Time for Home Schooling?

In the Houston Chronicle today there is an article about the State Board of Education developing a new text book.

The first draft for proposed standards in United States History Studies Since Reconstruction says students should be expected “to identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority.”

One Republican on the board, Ken Mercer, thinks that the viewpoints should include what is liberal as well but the conservative side should also include James Dobson's Focus on the Family, conservative talk show host Sean Hannity and former Arkansas Governos Mike Huckabee. Others think that the text book should include Rush Limbaugh and the National Rifle Association. Also two of the reviewers have suggested that César Chávez, the late farm workers union leader, be removed from history books because they deem him an unworthy role model.

Isn't this chilling?

This is the first draft of the textbook so who knows if it will end up with a balanced view of the United States history since reconstruction or not. But if it didn't and I had kids, I guess I would have to think about home schooling to insure that my kids learned a complete history since reconstruction.

Up, Up and Away

Here is the reason I was out early, early--A hot-air balloon out in the campo by the school in Los Ricos de Abajo where some of us helped with teaching English to the children again this year. The balloon was provided by The Oz Project, a non-profit organization founded by Dianna Aston that gives disadvantaged children, and young adults, experiences that ignite the imagination and inspire dreams. I think it is hard to imagine what this event meant to these children who live in very humble circumstances out in the campo. The balloon was tethered and didn't go drifting away with them but for the first time in their lives they saw the world from a different perspective. I hope that the balloon ride did inspire them to dream dreams that can take them to new heights.

Graduation in the Campo

For the last few months, some of us ex-pats here in San Miguel have been teaching English at a small school in the country. When I say country, I mean country. To get there we go over sandy, dusty roads, through a river bed and then up a hill over a deeply rutted, potholed rockbed to get to the school. I think everyone who has done the driving has wondered if their car's suspension will survive or how they will ever repair the paint job where the mesquite has scratched the sides of the car. But this is a pretty amazing and dedicated group of ex-pats. A lot of them are only here for a few months out of the year but they have given freely of their time to teach English to the children in Los Ricos. Some of them are retired teachers but everyone who has gone out has fallen in love with these beautiful children who have great spirit even if they own few material possessions.

The English classes started as a pilot program in 2007 through Feed The Hungry an organization here in San Miguel that has built kitchens in 35 schools, mostly in the campo, and prepares comida for 4000 children each day who would otherwise not have a meal.

I went out to help the first year of the pilot program and while I'm not a very good teacher I wanted to see these children have the opportunity to read books. A lot of people have donated books so that this year for the first time we had a library and I was one of the librarians. What a thrill it was to see the children come in every week to check out books and take them home. I worried that they might not bring them back but they did, every week. Even though most of the books were in English with more vocabulary than they knew, they wanted to use the library.

Wednesday was the last day of English classes and the children prepared a grand program for us. Each class had a dance to perform. There was singing, and recitals of poems. Mothers had made costumes and the children didn't just go through the motions, they relished their performances as you can tell in these photographs.

To top it off the mothers, to show us their appreciation for the English classes, helped prepare a comida for us. It was a fabulous comida. I can tell you that between the children's performances and the generosity of the families in this village, there was more than one or two teary eyes among us. I think that all of us felt like we received far more than we gave.

This is the class of sixth graders. The kids are holding a Spanish/English dictionary that they were given for completing the English classes.

See the size of those adorable boys. Out in many of the poor campos, when boys finish primary school that is the end of schooling for them and they go to work with their fathers to help support the family. Last year when a Mexican neighbor was building an addition on to his house, a father and his son who looked to be about the age of these boys were the bricklayers. I can't get that boy out of my mind. I watched as his still immature little body carried stacks of bricks and loads of cement on his shoulders. The beginning of a life of very hard labor. And the girls....I'm sure if they cannot get additional education that they help their mothers and before many years go by, are mothers themselves.

Very few of the children in this village went on to secundaria school (middle school in the States)until the last couple of years when, through Feed The Hungry, some of the ex-pats started giving scholarships so that the kids could go. Do you know what it costs to send a child on to secundaria school? Less than $200 for the year but the families in this village do not have the money.

If you would like to help sponsor a child so that he or she can continue their education, please contact Feed the Hungry and designate, either by email or snail mail, that your contribution should go to the Los Ricos Scholarship Fund. Any amount large or small will be appreciated and will make a difference in a child's life.

This year I found bilingual books at Half-Priced Books. I've also been told that you can find used books at the Salvation Army or other similar re-sale shops. If you want to donate books for the library, please email Feed The Hungry Board Member, Dianne Hart. Her email is (dwaltahart at yahoo dot com).

Oportunidades

This isn't a Christmas story but I wanted to call your attention to an article in the New York Times Magazine today, A Payoff Out of Poverty.

One of the charities in San Miguel that Ned and I especially like is called Feed the Hungry. They build kitchens mostly at rural schools and provide free lunches for children who might otherwise be coming to school hungry or maybe not coming to school at all because the family is so impoverished. We strongly feel that getting the next generation a better education will be a key in Mexico's economic future.

I had heard about the program Oportunidades but this article is a good overview of the program and what it is accomplishing. And what is interesting, it is gaining attention around the world for what it is doing....even in New York City.