America's children are facing monumental and unprecedented barriers to thriving. Seeing them tackle traditional obstacles is joyful, and a little reassuring
Jan 20, 2023·edited Jan 20, 2023Liked by Kevin Beck
Your writing reminds me of Dickens at the end of A Tale of Two Cities: “I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”
This is why I enjoy ready your thoughts. Stuff like this is relatable.
As a youngster I was more like a dog. I didn't know jack and it was all about the moment.
- hey we have access to cookies is there a limit? You just keep going until someone reigns you in.
- hey did you get the homework done? I always said yes, but wanted to say you bet your ass I did. Like my parents had any clue about anything we had to do past 5th grade. That's not a knock on them, they were from Appalachia.
- our history tests had multiple choice on the first 10 questions and fill in the blank on the next 10. That was at least 50% of the test. I was done in like 15 minutes so I memorized all the answers for buddies going to next period.
- at one end of the playground was an old apple orchard and we would get in trouble for throwing them as hard as we could at our buddies head and nuts. Where else were you supposed to throw them?
- in college English we were graded on a journal and you turned it in halfway and at the end. Of course I figured out there is no way they read all this stuff and turned in the same journal.
(a) I don't recall details of learning to ride a bicycle. I do know my parents didn't watch me. I seem to recall them buying me a bicycle for Christmas one year and leaving me to figure it out myself. I do know that I was riding to school at back at least as early as 5th grade (and probably before that), about 3 miles each way, with the return journey on a busy arterial.
(b) My kids finished high school a while back now. They received a very good education. Chapel Hill has one of the best school districts in the country. Our son did his kindergarten year in Seattle. He had a great teacher there who recognized that he had an interest in math and gave him challenging extra problems to do at home. A former colleague from South Africa visited us in Seattle in 1992, when our son was 5. Steven asked Danie (my former colleague) how old he was. Danie, being elderly, was not willing to tell a youngster his age. So Steven asked Danie when he was born. Danie said 1923 and Steven immediately said "So, you're 69". I hadn't realized Steven could do even relatively simple arithmetic -- and I definitely hadn't taught him subtraction. If it had been 1992 - 1921 = 71 it would have been impressive enough, but he did the 1992 - 1923 = 69 faster than I could have done it.
Your writing reminds me of Dickens at the end of A Tale of Two Cities: “I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”
S.Carton after his head just rolled.
This is why I enjoy ready your thoughts. Stuff like this is relatable.
As a youngster I was more like a dog. I didn't know jack and it was all about the moment.
- hey we have access to cookies is there a limit? You just keep going until someone reigns you in.
- hey did you get the homework done? I always said yes, but wanted to say you bet your ass I did. Like my parents had any clue about anything we had to do past 5th grade. That's not a knock on them, they were from Appalachia.
- our history tests had multiple choice on the first 10 questions and fill in the blank on the next 10. That was at least 50% of the test. I was done in like 15 minutes so I memorized all the answers for buddies going to next period.
- at one end of the playground was an old apple orchard and we would get in trouble for throwing them as hard as we could at our buddies head and nuts. Where else were you supposed to throw them?
- in college English we were graded on a journal and you turned it in halfway and at the end. Of course I figured out there is no way they read all this stuff and turned in the same journal.
(a) I don't recall details of learning to ride a bicycle. I do know my parents didn't watch me. I seem to recall them buying me a bicycle for Christmas one year and leaving me to figure it out myself. I do know that I was riding to school at back at least as early as 5th grade (and probably before that), about 3 miles each way, with the return journey on a busy arterial.
(b) My kids finished high school a while back now. They received a very good education. Chapel Hill has one of the best school districts in the country. Our son did his kindergarten year in Seattle. He had a great teacher there who recognized that he had an interest in math and gave him challenging extra problems to do at home. A former colleague from South Africa visited us in Seattle in 1992, when our son was 5. Steven asked Danie (my former colleague) how old he was. Danie, being elderly, was not willing to tell a youngster his age. So Steven asked Danie when he was born. Danie said 1923 and Steven immediately said "So, you're 69". I hadn't realized Steven could do even relatively simple arithmetic -- and I definitely hadn't taught him subtraction. If it had been 1992 - 1921 = 71 it would have been impressive enough, but he did the 1992 - 1923 = 69 faster than I could have done it.