To The Finnish!

Professor J,

How can it possibly be time for me to post again? I have spent every day from Sunday to now in an apple tree (though not exclusively) trying to catch my wayward queen bee and her accompanying swarm of runaway bees. It is quite the way to lose track of time I assure you, as well as events covered by the media. I then come in and turn on the news only to wonder if I wasn't better off in a tree. ;)

Have I asked this question before (if I have, forgive me): Why is it that we are willing to spend endlessly on things like war and only grudgingly on things that may improve our lot in the world exponentially, like education, infrastructure, and environmental clean up? Things which you mentioned in your last post.

Since we have, of late, been thinking about the Scandinavian way of doing things, I found this fragment of an article today about how American Parents Have Got It All Backwards.  interesting. I was particularly intrigued by the Finn's emphasis on being outside. After a day of smelling fresh cut grass, blackberry blossoms, and the lemon grass smell of a bee hive I agree whole heartedly, as would my own kids who never spent more than 3 or 4 hours a day on formal study.

Children should spend less time in school. Children in Finland go outside to play frequently all day long. "How can you teach when the children are going outside every 45 minutes?" a recent American Fulbright grant recipient in Finland, who was astonished by how little time the Finns were spending in school, inquired curiously of a teacher at one of the schools she visited. The teacher in turn was astonished by the question. "I could not teach unless the children went outside every 45 minutes!" 

The Finnish model of education includes a late start to academics (children do not begin any formal academics until they are 7 years old), frequent breaks for outdoor time, shorter school hours and more variety of classes than in the US. Equity, not high achievement, is the guiding principle of the Finnish education system.

While we in America preach the mantra of early intervention, shave time off recess to teach more formal academics and cut funding to non-academic subjects like art and music, Finnish educators emphasize that learning art, music, home economics and life skills is essential.

Those Finn's are on to something...

Is there something about the Midwest that produces such rational thinking? If so please export it to the rest of the country, and Washington in particular, post haste! This is a serious question. Is there something such as a strong agrarian history that produces such common sense and practicality?