One of our grandchildren, Granddaughter Number Three, is now eleven years old and will be taking SATS this year. She’ll be fine. She’s already passed the 11+ exam and will go to the local grammar school in September. Here’s a comment from the estimable Michael Rosen about SATS:
“Year 6 teachers, I hope you'll remember that some of us know that the Grammar test coming up was devised purely in order to assess you on the false premise that 'Grammar' has 'right/wrong answers'. Plus: much of the 'grammar' in the test is wrong, misguided or not even 'grammar'.”
Some of us need to speak out about the nonsense that has taken over the teaching of English in primary schools. Having worked as a teacher of Modern Foreign Languages, I have watched attitudes to “grammar” change and change again over the years. There was a time when there was a move away from teaching formal grammar in foreign language learning - the idea was to learn a foreign language as you learnt your own mother tongue. After all nobody “teaches” babies conjugations! Actually, learning the grammar rules speeds up your acquisition on a foreign language so long as you don’t get hung up on it. Well, that’s my experience.
In English lessons at school we learnt very basic grammar: verbs, adjectives, adverbs. Most of our grammatical knowledge came from reading. People often said they learnt more grammar in French lessons than in English lessons: probably true. Then along came SATS and small children were discovering a strange thing called the subjunctive, not to mention fronted adverbials.
I read that a painting by Rothko has been damaged by somebody’s child scratching it. How did the child even get close enough. Here’s Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett commenting on it.
I like Rothko. I can’t pretend to understand his work but I find it very pleasing to look at, which is surely part of what it’s all about.
Art and music and books are important. I read this morning that the writer Umberto Eco owned 50,000 books. I wonder where he kept them all. Very half-heartedly I try to cull our collection. This is what Umberto Eco had to say about home libraries:
"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."
Quite so!
Meanwhile, here are some photos I didn’t manage to post yesterday. Beautiful May morning flowers.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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