Merry Christmas

[Jeff Jetson]

Will L,that was a good Christmas story and enjoyed reading it. I was also given my violin on Christmas day by my uncle who had went to Julliard a long time ago. Now you take this bow and tighten the hairs like this Jeffrey and then he started playing scales up and down the fingerboard and songs that sounded like there was two violins at once being played all of which certainly awed me. He said, you have a tin ear Jeffrey but do the best you can.

[Trenchworker]

I am not a Christian, but I enjoy many of the beautiful melodies of Christmas, and the cheery greetings of passersby.  It doesn't bother me that kids aren't taught "common carols" in public schools --- in my opinion, that's the job of the parents at home.  It does bother me that many kids on up through high school aren't reading beyond the 5th grade level (I am told this by my eldest daughter, a long-time high school math and English teacher).   It bothers me that music programs are not available in all public schools as they once were, despite continuing evidence that music helps the intellectual development of children.  In my opinion, bringing music back to all the schools is one specific action that can be taken without turning this country upside down.

[LeMaster]

  It bothers me that music programs are not available in all public schools as they once were, despite continuing evidence that music helps the intellectual development of children.  In my opinion, bringing music back to all the schools is one specific action that can be taken without turning this country upside down.

 

I'm pretty sure that public education is financed via property taxes.  The argument could be made that it should come from general revenue so the cost is shared by all, because the public good would be served by having better public schools.

I was only able to escape a life of blue-collar drudgery in the Midwest because when I registered for junior HS, the woman asked me if I wanted to play an instrument.  That anonymous woman literally changed my life.

It's a shame that probably no longer happens.

[Trenchworker]

I'm pretty sure that public education is financed via property taxes.  The argument could be made that it should come from general revenue so the cost is shared by all, because the public good would be served by having better public schools.

I was only able to escape a life of blue-collar drudgery in the Midwest because when I registered for junior HS, the woman asked me if I wanted to play an instrument.  Than anonymous woman literally changed my life.

It's a shame that probably no longer happens.

Good idea, LeMaster, and one that would level out the "playing field" among the various school districts, doesn't undermine the basic ethic of our country, and is amenable to "grass roots" action.

[LeMaster]

Good idea, LeMaster, and one that would level out the "playing field" among the various school districts, doesn't undermine the basic ethic of our country, and is amenable to "grass roots" action.

 

And I'd argue that poor people need a decent education at least as much as the middle-class.

[Carl Stross]

 It bothers me that music programs are not available in all public schools as they once were, despite continuing evidence that music helps the intellectual development of children. 

 

If you have the time and inclination, this is worth a thread on the Fingerboard. I would be very interested in reading opinions/research on this subject. 

[Will L]

One more reference to Shepard's film, "A Christmas Story."

 

For those who might not be familiar with it, the gist is that the little boy wants a Red Ryder BB gun, and he knows that he is going to have to be clever because his mother says that BB guns are dangerous and tells him,  "No!  You'll shoot your eye out."

 

Well, it dawned on me this morning that if I had taken my request for a violin to a more sophisticated Santa Claus than we had at Sears in 1950 Lubbock, Texas, he would have said, "You'll put your eye out, kid!"