Is the Declaration of Independence really just another "Informational Text?"

by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy

 

Common Core ignores the philosophical underpinnings of the Declaration

Appendix B of the Common Core English standards contain a "sample performance task" for teachers to give to their students while discussing (i.e. teaching) the fiction and non-fictional "texts" to be covered in their classes. One of the readings Common Core recommends for tenth and eleventh graders is our Declaration of Independence.

Here's the sample performance task provided in Appendix B for the Declaration of Independence:

"Students analyze Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, identifying its purpose and evaluating rhetorical features such as the listing of grievances. Students compare and contrast the themes and argument found there to those of other U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, such as the Olive Branch Petition." [Emphasis in the original.]

That's it. Sort of misses the point, doesn't it? 

What about self-evident truths? What about unalienable rights? What about the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God? What about government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed?

These ideas and more are given short shrift by the Common Core.

Academic Development vs Hockey Development

by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy

 

Due diligence for your child’s hockey development

Most hockey parents take great care when it comes to nurturing their child’s development as a hockey player and athlete. They generally are very actively involved when it comes to having a positive impact on their child’s hockey. 

Parents do their due diligence with respect to coaches, instructors, hockey camps, hockey clubs and hockey teams. They talk to others and ask questions of those whose children had previously played for a certain coach or club, or attended a certain camp or clinic.

It is of course true that parents may not always succeed in getting their child on the team they want, because often that is outside their ultimate control. 

But, as a rule, they try to do their very best with those things that ARE under their control, in order to give their children a competitive advantage when it comes to their hockey development.

What about your child’s academic development?

Yet when it comes to their child’s academic development, most parents believe their hands are tied.

And so they go along with what the local public or Catholic schools offer.

Which today almost certainly means: they trust their child’s academic development to Common Core.

The Debate on Common Core Rages On

by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy

 

Few education topics are debated more heatedly these days than the Common Core State Standards (“CCSS”). Whether it has to do with CCSS's creation, passage into law, implementation or results, nowhere will you find a more wide-ranging array of alleged “truths” about a single subject.

Bridgedale Academy uses a classical school curriculum, i.e. that of Hillsdale (MI) Academy, and so does not subscribe to Common Core, as most other schools in Illinois now do.

Because Common Core continues to be such a political hot potato, with the arguments for and against it so diametrically opposed, I decided to dig deeper.

Truths or Myths?

Proponents make certain claims about the virtues of CCSS, while opponents argue these claims are more mythical than anything else, i.e. myths propagated and maintained by a well-financed propaganda machine. 

After spending more time than I care to admit reading books and online articles about Common Core, I have come down solidly on the side of CCSS’s opponents.

In find myself in agreement with Joy Pullman, author of "The Education Invasion: How common core fights parents for control of American kids," when she refers to much of what is force-fed to kids in CCSS schools today as "mental junk food."

In other words, I find the main arguments in favor of CCSS to be deceptive ... to be myths.

A Classical Education is Simply Better

by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy

 

How did a Classical Education come about?

What we today call a Classical Education began in ancient Greece and was later adopted by the Romans. It faltered after the fall of the Roman Empire but then experienced a rebirth during the Middle Ages. It was brought to “perfection” during the Italian Renaissance.

It was thereafter adopted in England, and passed to America during colonial times.

Let me start by acknowledging that Bridgedale Academy does not subscribe to the Common Core standards now being taught by virtually all other Illinois schools. This of course reflects the fact that we utilize the academic curriculum of Hillsdale Academy, which itself does not subscribe to the Common Core standards.