> Perception by the community (not everyone) and parents (not every parent)
> When things go wrong in any workplace, the search for the guilty is not
far
> behind. The point-of-delivery person is the most visible to the consumer,
> and therefore the easiest person to blame. Never mind that the guy who
made
> the pizza screwed up, we'll take it out on the guy who brings it to our
door.
>
> Why don't we ever call the pizza joint and yell at the dork cook?
>
> If the majority of educators are saying the same thing, perhaps we need to
> start listening to them instead of laying blame. Not only are they
feeling
> battered, but they are invisible as well. I say that this is a serious
and
> wide spread problem.
As a parent with six kids in the educational system from Kdg through a
college grad in 8 days time, kids who are in involved in special educ as
well as gifted programs ( sometimes in the same kid), I've seen many
educational changes over the years. I really can't go along with your
anaylsis above Betty for the simple reason that if the pizza cook was the
one who screwed up and the delivery person knew he was delivering a bad
pizza, isn't the delivery person just as responsible for a bad product
getting to the customer? Likewise in education. I too am old fashion in the
way I think our kids should be taught. What I've seen over the past 10 years
is the educational system emphasizing the quanitity of work done and not the
quality or giving the pleasure of discovery that should go along with
learning. I've had 1st grade reading programs that required a child to read
150 pages to qualify for a passing grade for that quarter. It doesn't seem
to matter that the kid hasn't been taught to read yet ( heck now a days you
need to read by the end of kdg). Also reading the back of the cereal box
theres a lot of good info there :>) or the Sunday comics doesn't quailfy
for the pages. Reading for pleasure has gone out the window.
>
> Parents and home life
> In many cases, parents don't have the time required to reinforce what is
> taught in the classroom. I believe that it is imperative that they do so,
> but our economy is such that both parents are often required to work
outside
> the home, and are unable to help their children in this necessary way. I
do
> not fault the parents. Families have to eat and have a place to sleep.
Actually, I think you have this backwards. The schools don't ( can't)
reinforce the lessons taught by the parents in responsibilty and morality.
It is also why as noble as the idea of school vouchers are I don't believe
they will work. Taking a child out of a "bad" school and into a "better" one
by reputation isn't going to work simply because the child's home
enviornment isn't going to change. 1st, bad schools tend to get that way
because of little parental involvement. There have always been examples of
the outstanding school in the "bad" district because parnets make the school
accountable by being there. These are working parents as well. If a parent
is poorly educated himself and can't help the child with homework, questions
etc in the bad district, they won't be able to in the good, school either.
We recently had the school voucher to vote on here in Michigan. A newpaper
article in favor of vouchers gave the example of how one family was paying
and sacrificing dearly to do it)$15,000/yr to send thier 5 kids to a
private school. All I could think of was that $15,000/year added to a
mortgage payment would buy you a much better school district anyways simply
by moving. The added benefit would be parents wouldn't have to transport the
kids out of the neighborhood,adding to already tight schedules, the kid
could have after school activities with neighbor/school friends and become
an active part of thier enviornment, and they wouldn't have to leave a
"good" evnviornment after 6 hours to return to a less then satisfactory one
the rest of the day.
>
> What are kids doing in the afternoon -- after school -- when both parents
are
> working? Do they as children truly understand the need to move that which
> they have been taught into long term memory? Do they recognize the
> importance of proper study habits? Is that being instilled in them at
home?
> Is that how they pass tests, or do they cram at the last minute, only to
lose
> most of the information in the long run?
Again this has to do with the value parents have put on educational
importance. Mine have been involved with extra-curricular activites, mostly
sports. Why in the world do they recieve more kudo's for scoring the
winning goal then an "A" on thier midterm paper? Our family sport is hockey.
My 14 yr old is truly gifted in the sport, grace on skates, very pretty to
watch, even when he is giving the oppenent the elbow. He was recruited this
year by a travel AAA team which is the the type of team that college scouts
watch for future players. It drives me absolutely crazy that no account to
the school year scheduling is taken into account when scheduling the games.
Tournaments often start on Thursday of a school week sometimes neccesitating
missing 2days of school per tournamnet. This team is very competive in that
there are players who travel 90 minutes one way to get to practice 2x/wk. We
even have a team member who lives in another state! In order to attend tese
games and have an excused abscence, my son must recieve permission from the
prinicipal as well as make arrangements to make sure homework that is due
while he is away is turned in beforehand and that tests are taken before
hand/or make up dates are arranged. It is up to the teachers discretion
wether to do this or not. For sports no one has refused. They did give us
hassle for a family vacation to the DC area where there was lot of learning
oppertunities though. BTW, my son maintains a B+ average because I require a
B average of my kids no matter what ( they are capable). I have benched him
if the average falls below that. It was unbeleivable the whining that came
with this benching, from the team as well as his dad.( he still has to go to
practices, he just can't play) They don't seem to realize that if Jack is
this good that a future in hockey is possible he needs to learn to read
enough to understand the implications of a contract and not depend on a
lawyer, father friends etc. He has never had to be benched again. The point
was made the first time. I have no regrets doing it.
>
>
> Search your memory of the high school history text books you were given to
> use. What were you taught about Native Americans? Were you taught that
> Lincoln considered the black man to be his brother, as Douglas humorously
> stated? Was there any mention of Lincoln's racist views? He had them.
What
> did your text say about the reconstruction period? Was the flavor of
> reconstruction presented as a takeover by the black man who couldn't
handle
> the task at hand? Did your text mention anything at all about the
violence
> during that period brought on by confederate whites? I doubt it.
Wow, make me feel young!!!! I do remember learning that the Native Americans
were mistreated, wiped out by disease carried by the "white man" etc.
History can swing to far the other way to though. Native Americans weren't
all innocent any more than then the 'white" man was all evil. There will
always black periods in any nations history where thier was prejudice and
hatred. It's moving forward and changing the status quo that is more
important then beating a "race or creed" over the head continiously for the
past. It's making sure it doesn't happen again, which sadly is rarely the
case, as we seem to repeat these mistakes over and over.
It's playing devils advocate with our kids. It's teaching them to think
outside of authority and how to change things with the least hurt to all
involved. MLK and Ghandi both did this. They did not accept society wrongs
as rights. Likewise they tried very hard to not act like the very people who
were hurting/keeping them down. They tried to act as non violently as
possible, to the point of putting thier life on the line. It goes to
teaching children that all life is valuable be it white, black, yellow,
young or old, healthy or infirmed. Life is to be respected for what it is,
life. I do believe this is the point you wre making further on.
Joanne
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