Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!njin!princeton!njsmu!mccc!pjh From: pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Student preparedness Message-ID: <505@mccc.UUCP> Date: 19 Dec 88 18:24:06 GMT References: <4893@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <6435@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> <1988Dec16.153701.8316@cs.rochester.edu> <499@mccc.UUCP> <4951@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Reply-To: pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) Organization: The College On The Other Side of U. S. Route 1 Lines: 22 In article <4951@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> dykimber@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Daniel Yaron Kimberg) writes: =But why not give them a core curriculum supplemented heavily with electives? =If this starts at seventh grade, then students will be able to get exposure to =many different areas, and still concentrate on the ones that interest them. I agree, but it the decision is not in my hands. Besides, by the 7th grade, they have already learned to hate what ever school subjects they will probably hate for the rest of their lives. It's got to start sooner, with learning encouraged. However, that will require a new kind of elementary school teacher, and a new kind of salary schedule so that intellectually-oriented people go into elemenary ed. I doubt whether many school districts have the resources to support that. =I think that by the time someone reaches college, they should be able to =make most if not all of these decisions themselves. Well, there are lots of "shoulds" that just haven't happened. -- Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334 1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800