Interesting

The Magic of Pre-school postulates that the "non-cognitive" abilities to self-motivate and persist at a task (which are not really non-cognitive at all - they simply aren't measured by IQ tests) are developed in pre-school and early education. Children who go through these programs, especially with an excellent teacher, are more likely to finish high school, remain married if they marry, and earn more money. It seems to be the mostly-unstructured new experiences that lead to this outcome, which makes me wonder if a parent taking their child to an Early Years centre would have a similar effect.

It argues strongly for the play-based program that Ontario's new all-day junior and senior kindergarten program will be using, and it makes me wonder: have any studies been done on the success rates of children who go to JK, versus those who start in SK? I mean, this is an American article, and it makes no distinction between preschool as I think of it (ages two and three) and preschool as Americans tend to think of it (ages three and four, leading into kindergarten at age five.)

In any case, a very interesting article.

Rebecca: Field Notes

July 31st, 2010

Sent out with a rep from Min. of Heritage to look at an artifact.  Supposedly Roman era, in Woodsleigh, in the Borderlands.  Strange place for a Roman artifact; Romans didn't spend much time that far north, barely touched that valley.  Woodsleigh is a throwback; was untouched by civ. until recently.  Pensioners moving in en masse now. 

Heritage person's odd.  Emily Braithwaite by name.  Doesn't suit her.  Don't know why they sent her; doesn't know squat about Scottish/border history, or preservation, or what not to touch.

(Later that day)

HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?????

/unprofessionalism.  Let's try that again.  Must not swear in notes for academic journal.  Historical significance and all that.

Found artifact.  Looks like a greek urn made of steel.  Completely anachronistic.  Was stored in a chest circa 1880.  Very poor condition, but not valuable except as a middle-class attempt at an antique even if it were preserved.  No great loss.  Next to urn was a page torn out of a book; contained excerpt from "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," w/ woodcut picture on back.

And sullen Moloch, fled,
          Hath left in shadows dread
                His burning idol all of blackest hue:
          In vain with cymbals' ring
          They call the grisly king,
                In dismal dance about the furnace blue.
          The brutish gods of Nile as fast,
          Isis and Orus, and the dog Anubis, haste.

Barely had time to look at it before mechanical sound and the guard running away distracted me.  Ran up to see what was going on.  Very confused gentleman in 18th C banyan coat.  Didn't know where he was.  At all.  Didn't know what country the Borderlands were bordering, didn't know the year.  Barely had time to start to get a handle on him when Monster Robot came out of the ground.  Braithwaite had stayed with artifact; Robot was near artifact.  Something about the way she touched it caused him to - awaken?  Sounds more like Star Trek every minute.

Braithwaite and I ran for lorry.  Confused man followed; we took him along.  Robot followed too, latched onto boot; lorry couldn't move with his weight.  Confused man pointed out the robot wasn't trying to hurt us. 

Don't know exactly what happened next.  Something shifted, and the lorry crashed into a tree.  GPS stopped working.  All got out.  Confused man took over, talked to Robot.  Confused man says his name is Hero; not convinced, don't think he remembers himself.  Robot is the Gesh.  Robot looked at GPS, said it was useless b/c no satellites around this world.  Around this time, saw a peasant.  Either very authenticity-oriented SCAdian or a peasant b/w 1400-1700.  Can't place it more than that; pre-Jacobean, pre-mechanization, all homespun, but not a noble so no fashion to speak of.  Hand-made axe.  Ran away before we could talk to him.  Enough to see him: no satellites and clothes like that = time travel.

This just stopped being a resource notebook for an academic paper.  Bloody hell.

Heritage person went and stole clothes for us.  Peasant clothes, fifteenth or sixteenth century; undyed, plain, maybe poor Puritans?  Need more info to figure that out.  Peasant came by, told us Gesh shouldn't be out of the Grove.  Reverend wouldn't like it.  Reverend? So, post-Reformation, then.  Getting more Puritan all the time.  Peasant recognized Gesh.  Gesh analyzed something about him; says he's not like us, lacks same chemistry.  Suppose that makes sense if we're four centuries in the past.

Going into town shortly to see what we can figure out.  Seriously - can handle Catholics and Anglicans, even Methodists most of the time, but Puritans?  Why did it have to be Puritans?