Sikh Youth Camp 2007

 
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"Yes, Yes, I Know She Is Quite Smart, But I Want to Know How Her Soul Is Developing"

This article by a California teacher with 30 years' experience in the classroom appeared in last week's San Francisco Chronicle.

"The present emphasis on testing and test scores is sucking the soul out of the primary school experience for both teachers and children. So much time is spent on testing and measuring reading speed that the children are losing the joy that comes but once in their lifetime, the happy messiness of paint, clay, Tinkertoys and jumping rope, the quiet discovery of a shiny new book of interest to them, the wonders of a magnifying glass. The teachers around them, under constant pressure to raise those test scores, radiate urgency and pressure. Their smiles are grim. They are not enjoying their jobs."
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255

Let children be children
Is your 5-year-old stressed out because so much is expected?
by Penelope H. Bevan
I was watching one of my second-grade girls try unsuccessfully to tie her shoes the other day, and I thought, "This is a person who is supposed to be learning plural possessives?" I think not.
We've just finished test time again in the schools of California. The mad frenzy of testing infects everyone from second grade through high school. Because of the rigors and threats of No Child Left Behind, schools are desperate to increase their scores. As the requirements become more stringent, we have completely lost sight of the children taking these tests.
For 30 years as a teacher of primary kids, I have operated on the Any Fool Can See principle. And any fool can see that the spread between what is developmentally appropriate for 7- and 8-year-old children and what is demanded of them on these tests is widening. A lot of what used to be in the first-grade curriculum is now taught in kindergarten. Is your 5-year-old stressed out? Perhaps this is why.
Primary-grade children have only the most tenuous grasp on how the world works. Having been alive only seven or eight years, they have not figured out that in California there is a definite wet and dry season. They live in high expectation that it will snow in the Bay Area in the winter. They reasonably conclude, based on their limited experience with words, that a thesaurus must be a dinosaur. When asked to name some of the planets after he heard the word Earth, one of my boys confidently replied, "Mars, Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter and Canada!" to which a girl replied, "No, no, no, you gotta go way far outer than that."

(Source: http://liltinghouse.clubmom.com/the_...ues/index.html)

Interesting article, but I think everyone including any children who may be considering taking part in the camp should know - there will be no tests/exams during this camp!

YouTube - Gurmukh - Kirtan=
YouTube - Jakarta Samelan 2007
These are the type of memories kids bring back for a lifetime keeps.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255
I remember my first samelan in Port Dickson at the age of 8 when my
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255
dad was the President of the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia.

Here's a picture from my past at the age of 8 (1964) at Port Dickson beach.
Click on image to enlarge. I am 5th from right on first row. 4th is my brother.

Ba Ba Black Sheep in Raag is Gurmukh, my nephew.
YouTube - Ba-ba Black Sheep sung in indian classicial style (Raag)

I've also been going to camps from the age of 8. They have had a lasting impact on my life, which is something we hope camps will have on the youth attending today.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=17255

Come down and join in, doesn't matter how young or old you are, how much you know or don't know etc. Its all about learning something new (and having fun).