I was at the store tonight picking up some grub to put on the gill, a box of wine and some cat treats.  I'm checking out in the liqueur department, when the college aged gal in front of me was rung up.  Her total was $17.76.

So out of the blue I mentioned how 1776 was a great year in American History. 

If you could have seen the three blank faces...The young gal, the guy checking us out, and the 30 something woman behind me. 

How in the hell, even after giving the HUGE clue about it being AMERICAN HISTORY it still didn't click with them.

Then they had the excuse that they were both Mathematics majors. Really?

I'm not only smarter than a 5th grader, I'm smarter than today's college students.

Redd wrote on Apr 19^th, 2010 at 8:00pm:

I'm not only smarter than a 5th grader, I'm smarter than today's college students.

Not only college students Pegg...but grad-ji-ates too!

I wasn't alive in 1776.  What's the big deal?

AND, they reproduce and sometimes they VOTE!

Scares me sometimes.

Jerry

I came home and asked Dylan what's the first thing that pops into his mind if I mentioned "1776".

Of course he said the signing of the Deceleration of Independence.

And I didn't have to give him the clue of it being a date in AMERICAN history. 

I guess it just tells me what and where the budget cuts in public schooling are effecting.  Yes parents are so very important to fill in the gaps, and some of us can and do.  But if this is the "future" of our country, I'm afraid we are closer to the end.  Out of 4 people there, only I could make the connection, even after giving a HUGE clue.

Abstract thought is a becoming a lost art.  Temporary memorization and regurgitation, then when the test is over it's all forgotten.  That is all that is required.

Dontcha know?

Only what's on TV this day is real or important.

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Charlie

"Temporary memorization and regurgitation, then when the test is over it's all forgotten."

Worked for me.

Oh Redd, welcome to the world of NEW EDUCATION... Geezz I remember back in the 60s when they came out with "new math" - it didn't work out too well ... guess they thought they'd try new education and it ain't working any better...

It goes right back to APATHY in parents.. They don't CHECK what's being TAUGHT in schools and kids don't care... UGHHHHHHHH!

:-*

BarbaraD wrote on Apr 20^th, 2010 at 6:21am:

Oh Redd, welcome to the world of NEW EDUCATION... It goes right back to APATHY in parents.. They don't CHECK what's being TAUGHT in schools and kids don't care... UGHHHHHHHH! :-*

I'm going to have to disagree with you here.  Parents have little or no input as to the curriculum being taught in schools.

In quite a few states, *eductation* is geared toward *passing the test* (that is the main reason Sarah refuses to teach high school).  Kids aren't being taught actual *knowledge*, they're being taught information to pass a standardized test.  There's a lot of information in the history books that is innacurate, but it's not being corrected and teachers are not being allowed to teach the correct version.

One other thing, history/English/social sciences are not the emphasis in public schools any longer.  The focus is on math and science.

Even I knew that one Redd, the printer of Declaration was from my home town in Ireland.

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Lefty

i was born in 1976 so mom always taught me the significance of that year :)

It just so happened today at work, that I'm quoting out a repair job, and between parts and labor, the total ended up being $1492.00.

I decided it best not to mention anything to anyone. ;)

THAT"S IT!!! 
If there were a little jingle taught along with the significance of the date, our students would have no problem with recall!
"In Fourteen hundred, ninety two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue!!!".........See? There are others, but that one is in the forefront of my brain......
Lesseee... in seventeen hundred seventy six, fireworks flew like pickup sticks, in celebration of the day we took our freedom.........HIP HIp Hooray!! 
(needs a lil work, huh?)


OK, I do remember another one. and I learned it waaaay back in elementary school........

" milk milk, lemonade, round the corner........."

:D ;) :-[.....I'll go now..........

Cathi

Redd wrote on Apr 20^th, 2010 at 8:42pm:

It just so happened today at work, that I'm quoting out a repair job, and between parts and labor, the total ended up being $1492.00. I decided it best not to mention anything to anyone. ;)

Columbus sailed the ocean blue!

Even a Brit knows that one! (and 1776 for that matter!)

LOL Cathy! I answered before reading as far as your post!
Those little memory things work though
Remember the colours of the rainbow?
Richard Of York Gained Battles In Vain.. I can't ever forget now! So many others but they really work and look how long since I left school!

LOL>>>Helen.... HUH????????????
Ok, I taught art history and appreciation at the  Elementary school level.. and I don't know that one!
Red, Orange, Yellow,Green, Blue Violet???  OMG! I'm still growing!
Thanks fer da edjumacashun, Limey-girlie!

Lessee, Richard sumpinerother wore dirty undies, but turned em all inside out. front to back, before washing em.......brown..........

Thankewverrymuch (bowing now)

Cathi :D

Pssst... ya missed Indigo Cathy  ;)
We used them for everything from piano lessons EGBDF was "every good boy deserves fudge" to kings of England, Henry the eighths wives and on! A couple of years ago Jasper's class had to make their own to remember the planets by and his was My Very Eager Mummy Just Serves Us Nice Puddings - he didn't win but I did get asked for recipes!

I think mnemonics are great - now if they'd just invent one to make kids remember to bring their dirty laundry down...

wrote on Apr 21^st, 2010 at 7:39am:

Pssst... ya missed Indigo Cathy  ;) We used them for everything from piano lessons EGBDF was "every good boy deserves fudge" to kings of England, Henry the eighths wives and on! A couple of years ago Jasper's class had to make their own to remember the planets by and his was My Very Eager Mummy Just Serves Us Nice Puddings - he didn't win but I did get asked for recipes! I think mnemonics are great - now if they'd just invent one to make kids remember to bring their dirty laundry down...

OOOH, OOOH (hand up in air)!  I know!  I know!

Kathryn of Aragon - divorced (child - Mary)
Anne Boelyn - beheaded (child Elizabeth)
Jane Seymour - died (Edward (who died)
Anne of Cleves -divorced (no children)
Kathryn Howard - beheaded (no children)
Kathryn Parr -  (no children) THE WINNER! She outlived Henry

And, I didn't look these up!  I've been an avid reader of Henry VIII ever since I read a book as a child called "Anne of the 1000 Days".  Got me hooked.

Do I get a gold star?  Please, please, please  :D

Sandy

Sandy

Oh oh Oh...

I have to admit that my cluster friends/fiends are some of the brightest and funniest people I know.

I love you all.

Sandy....you really are twisted...in the perfect directions!

WELLLLLL, being REorientated into second grade and going from the LA to Texas education system... I'm WAAAY behind...  :) We're doing some "serious" catch up since Caleb started school in Texas and Granny is having to "study".

They're doing METRICS (Lordy most of us "older" folks STILL don't pay attention to metrics - I was exposed to them in Europe AFTER I got out of school, so I know what they are, but....). Caleb is teaching ME! (He likes that!)  But in LA they didn't have a computer lab and he's way behind because the kids here have a year up on him there. We are now working on a computer nightly (ok, he likes that).

It's like night and day since he started here. But we're doing "home schooling" at night. I don't want him to give a blank look if someone says 1776 (or 1492 for that matter) to him.

We had a parent/granny/teacher conference yesterday and found out that he's so far behind in Texas it isn't even funny. We may have to hold him back a year to catch him up because LA didn't have the same standards that TX did. I'm mad enough to spit nails, but... The teacher said if she'd have gotten him in January, it might have been different, but...

BUT, Granny found a MISTAKE the teacher made and we got an "A" instead of a "B' on our paper ;). 4 cups DO make 2 pints... (hey come on an "A" works on the GPA). The teacher cracked up when I pointed that out and said she WOULD change that grade after I explained that he gets "privilege points" for "A's".

It's just been a long time since I've been in the second grade...

The mnemonic tricks here remind me of the one we learned in organic chemistry--CHNOPS (pronounced schnapps).  It signifies the major chemicals involved in life processes:  Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur.  I've never forgotten it.   ;)

I know what you all mean about the blank look.  I received $10.66 in change from a clerk a few days ago, and muttered something about "Battle of Hastings.  Halley's Comet." 

I'm sure I seemed a little eccentric, but hey--I have gray hair.  I'm entitled.

Best,

George   

Sandy_C wrote on Apr 21^st, 2010 at 9:31pm:

wrote on Apr 21st, 2010 at 7:39am: Pssst... ya missed Indigo Cathy  ;) We used them for everything from piano lessons EGBDF was "every good boy deserves fudge" to kings of England, Henry the eighths wives and on! A couple of years ago Jasper's class had to make their own to remember the planets by and his was My Very Eager Mummy Just Serves Us Nice Puddings - he didn't win but I did get asked for recipes! I think mnemonics are great - now if they'd just invent one to make kids remember to bring their dirty laundry down... OOOH, OOOH (hand up in air)!  I know!  I know! Kathryn of Aragon - divorced (child - Mary) Anne Boelyn - beheaded (child Elizabeth) Jane Seymour - died (Edward (who died) Anne of Cleves -divorced (no children) Kathryn Howard - beheaded (no children) Kathryn Parr -  (no children) THE WINNER! She outlived Henry And, I didn't look these up!  I've been an avid reader of Henry VIII ever since I read a book as a child called "Anne of the 1000 Days".  Got me hooked. Do I get a gold star?  Please, please, please  :D Sandy Sandy

Good girl Sandy! There are two rhymes for his wives
Kate an (Anne) Jane an Kate AGAIN! (to remind you of the two last Kates!)

Then their fates were
divorced beheaded died
divorced beheaded survived!

This is fun remembering all this stuff LOL

Ya'll keep this up -- I remember part of it, but I'm taking notes on the rest... ;)

Redd wrote on Apr 19^th, 2010 at 8:00pm:

I was at the store tonight picking up some grub to put on the gill, a box of wine and some cat treats.  I'm checking out in the liqueur department, when the college aged gal in front of me was rung up.  Her total was $17.76. So out of the blue I mentioned how 1776 was a great year in American History.  If you could have seen the three blank faces...The young gal, the guy checking us out, and the 30 something woman behind me.  How in the hell, even after giving the HUGE clue about it being AMERICAN HISTORY it still didn't click with them. Then they had the excuse that they were both Mathematics majors. Really? I'm not only smarter than a 5th grader, I'm smarter than today's college students.

Maybe they were shocked and being polite since you were going to cook wine and dog food on the "gill (what kind of fish gill were you going to use to cook on?) for dinner? Such polite kids not to say anything about your cooking!  What is that dish called? :o

wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2010 at 5:20pm:

Redd wrote on Apr 19th, 2010 at 8:00pm: I was at the store tonight picking up some grub to put on the gill, a box of wine and some cat treats.  I'm checking out in the liqueur department, when the college aged gal in front of me was rung up.  Her total was $17.76. So out of the blue I mentioned how 1776 was a great year in American History.  If you could have seen the three blank faces...The young gal, the guy checking us out, and the 30 something woman behind me.  How in the hell, even after giving the HUGE clue about it being AMERICAN HISTORY it still didn't click with them. Then they had the excuse that they were both Mathematics majors. Really? I'm not only smarter than a 5th grader, I'm smarter than today's college students. Maybe they were shocked and being polite since you were going to cook wine and dog food on the "gill (what kind of fish gill were you going to use to cook on?) for dinner? Such polite kids not to say anything about your cooking!  What is that dish called? :o

This is getting a little confrontational. I can understand you are trying to join in with the fun but please be careful not to offend  :)

George wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2010 at 10:48am:

$10.66 in change from a clerk a few days ago, and muttered something about "Battle of Hastings.

Funny mention, George.  A couple days ago ran across coincidental stuff about noted WWII English General Montgomery.  His dad a reverend, became a consecrated bishop in Tasmania, not a military family for centuries, and hopes for little Bernard to follow likewise.  But an ancestor way back, Roger de Montgomery from Falaise in Normandy was cousin to William the Conqueror and served as his second in command at Hastings in 1066, commanding the right flank.  After the battle William granted him large estates on the Welsh border in the area now known as Montgomery. 

I guess heading east toward Berlin, he commanded the left flank this time.  A much longer returning comet.   ;)