Jordan came home last night with a paper on which the teacher wanted a parent signature. The paper was an assignment that was supposed to be a letter, but Jordan had taken very little time with it and obviously was goofing off, not trying, and had produced something barely readable. I was upset. For two reasons.
First, that he would try to pass off such terrible work as anything near the best he could do made me shake in my socks. Had to count to ten to keep from going ballistic.
And second, because this is the type of stuff he's learned at school. How to goof off. How to laugh at butt, fart, and underwear jokes. How to be rude. How to get away with as much as possible, and how not to care a whole lot if he does get caught now and then.
If not for the fact that his writing and art abilities were many times better as a four- and five-year-old, I'd not complain so much. But they were. His skills in those areas have decreased. His math skills are the same as they were two years ago, and if I hadn't kept at him to remember those, they would have deteriorated, too, because they haven't made it to his skill level in his school work yet. And they won't make it this year.
The only reason that he can read as well as he does is because he wants to. Reading is necessary to understand many of the video games he plays.
I suppose I can take consolation in that, other than the property taxes we pay, his public education is free. But for some reason, that provides small comfort. And for the amount of taxes the house that he lives in requires, I don't think the deal is good at all. Unfortunately, we can't direct those taxes to anything else.
I will never believe that public school, as it is designed today, is the best way to teach a child. For parents who treat school as little more than daycare, it's all right, but for me, it seems to be nothing more than time to goof off, socialize, and conform to the lowest common denominator. But like so much else in the U.S. today, there's nothing better for the price available.
First, that he would try to pass off such terrible work as anything near the best he could do made me shake in my socks. Had to count to ten to keep from going ballistic.
And second, because this is the type of stuff he's learned at school. How to goof off. How to laugh at butt, fart, and underwear jokes. How to be rude. How to get away with as much as possible, and how not to care a whole lot if he does get caught now and then.
If not for the fact that his writing and art abilities were many times better as a four- and five-year-old, I'd not complain so much. But they were. His skills in those areas have decreased. His math skills are the same as they were two years ago, and if I hadn't kept at him to remember those, they would have deteriorated, too, because they haven't made it to his skill level in his school work yet. And they won't make it this year.
The only reason that he can read as well as he does is because he wants to. Reading is necessary to understand many of the video games he plays.
I suppose I can take consolation in that, other than the property taxes we pay, his public education is free. But for some reason, that provides small comfort. And for the amount of taxes the house that he lives in requires, I don't think the deal is good at all. Unfortunately, we can't direct those taxes to anything else.
I will never believe that public school, as it is designed today, is the best way to teach a child. For parents who treat school as little more than daycare, it's all right, but for me, it seems to be nothing more than time to goof off, socialize, and conform to the lowest common denominator. But like so much else in the U.S. today, there's nothing better for the price available.
2 comments:
I did fine with public education--but I don't much like it or the alternatives. The best school I ever saw for children in Jordan's range was in Thailand--it was an international school, with 7 or 8 multinational children in a class with a Thai teacher taking them on field trips. It looked like that magic school bus tv show. And they were so well behaved!
Teach kids how to think, not what to think--how did we all get so lazy?
I totally agree with you. I also went to public school, but if there were ANY way whatsoever to homeschool my child, I would. I don't like the general 'programming' of the most banal and simplistic aspects of our culture, the horrifically atrocious "food" they provide for children in the cafeteria, nor do I care for the way most parents "parent" their children. My son is in 2nd grade. They don't teach children HOW to properly write printed letters anymore (how to make the strokes and in what direction). It's not just my son, I am a private piano teacher & see how many of my own students write. I have to re-teach them all. Already, the language and the attitudes are affecting him in ways I'd have never chosen. Try being a liberal vegetarian with a child in public school. And, I live in a so-called "liberal" community in California. It's very sad.
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