Where I'm Coming From on Education

[queenoftheskies]

Thanks for the great responses to my rant this morning about my youngest son's problems in not learning grammar or composition.

For the record, I did NOT get my education in California. For which, apparently, I should be thankful.

I also got my education BEFORE all the trendy things started. My education, from K - college, happened 1961 - 1977, for which I am ETERNALLY thankful. I'm not saying it's not possible to get an education now. It's just that so many states won't ALLOW you to get one.

English and math were my strong points. Straight A's in both. I took the CLEP tests before entering college and CLEP'ed out of all my English, all my LIT, my primary math classes, humanities (because I was in band and had taken piano lessons FOREVER...and my teacher made us do reports and learn music history as well).

I have a college degree. A BA in Accounting. That's NOT what I wanted to do. *I* wanted to be an English teacher because, at the time, there were no types of writing programs available in my area (Nashville). But, I grew up back when your parents FORCED you to do what they wanted you to do. (Yes, I was sad when the dinosaurs died.)

However, the reason I address my background is this. I'm qualified to help my kids on anything they need help with in K-12. I actually taught a few years as a sub in an effort to try to go back to the local university and get a credential. That didn't work out and I was forced back to accounting about 9 years ago.

But, the point is this. What do the kids do that DON'T have help? I can help my kids with English, math through Algebra and financial forms of math, Economics (I have a minor in it), music. My oldest son, the Quantum Physics major, can help his brother with science questions and advanced math, and he's great with research papers and essays.

What about those other kids? What about the Spanish-speaking kids whose parents didn't even have the opportunity to finish their education? Some have told me they only reached 4th grade before they moved here (as adults) and there are no programs to help educate them further so they can even consider helping their kids.

I know a LOT of great teachers. That's one of the reasons my kids have gone to school where they do and why I've FOUGHT for those transfers every year. It's IMPORTANT to me.

Over the past year or two, however, I've had the misfortune of meeting some very poor teachers as well. But, we work around them.

I have to wonder what the people who force these poor standards on teachers are thinking about??? When and where did THEY go to school? Did they have a bad experience and want to change it to their mold? The test scores do NOT reflect that their new methods are working.

They're taking the education away from our children and a lot of parents can't take up the slack. They can't "fight back".

My son and I are going to start working on grammar and writing over the weekends so he isn't left behind in high school and so he's ready when college calls.

What about all these other children?

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

The people who force these sudden curriculum changes are politicians, or bureaucrats, not teachers. They have never stepped into a classroom in their lives, except on quick visits, when the kids are kept preternaturally quiet, everything made spic and span for the best possible look.

No one who actually has taught would make some of the godawful decisions that have been made over the past thirty years in education. (California education was actually pretty good until the touchie-feelie change in the mid seventies, and then the Prop 13 passed, and California's education sank from the top of the fifty states to rating in test scores down there with Mississippi and Misouri and Alabama--states with a fraction of the tax money, and populations in social distress.)

[davealaw.livejournal.com]

Which is why we are homeschooling my daughter. We started teaching her grammar and writing, specifically since grade 3 and will probably keep on these areas till at least high school to ensure she has a good grasp. If you are looking to teach grammar to your son, you might want to look at the workbooks currently available. There are some wonderful ones out there, a mixture of teaching and practice, which just requires you to make the pages and give a little reinforcement when necessary.

- Dave

[davealaw.livejournal.com]

Opps! I meant for this to comment on the previous post. Oh well, you get the idea. :)

- Dave

[arkiewriter.livejournal.com]

Why do you think Homeschooling has grown and grown and GROWN in the past decade? Parents who can figure out a way to do it are pulling their kids and teaching them themselves. It's not just a religious issue anymore, at least not as far as I've seen.

As for the kids whose parents can't help or take up the slack, we're looking at the next generation of low-income workers who are crushed by their "failure" to adapt to the school system's cubby-hole effect. Some may overcome it as adults and re-educate themselves. Others won't.

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

The Washington state school system is shameful. They are focused on the WASL test scores and the "No child left behind" rubbish. The children can't string a descriptive sentence together to describe a newsworthy event or fail a grade for the lack of knowledge. Some of the kids I know have, in one semester, failed every single core class and did NOT get held back a grade. They get summer school or the next year they get a schedule full of electives and almost no core classes but they do not fail the grade. I am outraged and I haven't even got kids. I wont even get into all the off days, half days and the extra week long break the kids have.

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

I meant to add: I agree with you about the cubby-hole effect. The kids are in for a very rude awakening when they get out into the real world and have to work an 8 hour day, go five days a week and have to actually be capable of doing the job or they will get fired.

[saycestsay.livejournal.com]

Teacher education also sucks. Just fyi. My sister teaches elementary school and can't diagram her way out of a sentence. And they're under very strict rules as to what they can do in a classroom, so it's not like a maverick can actually teach something useful.

The community colleges are so used to high school grads who can't read, do math, or write, that they have remedial class levels.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have to comment on the community college remedial classes.

My oldest son started out in community college because he didn't feel like he was ready to be away from home. He started out in Calculus and didn't have to take Enlish/Lit because he passed AP tests in those subjects.

However, he found people he'd gone to school with in high school who'd been put into English 020 and Math 040. He didn't know such classes existed, so he checked into them further.

We were horrified at the entire series of remedial classes. I felt so bad for those students who weren't ready to really start college and had to be taught reading and math before they could get into real classes.

[arkiewriter.livejournal.com]

It's not just the community colleges. Check the listing at most 4-year colleges - particularly public universities. Most offer remedial reading, mathematics, and other classes.

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

I have a learning disability with math...which is basically the only real reason why I was sort of forced into going to a community college. The first semester, I withdrew from my math class, which was a remedial class, because I was failing, before the end of the semester, which means I got no credit for the class. I took the class again the second semester, and I got a D in the class. Unfortunately, I can't go on to the next class until I get a B or above in that class...which is really almost discriminating and a lot harder on kids like me who are just horrible with math. It's an algebra class, and I hadn't had to do that stuff since my senior year...I took Algebra 1A my sophomore year, barely passed it, took another math class that did stuff with checks and car payments and stuff like that, and then I started to take Algebra 1B my senior year, but because I hadn't taken a class like that since my sophomore year, I was really far behind, and I felt like I had no choice but to take a one-on-one class with my special ed/support teacher, which I had done my freshman year.

I have to say that even though my support/math teacher tended to treat me like a little kid and was always hovering over me, I'm glad I made the choice to take the class with her. I hardly had any homework, I don't think I had to take a final or midterm exam, which made things a lot easier on me...it was just a very good choice. But the rule with needing to get a B or above in a remedial class is just stupid...I decided to skip a semester and wait til spring semester to take that and the science class I need (I haven't taken a science class since my sophomore year, either), but until I get a B or above, I'm stuck taking the remedial class, which means I'm stuck at my community college.

[redkudu.livejournal.com]

Teacher education also sucks.

Yup.

My parents had weak academic backgrounds.....

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

My father never graduated high school (he's 79 and went into WWII) so my parents couldn't help me after about fifth grade or so.

I teach at a private school and so am allowed to teach more traditionally. I took my first education course (I have a degree (PhD in Chemistry but no teaching certification) and disagreed with the way they're teaching today.

[tunskit.livejournal.com]

This is one of the major reasons we plan to send Riley to private school. If that proves to be out of our monetary reach, we'll be homeschooling. Both my hubby and I received good educations, so we'll be able to teach him what he needs to know, especially with the homeschooling curriculm books (assuming we can find secular-oriented material). But, like you, I worry about the other kids who don't have caring teachers or caring/educated parents to pick up the slack of the new PC way of teaching. In England, many schools no longer use red pens for corrections because of the negative connotations associated with the color. The kids also don't "fail". They're just success-challenged or some nonsense like that. Or maybe it is called delayed success? I don't remember. It's stupid, however they phrase it.