Re: STEM
I think there is too little emphasis on classical education in grade school. I'm perhaps an older father of young children, being in my 50s and having a 13 year old and an 11 year old. I can see that they don't read books that would be at as high a level as was typical 40 years ago. Maths is about numeracy and understanding concepts, which is great, but being able to spit out multiplication tables and memorizing a few formulas was pretty damned practical. Kids can barely read cursive and actually writing cursive seems beyond the pale for them. I think there should be no use of computers for anything in school through Elementary and Middle school and then only in particular courses in High school.
To be fair, I don't know if the problem is the new system or the too large classrooms with a huge mix of intellectual, physical and emotional issues and too few teachers to look after the specific needs of all the children included. Those countries that have been able to successfully integrate this wide range of abilities have, I believe, decreased class sizes to appropriately suite that situation. This is not the case where I live in Canada, sadly.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
