Argue With Everyone Political Forums - View Single Post

satv365 · #27 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fedup2

In raising three kids, in each level of school, each with different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, I find that I am now trying to answer the same questions that I asked in my school years. I am seeing that much of what I was told would be used in my "day to day" adult life really isn't...and I knew it in High School.

Let's be honest, other than reading and writing (basic English skills), Math (including the basic concept of Algebra), History (the most interesting eras anyway)...what do people retain IF the field of work you go into is NOT one of these subjects? How many times do your kids bring you a homework question and you have to brush up on the subject to get an answer if it is NOT something you deal with on a day to day basis? I am not saying that we don't need our kids to be in school, but why do we insist on forcing topics that are not going to sink in, instead of focusing, strengthening and allowing them to excel in the ones they are interested in?

I think every child needs to have basic reading and writing skills..no question They need math skills...enough to funtion on the world (although the computer has lessened the load a bit) but they should be able to balance a budget, a checkbook.etc, measure, calculate figures..etc. They need to know enough in history and in science to know the world they live in..... But really, most of this stuff can be learned in K-6, when kids actually do want to learn and can be refreshed and repeated in the following years.

Now I am not saying let's have them go off to college to replace 7th-12th, but why not use 7th-12th to focus on the areas that they show the most strength in, instead of pushing a bunch of stuff that will not sink in. Most parents see the what subjects are strengths and what subjects are a constant battle by 5th or 6th grade. If the parents don't see it, surely the teachers do.

We don't all go off and do the same jobs, and we aren't expected to learn everyone else's job. I don't know how to replace the engine in my car, and I wouldn't dream of performing surgery on anyone soon...those aren't fields I am interested in...so you couldn't have paid me to learn them. We all have interests and passions to learn something...and those topics in comparison are effortless, because we want to learn them. There is a person to do every job in this world, so why do we insist on pushing them into fields that they repeatedly reject after years of trying.

If you have a child that Ace's Algebra and that is his/her strength can you imagine how much farther he/she could excel in that area if kids who have ZERO interest weren't taking up the teachers time. Same with science, history, and on and on.

Instead, our kids are labeled ADD, ADHD...whatever, but the truth is they are NOT INTERESTED. You can drug them up, you can modify their homework, you can seek counsling...but these same kids ALL have an area they are probably awesome in. My son is struggling in English, he cannot "break-down" of sentence and retain the info for all the money in the world..We couldn't get it to sink if we split his brain open and glued the words noun, verb, conjunction...etc. in. (of course...surgery isn't my thing so I don't try..lol) Now, put him on his Dirt Bike, he can out-ride, out-jump, and modify whatever he needs to, to ride in whatever conditions. He understands how the engine works and where it needs to rev to do what he is attempting to do. At 5 years old, he removed his own training wheels (without us knowing), got on his bike and rode. For him, the hands on stuff is just comes easy. In the academic area Math is a strength...until of course you start adding letters in with numbers and then it is a total bust. And when it becomes a bust, they stop being interested in the whole subject.

Now I don't say this with no knowlege or concept of how a kid in school thinks. They didn't have these labels when I was in school...but I can assure you, I'm pretty sure I would have fit in well with the ADD kids. By the time I was a Sophmore in High School, I pretty much gave up trying. I had the same Math strengths my son does, and like him, once they threw those letters into the equation....that strength was gone. And when that is the one subject you are strong in and that goes down the tubes....the standard teenage reaction after trying and trying and not getting anywhere, is to just give up. Getting a job had a better pay off then seeing an F on your report card, so that's what I did. Soon enough, I ended up getting a job in the accounting dept. of a company, went back to school, took college classes in accounting and not only moved up in the company that I worked for, but now run the accounting dept. of our business. So I did end up following the field of work that I had the strength in, the numbers came easy. When I followed my interest I got something out of it. (PS..I still say, in 20 years of accounting, running a business and family finances, Math, with accounting basics work just fine. I have never had to refer to an Algebra book to figure out my net income or taxes, So it is a crock to say we use algebra everyday -For every Algebra teacher who said rate of pay and hours worked is an Algebra problem needs to be smacked...its a simple math problem..don't embelish it)

The point in my lengthy education issues is this. If you want kids to look forward to going to school and actually find a passion in something they can enjoy doing for the rest of their lives, and if you want them to stay out of trouble and respect their teachers, as well as have self confidence....Stop pushing them away from wanting to learn and start focusing on the subjects that they WILL do well in. I can't think of any student who is disrespectful to a teacher in a class they are getting an A in and wanting to learn more in. Just the same, I can't imagine any adult disrespecting a boss that is continuing to promote and thank him/her for a job well done. It just isn't how people are...or most people anyway.

If you are parent of a kid in k-8, how much time are you spending helping with homework. It's a joke. And the teachers don't see it...BECAUSE IT CAME EASY FOR THEM...AND THEY FOLLOWED THEIR PASSION, SO THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE COULD STRUGGLE..

To me, this concept seems too easy to have been missed...so what are we missing? ....and please excuse any typos...it's late....not lack of education..

In short, Schools waste time because they are run by the Government. Government is the most incompetent, useless, wasteful organization in American history.