iaink

I think its more about encouraging a phonic approach to spelling than just "making things up" Rather that approach than having to learn every single words spelling by rote/ repetition; That you can save for the hard ones where phonics dont work.

And why shouldnt a teacher discourage negative language in the class? Im sure there will be ample opportunity in later life for my kids to be put down by all and sundry, without it starting in grade school.


And yes, I am aware that I am the very last person to be lecturing about teaching spelling, but I hear it all the time from my wife who used to do that sort of thing for a living...

ExKiwilass

Ah, that makes sense.

I have been teaching her to sound things out vis a vis learning to read words - I don't know what the teaching style is here, but it's how I learnt to read and it seems to work ok. But actually, that makes sense. Too bad the teacher didn't explain that.

Juliew

Canada is a vast place with such a diverse population that I wouldn't be able to say whether it's citizens are more outward-looking than those in the UK. Some people are and some people aren't. Growing up in Vancouver, I never felt insulated. Actually on the contrary. It was and still is a very multicultural city with immense culture and history. Growing up here I knew a lot about Asia, South America and Europe because most of my friends had recently immigrated from there!

What I was most surprised by your post was your reference to the BBC. I think you used the word "superior". It is possible that at one time the BBC was a good news source but not now. It is very main stream and watered down. There are some decent news sources in the UK; better than those in Canada.

Almost all newspapers and TV news in Canada is junk, mostly because it is owned by the same corporation that focused on advertisement money rather than quality. But don't judge a population by their news sources.

dbd33

I'm surprised to hear that Vancouver has history, I suppose that must have been added since I was last there.

If what's being judged is a population's knowledge of the world then that population's news sources seems to me relevant, if they're not then we have to assume that most, or all, of the population gets its news from foreign sources; that may be true of Canada but CNN is hardly an improvement on the CBC.

Souvy

Canada is a vast place with a diverse population in a few small bits.

ExKiwilass

is silly negative? Stupid I can see being negative when applied to a child, but the teacher is not talking about that. She's saying you can't use it all. Difficult for those of us who use it ironically and who don't mean anything particularly neggy by it. I am constantly in trouble these days for using 'jail words' Oh well.

MikeUK

Canada is a vast and mainly empty place, with a small and in some cases diverse population, mostly in cities which are a short drive from the US border

Juliew

Vancouver has a fascinating history - the First Nations People and the gold rush that brought immigrants from Europe, Asia and beyond! I love learning and reading about our history. One downfall of our education system is that our history isn't taught enough in schools. We haven't had any queens or kings build grand castles or wars to write about - but that is a good thing!!! It is a shame that people, including many Canadians, comment that we don't have much of a history!

With regards to our population's knowledge - My last comment to you is that having lived in both countries we are as ignorant as each other. Noone is superior to another and to think so is very inward thinking. Unfortunately, the BBC, CBC, and CNN are all unreliable biased news sources. To get quality you need to look towards Radio or alternative press which operate in both countries.

Oink

Can you blame them? There's only so much of the "we murdered and raped most of the native population and knicked their land" you can teach without the kiddies getting a bad conscience.

Jingsamichty

You have no idea how ludicrous that statement is. To compare the BBC to CBC and CNN is quite ignorant. And your statement abour radio is laughable... where might I find this quality Radio in Canada? And remember, if it's not national, it's parochial.

Alan2005

Do you have any evidence for this or did you just read it in the alternative press?

I generally find BBC news to be accurate; my main complaint is that the stories lack depth or analysis not that they are biased. The alternative press is for more biased; only seeming unbiased to those that agree with the editorial stance.

ExKiwilass

Why? Why is that statement ludicrous?

Does it never occur to any of you that you might be biased because you're british?

ExKiwilass

the lack of depth or analysis is what bugs me too.

I don't know how accurate the Beeb is. How do you measure that anyway?

ExKiwilass

Just curious -what do they teach UK school children about colonial history?

Alan2005

I don't know. But it's a reputation built over time and I am inclined to trust it. The news agencies are also very good when it comes to being unbiased.

The problem with the BBC is this:-


(gotta love Charlie Brooker)

But it's still far better than anything here (or anywhere else that I've been for that matter).