Priorities In Education

[My3cents]

I have some REALLY strong feelings about our public school systems.

If I had to do any of it over again with my own kids, I would ONLY homeschool them.

The NCLB act did NOTHING to improve our schools IMHO.

Bingo!!! Me too:-)

[Heidi]

I'm sorry but overuse of computers doesn't change the fact that kids need basic skills to build on. I won't even get started with spelling and grammar, times tables, long division, reading books which they also don't "need" because of computers.

When do we reach a point where we realize that they do need these skills because it's still their brain that needs to do the thinking rather than letting a computer do it for them?

I do think it's important to find a balance, though. Yes, basic reading and writing and math are important. BUT, our kids are not growing up in the same world we did, either. Technology changes so quickly, our heads spin. Or children, on the other hand, keep up with the montly, almost daily changes.

I think we tend to get nostalgic about how things used to be (believe me, I do to), but we can't teach children the same way now that we did 50 years ago.

I do believe a balance can be found, though. While I absolutely believe our children need technology in the classroom, I also think that it should be introduced later. Not before 3rd grade or so, ideally. Before that, they should have what all of us here always say...lots of time to play, simple toys, etc. Then, the first few years of school should focus on slowly building on that; reading, basic math, etc. THEN introduce the tools and gadgets and shortcuts. My hs daughters class could do 80% of their work on their computers...but those are high-school kids, not kindergartners. But, those kids also paint, sculpt, rebuild engines, show horses, fix laptops, build solar powered toy cars, make guitars out of old cigar boxes, and a whole lot more..(charter school)

What do you think?

I think part of the problem is lack of parent education about it, again. Parents think (and marketers count on that) that if their 3 year old doesnt know how to use an Ipad or LeapPad or whatever, they will be left behind. Also, many parents are overloaded themselves, and parking the kiddos in front of a gadget gives them downtime...after the 487 "activities" their child has particpated in that week.

[My3cents]

My dd just told me their were cutting cursive from the schools next year.
That's just the thing to do....leave out an important part of learning to write, replace it with nothing and then say they're better off.

I homeschool one of my kids and my step dd and one of my dd's goes to public school. Homeschooled dd does 4 times the work as the other two in less than 4 hours per day.

I agree with this. Kids don't need to know how to write in cursive, they need to be fluent in typing skills. I say cover it but to drill it over and over is unneeded as we are a technical society now. No matter if we like it or not, we are moving forward and we no longer chisel on the stone walls to communicate. I feel its important to know about it but not to be a master at it- keyboarding is what is needed at this point in time. Who knows what will be next-

[My3cents]

I'm sorry but overuse of computers doesn't change the fact that kids need basic skills to build on. I won't even get started with spelling and grammar, times tables, long division, reading books which they also don't "need" because of computers.

When do we reach a point where we realize that they do need these skills because it's still their brain that needs to do the thinking rather than letting a computer do it for them?

I don't feel this way- overuse or underused. It is happening, we can either go with the flow of things or buck it all the way. I am for the future and moving forward. I love visiting the little house on the prairie days but I wouldn't want to live in them day in and day out. Change and progress is hard for all of us to understand and technology hit us all fast. I don't want to go backwards- but some days I would like to slow things down or visit the prairie.

I think these skills are being learned just at a much faster rate and if they are not learned the way to learn them is more at a finger tips touch, the kno how of where to find the information is easily assessable to most

[My3cents]

I'm sorry but overuse of computers doesn't change the fact that kids need basic skills to build on. I won't even get started with spelling and grammar, times tables, long division, reading books which they also don't "need" because of computers.

When do we reach a point where we realize that they do need these skills because it's still their brain that needs to do the thinking rather than letting a computer do it for them?

I don't know if I answered your question with my few cents but here is my view......I think the skills are being learned but maybe not to the extent that they were drilled into us as kids. Kids know about cursive and maybe practice it here and there but they are not writing sentences over and over.

Other then to write out a check I never use cursive writing in my daily life. Checkbooks are being cast aside too. So you kinda have to go with the flo or be left in the dust.

[snbauser]

My dd just told me their were cutting cursive from the schools next year.
That's just the thing to do....leave out an important part of learning to write, replace it with nothing and then say they're better off.

Our school got rid of cursive about 2 years ago. It is frustrating. I had to teach my youngest how to sign his name. If they don't learn cursive, they can't sign legal paperwork.

[jokalima]

I have some REALLY strong feelings about our public school systems.

If I had to do any of it over again with my own kids, I would ONLY homeschool them.

The NCLB act did NOTHING to improve our schools IMHO.

Can you share what are those feelings?

I've said this before, I have my little one, would like to home school, not sure I can though. Have my own reasons, mainly religious. But would love to know the thoughts of others.

[Country Kids]

Our school got rid of cursive about 2 years ago. It is frustrating. I had to teach my youngest how to sign his name. If they don't learn cursive, they can't sign legal paperwork.

Its getting to the point that you can print your name on legal documents because of the no cursive thing.

Saw an entire episode on Judge Judy about this.

If your signature is printing then thats how you sign.

I write 90% of my stuff in cursive and am CONSTANTLY told how nice my hand writing it. I don't think its anything special but it must be because I'm told over and over how nice it is.

When we homeschooled we did cursive handwriting for 4 years everyday doing practice out of cursive workbooks. It was the favorite activity of the day!

[AmyLeigh]

I think the problem is we are overloading and overestamating (and in some areas underestamating) what children are capable of for their age group when it comes to academics and putting so much pressure on them to do well on test that the schools are almost literally shoving the information down their throats and they are choking.

As a die hard homeschooling advocate, I probably should stay out of this conversation, but.....

What the problem is that when one is taught what someone else thinks he needs to learn, the information will only stay there until the test, then poof, it's gone. If that student wants to learn something, then the information will stay much longer because it is something he is interested in, it has a part in his life. Testing does not prove that a student is more educated. It just proves some students do well on tests. And that some don't.

[DCMom]

I have some REALLY strong feelings about our public school systems.

If I had to do any of it over again with my own kids, I would ONLY homeschool them.

The NCLB act did NOTHING to improve our schools IMHO.

I agree completely!

If I had it to do all over again, my kids would have been homeschooled then private school in the later grades. I would have worked three jobs to make it happen...hindsight is 20/20

I think that vouchers are the best idea ever. It will force the public school monopoly to compete for the students $$. It gives families who cannot afford private school and are locked into the public school system a CHOICE as to where their kids can go.

In your state, you get vouchers. Our state, spending money we don't have to fund Universal Pre-K. I need to move....

[DCMom]

WE NEED TO CEASE THE HEMORRHAGE OF SPENDING IN THIS COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!


The government obviously has lost sight of the fact that there is a difference between needs and wants.

The idea of using tax payer money as incentive to send kids to private schools is ludicrous.....absolute insanity.................

I don't disagree this, but voucher represents the $$ already being spent on a child. The parent gets to take $$ and CHOOSE the school that they want their child to go to.

Right now, your taxes pay for the public school. If you choose to send your child to a private school, you pay for that in addition to funding the public schools. In a voucher system, your tax dollars follow your child. Not an incentive, just choosing how your money is spent. If you are happy with the education that your child is getting at a public school, you are free to choose that. Then the dollars would stay there.

[Blackcat31]

Can you share what are those feelings?

I've said this before, I have my little one, would like to home school, not sure I can though. Have my own reasons, mainly religious. But would love to know the thoughts of others.

For me personally, I had a child who wasn't considered a traditional learner. Had we had charter schools available at the time, I would used it vs public school (or homeschooled FOR SURE).

My child was passed from grade to grade with NO proven abilities. I begged and pleaded for my child to re-do two different grades and was emphatically told no because the testing showed he had ability. :confused:

My child was bullied all the way through school too and the "No tolerance" rules they had on paper had absolutely no value in actual use. Everything sounded great on paper but never actually solved anything.

My child learned to hate school from the very beginning. No teacher cared to take the time to get to know my child on a personal level. They cared only about the test scores. One teacher actually told me that now that she was tenured, she really didn't care anymore and as long as a "troubled kid" was passed to the next grade level, she was grateful that the kid was no longer her problem.

Anyways, I will stop now as I can feel my blood pressure rising as I type. I am just VERY grateful that I no longer have kids who are young enough to be in school and if I ever have grandchildren, I will encourage my children to home school.

[Heidi]

I agree completely!

If I had it to do all over again, my kids would have been homeschooled then private school in the later grades. I would have worked three jobs to make it happen...hindsight is 20/20

I think that vouchers are the best idea ever. It will force the public school monopoly to compete for the students $$. It gives families who cannot afford private school and are locked into the public school system a CHOICE as to where their kids can go.

In your state, you get vouchers. Our state, spending money we don't have to fund Universal Pre-K. I need to move....

except, the vouchers aren't just for families that can't afford public schools. I thought that at first, too, that public schools need to "compete" better.

But, it means the public schools (whose budgets are constantly being cut) get even less money. So, what do they compete with? It would be the same as what our state is doing with the QRIS. Expecting more, but not paying more to the people who actually have to do more work.

And, since vouchers are mostly used in poor school districts, the poorest schools would have less money to work with, while a few of their students got to go to private schools, creating a bigger disparity in education.

[jokalima]

For me personally, I had a child who wasn't considered a traditional learner. Had we had charter schools available at the time, I would used it vs public school (or homeschooled FOR SURE).

My child was passed from grade to grade with NO proven abilities. I begged and pleaded for my child to re-do two different grades and was emphatically told no because the testing showed he had ability. :confused:

My child was bullied all the way through school too and the "No tolerance" rules they had on paper had absolutely no value in actual use. Everything sounded great on paper but never actually solved anything.

My child learned to hate school from the very beginning. No teacher cared to take the time to get to know my child on a personal level. They cared only about the test scores. One teacher actually told me that now that she was tenured, she really didn't care anymore and as long as a "troubled kid" was passed to the next grade level, she was grateful that the kid was no longer her problem.

Anyways, I will stop now as I can feel my blood pressure rising as I type. I am just VERY grateful that I no longer have kids who are young enough to be in school and if I ever have grandchildren, I will encourage my children to home school.

Well thanks for sharing. My son is "special needs" I say it like this because he is just as normal as any other boy his age is, just has sensory issues and they said he falls in to that category. I don't worry much about him because I know he is smart, but he has a thing he does with his hands that draws peoples attention , they don't know he has sensory issues so people just might think he has other kind of delays just by looking at him when doing this. I am afraid that when school starts, I will start getting calls and ask for meetings because teachers won't understand him. I've seen this very same thing in preschool before. When I was pregnant with him, there was a boy at the center were I worked that teachers just labeled him as developmental delayed because he did almost the same thing that my son does. Then is the bullying part, I just know that if he does not stop doing his hand thing before school starts, kids will make fun of him Decisions, decisions....:confused:

[Heidi]

Well thanks for sharing. My son is "special needs" I say it like this because he is just as normal as any other boy his age is, just has sensory issues and they said he falls in to that category. I don't worry much about him because I know he is smart, but he has a thing he does with his hands that draws peoples attention , they don't know he has sensory issues so people just might think he has other kind of delays just by looking at him when doing this. I am afraid that when school starts, I will start getting calls and ask for meetings because teachers won't understand him. I've seen this very same thing in preschool before. When I was pregnant with him, there was a boy at the center were I worked that teachers just labeled him as developmental delayed because he did almost the same thing that my son does. Then is the bullying part, I just know that if he does not stop doing his hand thing before school starts, kids will make fun of him Decisions, decisions....:confused:

My 2nd son had very soft musle tone and a speech articulation issue. However, I suspected he was very bright, because his vocabulary was huge. At 4 or 5, very few people would have noticed, because he couldn't pronounce words well. He also was physically a bit unaware, so he looked, to some people, "retarded". I actually had a dear family member say that word (and it is the correct medical term, although not a popular choice of words).

His speech therapist and I decided that it would be VERY easy for people, specifically teachers, to make assumptions about him, so we had an IQ test done by the school physcologist. His IQ in kindergarten was estimated at 135-140, with over-the-test limits scores in pattern analysis and quantitative reasoning.

Still, he struggled to learn to read (imagine trying to "sound out" words you can't actually say). Eventually, with some help, he learned to read well, although he still doesn't read for pleasure very much.

He was NEVER a good "student". He did very little homework (but got A's on almost every test), and got less and less interested in school as he got older. But, he graduated via a virtual highschool about 6 months early.

He went into the army, and is almost done with his first 3 years (in December). He reached his goal of becomming a sniper scout (because of his crazy math abilities). When he's done in December, he plans on taking the money he's saved and traveling the world alone. He wants to go to see the Great Wall of China, among other things. Then, he may go to college or he may start a business.

I'm not telling you all this to brag. I'm telling because I found out with all my children, especially him, that even young children are individuals. Some are great students, some learn in typical ways, many don't. Most really shine when they find something they are interested in and become passionate about. I wish I would have known that sooner with my sons, because I would have done a better job of advocating for them. I also would have told quite a few people to butt out....

So, find out what your son IS good at and what's he's interested in, do whatever it takes to make sure he gets to do that to the fullest, and don't let anyone judge him for his quirks just because his are on the outside.