couple of years later up pops “Basil”. Well, back in our day (here we go) the people in word problems had names like “Dick”, “Jane”, “Sally”, “Spot” (the dogs did, anyway), etc. The authors of such text books made the names simple for one reason: the names wouldn’t interfere with/confuse the lesson being taught. The names were always “Dick”, “Jane”, “Sally”, or “Spot”. After reading the “Basil’s Incarcerated Dad” problem, I scanned the rest of the practice questions. The list of names used throughout the assignment was endless and varied, including Kentrall, Rashad, Jamal, Alexei, Stanford, Benito, Yolanda, and Tomás. Hey, wonderful names, all of them. Problem is, they make it much more difficult for the students to concentrate on the MATHMATICS part of the question. I mean, my son’s best buddy at school is named Marquaris, but I’ll bet you a c-note that junior doesn’t know how to spell his friend’s name, nor would he recognize it if I wrote it on a sheet of paper.
Checked in on my son’s homework again last night. The boy seemed to breeze right through the questions, even though the kids in a problem trying to figure out how many dime bags were in a kilo were named Marcelo, Marissa, and Francine. I asked him about it, and he said the teacher told them that any time they ran into a name that they couldn’t pronounce, just substitute one that they could. In other words, he used “Mark”, Mary”, and “Frank” because they were easy for him, and didn’t distract from the real question.
Best lesson he’s gotten all year.
A couple of weeks ago I was helping Junior w/ his homework – 3rd grade public school math homework , that is. It was clear that he was struggling on a problem or two, so daddy big-brain here decided to step in and provide instruction. I looked over his shoulder for a second, silently reading the question as I watched. “Basil had not seen his father for 2 years. Basil’s old man was doing 5 to 7 on a possession with intent to sell rap. What is the least number of years it will be before Basil sees his father again? The most number of years?” Turns out, the kiddo wasn’t stumbling with the math part of it, nor was he shocked/dismayed/concerned by the subtle inference to societal inequities in the U.S. justice system. No, he was trying to figure out who/what the hell a “Basil” was and how to pronounce it.
Now, the first time I sat down and read one of my son’s first grade reading assignments to him, I realized that I was going to have to deal with the fact that our schools seem more intent on teaching our kids that drug use, single parent homes, 2-daddy/2-mommy homes, violence, divorce, etc. were cultural norms than they were on teaching them that 2+2=4. I decided that as long as the school taught him the basics of math, science, etc., we would deal with the rest at home.
A couple of years later up pops “Basil”. Well, back in our day (here we go) the people in word problems had names like “Dick”, “Jane”, “Sally”, “Spot” (the dogs did, anyway), etc. The authors of such text books made the names simple for one reason: the names wouldn’t interfere with/confuse the lesson being taught. The names were always “Dick”, “Jane”, “Sally”, or “Spot”. After reading the “Basil’s Incarcerated Dad” problem, I scanned the rest of the practice questions. The list of names used throughout the assignment was endless and varied, including Kentrall, Rashad, Jamal, Alexei, Stanford, Benito, Yolanda, and Tomás. Hey, wonderful names, all of them. Problem is, they make it much more difficult for the students to concentrate on the MATHMATICS part of the question. I mean, my son’s best buddy at school is named Marquaris, but I’ll bet you a c-note that junior doesn’t know how to spell his friend’s name, nor would he recognize it if I wrote it on a sheet of paper.
Checked in on my son’s homework again last night. The boy seemed to breeze right through the questions, even though the kids in a problem trying to figure out how many dime bags were in a kilo were named Marcelo, Marissa, and Francine. I asked him about it, and he said the teacher told them that any time they ran into a name that they couldn’t pronounce, just substitute one that they could. In other words, he used “Mark”, Mary”, and “Frank” because they were easy for him, and didn’t distract from the real question.
Best lesson he’s gotten all year.
4 comments:
Two words: private school. They have PC crap, too, but just not as much.
I know that's right around the corner, it's just a matter of how far down the street that corner is...
And I thought Basil was a herb used for seasoning?
I thought he was a Rathbone or something, Shellback.
Nim'mer, that story is just unfreaking real. WTF has happened to Dallas, man? I think that I shall never leave the Spring Branch School District. You better find the more significant others and you some HP or UP housing.
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