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Quotes about Literacy from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"The administration is so impressed that it incorporates Zero Hour into the high school curriculum as a first-period literacy class called Learning Readiness PE. And the experiment continues. The literacy students are split into two classes: one second period, when they're still feeling the effects of the exercise, and one eighth period. As expected, the second-period literacy class performs best." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.)

"Mainly it is the particular phrasing of the proverbs, not their ideas, that belongs to the cultural literacy of each nation and language. The ideas they express are often common to many nations. For instance, in German it is said, "Viele Hande bringt's gleich zu Ende" — literally, "many hands bring it quickly to a conclusion." But the literal sense doesn't capture the punch of the German version, which is a little rhyme: Viele Hande (pronounced "hen-duh") Bringt's gleich zu Ende (pronounced "en-duh")." - James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"By definition, cultural literacy falls between the specialized and the generalized. Our second test was to determine how widely known an item is in our culture. Only those items that are likely to be known by a broad majority of literate Americans ought to appear in this dictionary. Therefore, in selecting entries, we drew upon a wide range of national periodicals. We reasoned that if a major daily newspaper refers to an event, person, or thing without defining it, we can assume that the majority of the readers of that periodical will know what that item is." - E. D. Hirsch, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Get the book.)

"Although our scientific literacy about links between chemicals, heavy metals, and autoimmunity is growing quickly, it has to date had little impact on federal environmental laws. Today, environmental legislation and regulations that guide the decisions we make about public health and the environment focus on managing current risk (how high a level of trichlo-roethylene or mercury can humans handle in their bloodstreams before falling ill?) rather than preventing future harm (how do we change manufacturing practices that emit toxic agents into the environment in the first place?)." - Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Autoimmune Epidemic (Get the book.)

"While avoiding the temptation to cast blame for our recent decline in literacy, we do need to understand and correct it. One important cause of the decline has been the use of "skills-oriented," "relevant" materials in elementary and secondary grades. The consequent disappearance from the early curriculum of literate culture (that is, traditional history, myth, and literature) has been a mistake of monumental proportions." - E. D. Hirsch, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Get the book.) "With its extremely low average income and literacy rate, Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, fa In 1957, Francois ("Papa Doc") Duvalier established a dictatorship; at his death in 1971, he was succeeded by his son, Jean Claude ("Baby Doc"), who has since been exiled, fa Home of the religious cult of voodoo. Hamburg City in northern West Germany on the Elbe River, near where it meets the North Sea. fa West Germany's second-largest city, after West Berlin, and its most important industrial center fa One of the most heavily bombed German cities during World War ii." - E. D. Hirsch, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Get the book.)

"Think about an international aid worker traveling to a remote part of the world to give the gift of technology or literacy. If the aid worker's attitude is that he's conferring something of great value on the locals, who have nothing of value to give him in return, he is fundamentally disaffirming the very people whom he aspires to help." - Rick Foster, Greg Hicks, M.D., Jen Seda, Choosing Brilliant Health: 9 Choices That Redefine What It Takes to Create Lifelong Vitality and Well-Being (Get the book.)

"With its extremely low average income and literacy rate, Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, fa In 1957, Francois ("Papa Doc") Du-valier established a dictatorship, continued after his death in 1971 by his son, Jean Claude ("Baby Doc"), who was finally overthrown in 1986. Since then the government has changed several times through military coups. Hamburg (ham-burg, hahm-boorg) City in northern Germany on the Elbe River, near where it meets the North Sea. fa Germany's most important industrial center. fa One of the most heavily bombed German cities during World War ii." - E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.) "Noted for its particularly low average income and literacy rate, fa Traditionally politically unstable. Gulf of Mexico Part of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by the southeast coast of the United States and the east coast of Mexico. Gulf Stream A warm current that flows out of the Gulf of Mexico and northward through the Atlantic Ocean. Hague, The (hayg) Seat of the government of The Netherlands, located in the western Netherlands, near the North Sea." - E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.) "The conceptions that underlie this dictionary are outlined in my book Cultural literacy, published in 1987. But in fact, the dictionary project was begun before I thought of writing a separate book, and the book itself was first conceived merely as a technical explanation of the ideas that led us to undertake the dictionary. The scope of the book outgrew that aim, but no one even considered the possibility that the book would become a best-seller or that it would be read outside the field of education." - James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"According to one source, Cuba "ranked first in Latin America in national income invested in education, and its literacy rate was 80 percent. In 1958, Cuba had even more female college graduates (to scale) than the United States."6 In terms of literacy, daily nutrition, and access to mass media, Cuba was a leader in Latin America—though, admittedly, this was not always saying a lot—and was crowding the heels of some developed, Western countries.7 Of course, not everyone benefited equally. Doctors were aplenty, but not always where they were needed." - William Bonner, Lila Rajiva, Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets: Surviving the Public Spectacle in Finance and Politics (Agora Series) (Get the book.)

"A funeral celebration, common in Ireland, at which the participants stay awake all night, keeping watch over the body of the dead person before Literature in English From the standpoint of American cultural literacy, all commonly known literary works written in English are probably best placed in a single category. The separation of British from American literature is somewhat misleading, particularly in the case of older literature. Shakespeare is an American author — not because he was an American, obviously, but because his writings formed a part of American culture from its beginnings." - James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"It is not their, or a school psychologist's, duty or within their training or capability to know beforehand who is capable of literacy and an education and who is not. Nor are they capable of knowing which children possess the capacity for self-control or do not. It is their duty to assume that all children are capable of literacy, education, and self-control and to assume responsibility, in conjunction with the parents, for helping children achieve these things." - Fred A. Baughman, Jr., M.D. and Craig Hovey, The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children (Get the book.)

"The kids in Zero Hour, hearty volunteers from a group of freshmen required to take a literacy class to bring their reading comprehension up to par, work out at a higher intensity than Central's other PE students. They're required to stay between 80 and 90 percent of their maximum heart rate. "What we're really doing is trying to get them prepared to learn, through rigorous exercise," says Duncan. "Basically, we're getting them to that state of heightened awareness and then sending them off to class." How do they feel about being Mr. Duncan's guinea pigs? "I guess it's OK," says Michelle. " - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.) "As expected, the second-period literacy class performs best. The strategy spreads beyond freshmen who need to boost their reading scores, and guidance counselors begin suggesting that all students schedule their hardest subjects immediately after gym, to capitalize on the beneficial effects of exercise. It's a truly revolutionary concept from which we can all learn." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.)

"He attacked MST for organizing looting as a new industry that preyed on the poor during droughts and announced a $500 million aid program for the affected areas that included food baskets, new irrigation schemes, a work relief program, and ambitious plans for job training and literacy programs for at least one million people. The president's poll ratings soared, and lawlessness and looting subsided somewhat, but unrest still simmered through the Nordeste." - Brian Fagan, Floods, Famines, and Emperors: El Nino and the Fate of Civilizations (Get the book.)

"Costa Rica has a literacy rate of over 90 percent. Crete Island in southeastern Greece in the Mediterranean Sea. fa Largest of the Greek islands, fa Site of one of the world's earliest civilizations, the Minoan civilization, which reached its peak in 1600 b.c. fa In Greek mythology, Crete was Minos' kingdom, where the Minotaur lived at the center of the Labyrinth. Crimea (kreye-mee-uh, kruh-mee-uh) Peninsula in the extreme southern Ukraine, bordered by the Black Sea to the east, south, and west." - E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"The first indicators of a weak, irresponsible society brought on by drugs according to some critics (which are quoted later in this book) - with more crime, less literacy, and more stupidity - are already present. Covertly and overtly, the mighty pharmaceutical industry suggests another picture. Perhaps drugs and medication are among the most important problems that we face today. Here we have problems that have dimensions no one dares to talk about or look at, because the consequences are too horrifying." - Kenneth W Thomas, Ron Gilbert, Gerd Schaller, Side Effects: The Hidden Agenda of the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel (Get the book.)

"Since literacy is usually an educational issue, how does emotional literacy affect our children's development? "We teach what each emotion means," Ayman explains. "To feel it, express it, recognize it, to understand why they are having a particular feeling and what's the information that's behind it. An emotionally literate kid has the ability to be responsible for how she deals with whatever situations she finds herself in, instead of having to react to the environment with anxiety and attempts to control. "Another way to say it is that an emotionally literate kid will be an empathic kid." - David H. Rippe, Jared Rosen, The Flip: Turn Your World Around (Get the book.)

"It eliminated various devices, such as literacy tests, that had traditionally been used to restrict voting by black people. It authotized the enrollment of voters by federal registrars in states where fewer than 50 percent of the eligible voters were registered or voted. All such states were in the South. Wall Street Crash of 1929 See Crash of 1929, stock market. Wallace, George A political leader of the twentieth century." - E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"Noted for its particularly low avetage income and literacy rate, fa Traditionally politically unstable. Gulf of Mexico Part of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by the southeast coast of the United States and the east coast of Mexico. Gulf Stream A warm current that flows out of the Gulf of Mexico and northward through the Atlantic Ocean. Hague, The (HAYG) Seat of the government of The Netherlands, located in the western Netherlands, near the North Sea." - E. D. Hirsch, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Get the book.)

"Noted for its particularly low average income and literacy rate, fa Traditionally politically unstable. Gulf of Mexico Part of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by the southeast coast of the United States and the east coast of Mexico. Gulf Stream A warm current that flows out of the Gulf of Mexico and northward through the Atlantic Ocean. Hague, The (hayg) Seat of the government of The Netherlands, located in the western Netherlands, near the North Sea." - James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (Get the book.)

"Studies have repeatedly shown that children whose parents read to them tend to become good readers themselves, as well as gaining the many other advantages that literacy conveys. Cuddling up to share a picture book is a source of endless delight to toddlers - and even older children who can read for themselves benefit from hearing good books read aloud. The children's author Robert Louis Stevenson recommended that children of all ages need to hear stories, for how else will they learn 'the chime of fair words, and the march of the stately period'?" - Sue Palmer, Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About it (Get the book.) "However, in highly competitive countries (such as the USA, UK and Japan), where education systems are driven by tests, targets and concern about literacy standards, many children under six are expected to press on as soon as possible with the Three Rs of reading, writing and reckoning. This is particularly noticeable in the UK, where children have historically started formal education at an early age and, despite the efforts of early-years specialists to move towards a more play-based curriculum, the national culture still favours an early start." - Sue Palmer, Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About it (Get the book.) "Over on the other side of the tracks, children from poor backgrounds are disadvantaged on two fronts: • Lack of access to worthwhile digital technology in the home, so their media literacy skills are less well honed than those of children from more advantaged backgrounds • Too wide an access to junk TV and mindless computer games, which shut down minds rather than opening them up (and, since many of these feature high levels of violence, may also cause increased levels of aggression)." - Sue Palmer, Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About it (Get the book.) "To some extent this is because the early stages of'the getting of literacy' involve application and perseverance, so teachers have to convince children to slow down their minds and attend to complex symbolic information on a page. This may be difficult if formal reading instruction begins too early, or at any age if the children concerned are suffering from toxic childhood syndrome. But there are other reasons why children sometimes fail to acquire basic reading skills, associated with the vexed educational question of'phonies'. Why Johnny still can't read..." - Sue Palmer, Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About it (Get the book.)

"It is their duty to assume that all children are capable of literacy, education, and self-control and to assume responsibility, in conjunction with the parents, for helping children achieve these things. When these things are not occurring as they should, your child is in danger of receiving a diagnosis that blames all shortcomings on her or his malfunctioning brain. What a terrible thing to do to a child!" - Fred A. Baughman, Jr., M.D. and Craig Hovey, The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children (Get the book.)

"Availability of different types of healers would be expected to affect use, as would accessibility. literacy would also be reflected in the amount of income available for health care and in a tendency to depreciate traditional healing. However, the actual data run contrary to the expectations of common wisdom. For example, the state of Chiapas, in the south of Mexico, has a 2:1 ratio of traditional healers to biomedical care and an illiteracy rate of 28.90; by contrast, Baja California has a 6:1 ratio of traditional healers to biomedical care and an illiteracy rate of 6." - Margarita Artschwager Kay, Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West (Get the book.)

"Students already have direct access to many great thinkers and doers through initiatives like MIT OpenCourse-Ware [see Education and literacy, p. 315], and ResearchChannel. It's not too much of a stretch to picture combining the content provided through such online courses with an online educational resource that's as easy to contribute to as Wikipedia —but one that incorporates many adaptive, personalization, and data-mining algorithms that help customize and direct an individual's learning process. If such an initiative is to be universally accessible, it should be based on free software." - Alex Steffen, Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century (Get the book.)

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