In the Curry Pilot Faith Forum Pastor Jim Schultz wrote that research shows a growing number of today's millennials are socialists. A progressive answered with an editorial stating it was because today's kids are smarter. However, many of today's graduates are functionally illiterate atheists, hedonists, socialist, because of progressive education.
While Abraham Lincoln only had 12 months of formal education, he was a ferocious reader. He became an attorney, Statesman, and President. While Thomas Jefferson did not have a law degree, he became an attorney, studied Latin, French, and had a personal library of over 10,000 books. Many millennials know little about civics, and history. Colonial children often read the Federalist Papers, the Bible, world maps, and believed inalienable rights came from God. Literacy rates were as high or higher in the Colonial period than they are today. Education included home schooling, church, private tutoring, and private study. Education in early America began in the home at the mother's knee. Children learned the alphabet and then how to sound out words. Then a book was placed in the child's hands, usually the Bible. The normal child's brain has an innate ability to learn an amazing amount of vocabulary words. The alphabet was an amazing invention which allowed man to write words based upon sounds rather than pictures like hieroglyphics. Through phonics a child can learn to sound out words, and quickly learn to read.
However, the Progressive John Dewey and today's progressive educators teach children to use words as pictures and memorize by sight. This causes learning disabilities, dyslexia and dysfunctional illiteracy. Teaching children they came from monkeys without moral absolutes, causes them to be hedonists. Modern public schools teach young people to be dependent upon the Government. Colonial kids were taught free enterprise and self- reliance. Standardized Common Core curriculum in public schools is a dumbing down method with a low emphasis on academics, and a high emphasis on leftist views. U.S. students rank in the bottom 25 world wide in academics, even though we spend more money. American education is in decline because we do not teach phonetic reading, discipline in math, and fear of God. Johnny is a godless socialists who can't read because of progressive education.
