Money and the environment

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Money and the environment

The current system tells parents that is their only responsibility, the govt will take care of the teaching at 5. (and the clothing so long as no social workier is called in then no problems - to them I certainly see the problem!)

Why do we force all 5 year olds (and up) in school when we could do so much more good by educating adults on how to care for children? (including how to educate or find education). Not to mention the social acceptance of parrenting today, In not so innercity areas it is perfectly acceptable to send your kid off to school at 5 with not a care in the world for the education beyond, or before that point (albeit usually clothed, and fed). If it wern't so socially acceptable to dump kids in school more people would consider the best route instead of going along with the flow. As it is I am chosing the best route for my children, yet I am the one facing public ridicule!

Seems a bit backwards to me, the people down the street with a kid my sons age who acts more like my DD (20 mo difference) is the one who desrves some suggestions, not me.

[Bruce Wayne]

Re: Money and the environment

I quite agree with you PP. Learning isn't about passing exams, its about having an awe about the world that we live in and a desire to learn as much as you can about how it works. Lets face it, the world is an incredible place and it makes me so sad that this awe and amazement is drilled out of children because they become so disenfranchised by learning.

[rob62521]

Re: Money and the environment

As an educator, I agree with you about learning being more about passing exams. However, our legislators have mandated state testing saying the public wants it and if the children do not test well, it is the teachers and the school that are blamed. This does take the fun out of learning. It takes the fun out of teaching as well.

[pennywise]

Re: Money and the environment

I have to reply. We are off subject! But, here is my two cents. I have shopped schools and am disgusted by what I see. There is no teaching and our children are not up to par. The compliants are not real when you are concerned about academics. School is not fun, it is a place of learning. The environment for the learning can be comfortable. I paid private schooling and had my daughter tested on 3 achievement tests and she did poorly. I was appalled. I had to pay Sylvan Learning Center >500 dollars a month to get her up to par. I expect more. I demand more. I am paying for this. You come to the hospital, you do not expect me to say I am not having fun, you do not expect me to have fun, you expect me to make you comfortable in your healing process. You expect me to be on the ball so I do not miss a change in your status. The problem is the schools may be filled with overgrown children who think school is about band, art, gym, sports. It is not. It is a place to learn math, reading (WITH comprehension please), science, social studies - the skills needed to live in the world and obtain good paying jobs. I am sorry for any educators with hurt feelings, but you do have a job to do - as I tell my family - life is not a dress rehersal. We are in serious trouble because we compete globally, not just locally. I tutor my daughter and am seriously considering pulling her from school. If I have to do the teachers job, then I guess the teacher should not get the salary and those fanatastic benefits. Oh, my daughter is doing very well - because WE EXPECT IT, WE TEACH IT. She grasps information quickly. I'm sorry, I am just tired of the WRONG complaints. Bless those who take food and clothes to those who do not have. As a teacher you are a mentor, a guide, a role model. I realise there are those in the class who are disruptive, etc. That is an issue that should be dealt with. Get the social workers out of the schools - thats when they started going down! Expel the children who do not want to participate and put them in "special schools". Or do what they do overseas: Take a standardized test, if no pass - go to work; if pass, continue in school. No sense paying for those who don't care.

[Fern]

Re: Money and the environment

I don't think kids have to be disenfranchised by learning in public schools. But they could sometimes use help discovering their passion, what makes them excited.

While i'm a product of public school system, and i always did well, i don't feel my mind was really opened up and expanded and excited about learning until i got into college.

The problem of parents taking more or less responsibility for educating their children is not an isolated problem. There are many,many single families, often with female heads of households, who are doing everything they can to just keep the family together and put food on table. There is often very little energy left over for additional "education." So the high divorce rate and the disinterest of many divorcee fathers isn't helping.

Or, in another scenario, both parents are so busy working the kids are left to fend for themselves.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Money and the environment

If learning is not fun it will not be continued past the forced session. So while I do agree that there is a major problem with schools I do not agree that learning should be forced, or boring, or that it cannot be fun.

My son begs me to do schoolwork most days, he loves the learning, both what as seen as work and, that which is not seen as work. , I do not have to make it boring, nor do I have to force him to know much of anything, he loves to learn all I have to do is encourage, assist, and occasionally direct him to something useful.

Also hungry kids do not learn very well, so I do feel there is need of making sure kids can eat. But I also feel that to much tax money is spent on babysitting, the system doesn't make it easy or even half the time encourage people to get out. Instead it makes it easy to 'float', both in welfare and in school. Churning out high school grads with no real skills to get by, ending up pften back on the welfare and with children in the ps system leanring the same nothing they did. Not a cool cycle.

Breaking it is the only way IMO to change the course of the education in our country. Drop the PS system, replace it with encouragement and assistance for self motivation.

[rob62521]

Re: Money and the environment

Pennywise, a lot of what you say makes sense, but the legislators want the teachers to prove their are doing their jobs by these standardized tests. When you have a kindergartener coming in to school who is already two years below in vocabulary, there is no miracle cure of getting them caught up other than the teacher trying to do his or her job. Very few of the people I work with are lazy; but they cannot in a few hours a day "fix" a kid who gets nothing at home or during the summers. We have special summer school classes that help the kids, but some parents don't want their kids to work during the summer. You daughter is so fortunate to have someone who was willing to expect something and you found ways for her to achieve it. Your note did not offend me, but wish we had more parent who were willing to get involved. As a public school employee, we have to live by the guideliness the legislators give us -- we can't deny anyone an education, even if they don't want it. We can't just suspend or expel children just be cause they are disruptive. Most teachers would love that because then they could concentrate on the children who are there to learn the fundamentals of reading, math, writing, and thinking skills.

[DivaJen]

Re: Money and the environment

As a public school employee, we have to live by the guideliness the legislators give us -- we can't deny anyone an education, even if they don't want it. We can't just suspend or expel children just be cause they are disruptive. Most teachers would love that because then they could concentrate on the children who are there to learn the fundamentals of reading, math, writing, and thinking skills.

DH and I (former public school teachers) have often said that a good shake-up to the system as it is would be to stop making attendance compulsory. Imagine if we had community learning centers full of choices instead of places kids 'had' to go to every day, 6-8 hours a day.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Money and the environment

DH and I (former public school teachers) have often said that a good shake-up to the system as it is would be to stop making attendance compulsory. Imagine if we had community learning centers full of choices instead of places kids 'had' to go to every day, 6-8 hours a day.

EXACTLY!

[rob62521]

Re: Money and the environment

Hear, hear!