Liana Heitlin of Education Week recently reported, “Nearly every teacher in the U.S. now knows about the Common Core State Standards, and 73 percent of math, English, science, and social studies teachers in states that have adopted them say they are enthusiastic about their implementation, according to a new survey.”
Here is the accompanying graphic:
In the first edition of our new "Quotables" series I shared five of my favorite "Chestertonisms", challenging our readers to name anyone who could be considered a more "quotable" writer than G.K. Chesterton. That challenge was accepted and the great Samuel Johnson was named.
G.K. Chesterton, the great writer, Christian apologist, lay theologian, literary and cultural critic, poet, and more, might be the most "quotable" writer in history. While it is difficult to narrow down a few favorites, I will begin by offering five (a very few) of my favorites:
“Bedtime in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
“At the Sea-side” by Robert Louis Stevenson
"Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front"
Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay.
Want more of everything ready-made.
Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery anymore.
Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something they will call you.
When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
Note: This article was originally posted in December of 2011. Matt Bianco's review of "The Little Way of Ruthie Leming" inspired this repost. Thank you, Matt.
"When it comes to kids, people just don't think about happiness enough these days. They think about success. They think in comparisons. They think about milestones, graduations and shiny trophies...
St. Matthew composed his gospel primarily for the Jews of his day. In all likelihood, Matthew was a despised man. He was a tax collector (Matt. 9:9), which garnered as much admiration then as now. Both his Greek name (Matthew, which means “gift of Jehovah”) and his Hebrew name, Levi (Mark 2:13-14, Luke 5:27-28) rooted him in Jewish heritage. Yet, there he was, a Jew working for the Roman government.
Stratford Caldecott’s 160-page new book Beauty in the Word has proven difficult for me to finish, and I mean that as a sincere compliment.
