One of the arguments students will encounter repeatedly is that of causation and correlation. Whether the argument is about Anthropogenic Global Warming, or minority incarceration rates, or gun control, or smoking, or whatever subject, all too often students (and voters, and taxpayers) fall prey to this logical fallacy.
The blog that this graph links to concerns drug discovery and the pharmacology industry. The problem of understanding correlation and causation is universal. Clearly, one would have a hard time finding a logical connection between the importation of fruit and automotive fatalities (unless the fruit in question was the banana, and the old "slipped on a banana peel" joke could be put into play). But, according to these statistics carefully graphed, there is a direct correlation between the two.
Students must constantly be on guard when presented with such compelling evidence. Correlation does not imply causation - a mantra for the coming decade.
Still not meaning to get political, I intend this next example to be a warning about looking at data. The fact is, anyone with an agenda can manipulate the presentation of data in this way. Students need to know not only how graphs work, but how the data set can be presented to appear to be something other than it actually is. This video examines a graph commonly used in AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) presentations.
Whether dealing with junk science, or with claimed rates of return for a mutual fund, or any number of situations, people need to know to ask questions. They also need to know which questions to ask. Skepticism is always healthy, and especially when someone is reaching for your wallet. More especially when they claim to be doing you good while reaching for your wallet!
We had a tremendous Thanksgiving this year. We started the day with pastry and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade was pretty poor - too much promotion, not enough parade. Then to church for Morning Prayer, and back home to get dinner ready.
The turkey was started the night before. We brined the turkey using a recipe from the Food Network. Alton Brown is one of our favorites, and this recipe produced a moist, flavorful turkey. The juices were used for a wonderful gravy.
The family came over, and we had a wonderful time. Lots to be thankful for.
For those student wondering how Thanksgiving began, they can read the original proclamation here. In fact, for American history, the entire site is worth the time spent.
This delightful lady gives us some cooking lessons and stories from the Great Depression.
It can be difficult for our kids to understand just how severe the Depression was (and I hope and pray that they won't have to learn the hard way). This gives one a taste of the experience.
Even without being in a Depression, learning to cook on the cheap frugally can be of great value. We will often figure the cost of a meal, or perhaps the number of meals that can be made with one purchase ( a turkey or a ham, for instance). Let your kids contrast the cost of feeding the family at home with the cost of feeding the crew at a restaurant. For our family, a trip to a restaurant is a rarity - in part due to financial considerations, in part because we generally produce better meals than most restaurants (I hate spending $60 - $80 bucks to feed the crew just to be disappointed with the meal).
So, learn to be frugal, use everything you can (eh, I don't use the gizzards), let your kids learn that some terrific meals can be made from very little. An eight dollar turkey can provide a Thanksgiving feast, sandwiches for the weekend games, and that turkey carcass can join a few veggies and some rice to make enough soup to last several meals.
Click the link above to visit Clara's YouTube page for more videos; better yet, visit her web site and buy the book and DVD!
I start by reminding myself that this is not a political blog - and yet, I have to admit to varying degrees of upset and frustration as I see the current Congress and Administration move us rapidly down a disastrous road.
To concentrate on one aspect of this disturbing push, the "debate" over the health care system provides a lesson that we do not have to glean from history; we can watch it and experience it in person.
Economics: one side claims they will reduce health care costs, cover more people, and improve services; the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office claims the plan will actually cost over a trillion dollars; the opposing side claims the cost will be much higher than that, or else rationing will be necessary. Can we know the truth?
The history of our own country could be a guide. Ask your student to research the debate over Medicare and Medicaid. Both were touted as cures to the problems of our health care system. Compare the cost estimates generated by their proponents in Congress, the estimates of cost generated by the CBO, and the actual costs. For a more advanced economic comparison, consider that Medicare and Medicaid underpay hospitals and doctors, who then shift those costs onto patients covered by private insurance. What does Medicare/Medicaid really cost?
Now jump forward, and apply the factor by which Medicare/Medicaid costs were underestimated to the current cost estimates for the plans being proposed by Congress and the administration. How much will this experiment cost? And, considering there will be no private insurers to shift the costs onto, how much revenue will have to be raised (through increased taxes) to pay for this new system?
Wait a minute (I hear you say) - the President and Congress have said that private insurance will still be allowed. But.. let us shift to a civics lesson now. How do politicians assure you that you will have what you want, while they take it away from you? This editorial in Investors Business Daily (highly recommended, by the way, for any students who are of an age to begin investing [and yes, I admit that my girls watch the financial channel with me, and have more than a nodding acquaintance with the stock markets even though they are not yet out of grade school]) is an excellent lesson in the duplicitous nature of the political beast.
More civics: what happens to a government when there are no longer checks and balances? When the Congress and the Executive are in lock step with each other, and the party in control has a majority of sufficient size to block dissension, where are the checks and balances?
The Judicial is supposed to be the final check, but is the nationalization of a portion of our economy unconstitutional? If there is a chance for court intervention, would any particular citizen have standing before the court? OK, this may be getting into questions most homeschoolers will not be able to answer, because I think scholars will be divided on the answer. It makes for an interesting thought experiment, though.
Ah, but the final check and balance comes from the so-called Fourth Estate. No, not the conventional press, as few in the legacy media seem to have an interest in providing detail in this debate. Yes, they publish the press releases and cover the media events, and perhaps add a little editorial comment disguised as news, but have they provided us with a look at how these proposals work in other countries? Surprisingly, no! However, there are those enterprising folks in the so-called New Media who have. Take this young fellow, who was raised in Canada and has friends in Canada. He has given us a patient's-eye view of the Canadian system:
An entertaining look. For a more general look, taken from various British publications, try this list of links. Harry Erwin's "Letters from England" cover a variety of topics, but he often has reports on the British health care system. This is from a Google search of Jerry Pournelle's blog - another site with some tremendous information on it.
So, we have a lesson for our students. A lesson in looking beyond the speeches, diving deeper than the press releases, ferreting out the lies and distortions. A lesson in using the resources that are now easily available through the Web, and a lesson in critical thinking. And the lesson for the home school teacher? Perhaps for most a reinforcement than a lesson; we can provide our children with mental tools, with critical skills, that the public schools (and many private schools) will not encourage or develop in their students - much to the detriment of our society and our culture.
For older students, the story of the Iranian election and the protests following may be fascinating. Living as we do in a country founded by revolution, one may try to find parallels here. For instance, an aspect seldom considered is the economic consequence of these protests. We see people marching in the streets (even though little information is allowed out of the country right now), we consider the personal risk taken by the marchers, but how often do we consider what this does to the economic structure of the country? This may inspire students of history to dig a little deeper into the economic consequences of the American revolution. Of course, the economies of early America and of modern Iran are vastly different; still, the impact of the revolution went well beyond what the fighting men experienced.
It may be that nothing in Iran will change. It may be that we are witnessing history in the making.
I cannot help but root for anyone fighting for liberty, and I wish these protesters success. This link is to a YouTube video highlighting some scenes from the Iranian protests underway. The soundtrack is great, and the scenes stirring. However, I did not embed the video because some of the scenes are bloody. Use your discretion in following the link.
Kids seem interested in business. Whether spending part of the day with Mom at her job, learning how to work in a larger company, or wanting to help Dad with his small business, kids are interested in business.
My oldest has been hounding me to help her start a business. Not yet eleven years old, I suspect that the business will be more work for Dad than for her. Yet, I want to cultivate that desire to work, to earn, to succeed.
I have not yet fully explored this site, but it seems interesting. As I am able to explore it further, and possibly get my tweenager involved, I will report results.
Funny story - My oldest loves to dance, and told us she'd like to work at the dance studio. Of course we encouraged her - nice way to earn your way through college! That's when our youngest popped up and said "I want to own the studio!" Bless her little pea-pickin' heart (name that entertainer).
This short video is an interesting look at our federal budget, and the effect of cutting what one would think is a very large amount from that budget. Fact is, these numbers are so large that few can visualize how much money is involved, or how one huge number relates to another.
The concept behind this visualization is the same used by the math program we use here (Math-U-See) -- use manipulatives, that is, tangible/physical items that bring a material representation to an intellectual concept.
I, Pencil is a great story of economics. Looking at a simple item every school kid knows, the author describes the intricate working of the market place that allows a pencil to exist. The point is made that no one person could make a pencil - the efforts of many, many people across the world, working in a co-ordinated manner not dictated by anything except enlightened self-interest, are necessary to gather all the raw materials and put them into a workable form.
This is easy for even grade-school aged children to understand, and it will give them a foundation for understanding market forces.
This link takes you to a download of this marvelous audio book presentation. This link takes you to a written version, with an introduction by Dr. Milton Friedman (who used this essay in an episode of Free to Choose).
OK, this is a real treat. It is not as good as the print version, which of course has many fine images and maps, but this web site has the entire 1911 Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on line, searchable by subject or alphabetically.
The 11th Edition is considered by many to be the finest encyclopedia (to use the American spelling) ever published. Having it available in this format is a boon to students of all ages.
A very important subject, one which I think gets short shrift in modern curricula, and one which is increasingly important, is basic economics. Many people roll their glazed eyes at the thought of subjecting themselves (or their kids) to some boring economics lecture or book.
If you are younger than I (and many are) you may not know of Free to Choose, a wonderful book by Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman. Dr. Friedman helps explain in clear language what markets are and how interactions between the players in markets affects all that we do.
Even better than the book is the PBS series that the book spawned. Better in that Dr. Friedman relays in a short video the basic principles of a chapter of his book, not by lecturing, but by traveling the world and demonstrating examples of those principles. Then the action shifts to a university setting, where an audience watches Dr. Friedman debate the merits of his arguments with a variety of opposing views. My wife and I used to watch this as often as possible when it first appeared in 1980.
I was thrilled to learn that The Idea Channel has the DVD set available for purchase, and also has streaming video of each segment on line at no charge! Please, take the time to view one or two if you haven't already seen this tremendous series. It is well worth the time, and is an easy way to impart basic economic principles to your students.
Christian husband, father, sometime home school teacher, and business owner. Anglo-Catholic postulant, Acolyte, Licensed Lay Reader, Licensed Preacher, and Senior Warden. Most of the time a nice guy, sometimes a jerk, and often a pipe and cigar smoker - not necessarily in that order.
- and a great resource for catholic books, especially for your students. I particularly like the range of books on the saints that are geared toward the younger reader.
