Reading Time: 4 minutes By the time our children are of school age, we take their talk for granted. We have turned all our attention to their reading and writing, not realizing that talk is still the motor that drives their intellectual development. –from Raising Lifelong Learners by Lucy Calkins One of my favorite things about dadding this family […]
Education
Exploring the world of education from a secular, nonreligious perspective.
Posted inEducation, General
National Simulcast For Church-State Separation
Reading Time: 2 minutes First Freedom First, a joint project of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, is sponsoring a national simulcast advocating church-state separation: Actors, musicians and comedians will join church-state activists from across the country March 26 to put church-state separation on the national agenda during the 2008 election season. […]
Posted inEducation, General
Girl Can’t Ref a Boys’ Game… Because Jesus Said So
Reading Time: 2 minutes This is bigotry on account of ignorance on account of religion: The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary’s Academy near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game. The reason given, according to the […]
Posted inEducation, General
Teen Kicked Out of Class for Not Standing During Pledge
Reading Time: 3 minutes Devon Smith (below), a sophomore at Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas, didn’t recite or stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday morning. This is perfectly acceptable. A lot of atheists don’t say/stand for the Pledge because of its reference to America being a nation “under God.” Devon’s teacher, Susan Rheinwald, didn’t see […]
Posted inEducation
rule, britannia
Reading Time: < 1 minute I love the UK. The six months I lived there were the best of my life. When I return — and Zeus knows I will — I will hug a lamppost in Charing Cross, and all the Queen’s horses and men will not budge me. Enough intelligence, wit, history, beauty, eccentricity, originality and ennui is […]
Posted inEducation, Parenting & Family
labels
Reading Time: 4 minutes [continued from the open shelf] “What does ‘humanist’ mean?” Delaney asked. I swallowed. You’d think that, given my current work, I’d have sat myself down at some point and worked out guidelines for such inevitable moments: CONTINGENCY 113.e Requests for Definitions iii. Term: “humanist” Subset 2: Age 5-6 Children in this demographic cohort who make […]
Posted inEducation, General
Dawn Sherman Featured in the Chicago Tribune
Reading Time: 3 minutes Imagine the pleasant surprise I had today when I opened up the Chicago Tribune and saw the following teaser on the upper left hand side of the paper (click to enlarge): So I open up the Tempo (a.k.a. features) section and see Dawn Sherman‘s picture taking up nearly the entire page! Dawn is, of course, […]
Posted inEducation, General
Matthew LaClair’s Speech: “You Belong In Hell”
Reading Time: 13 minutes If you’re not sure who Matthew LaClair is, you can find out here, here, and here. In short, Matthew is the high school student who taped his history teacher raving about Creationism, how evolution was untrue, and how non-Christians belonged in hell, among other things. In 2007, he received a scholarship for student activism from […]
Posted inEducation, General
Atheist Doesn’t Want Son to Attend Catholic High School
Reading Time: < 1 minute Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists (and a founder of Camp Quest), is representing David Ryan in his quest to prevent his son from attending a Catholic high school. Ryan (an atheist) is divorced from his son’s mother (who is Roman Catholic): According to Kagin, when Ryan and his wife got divorced, a […]
Posted inEducation, General
High School Atheist Wants a Scholarship
Reading Time: 2 minutes Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard, a high school student from Wisconsin, has an opinion piece in the Telegraph Herald newspaper (Iowa). She’s an atheist and she wants a scholarship. Students who are active in their church are greatly looked upon when it comes to applying for money. For some scholarships, the only people eligible must be members of […]