Tony and I don’t have children yet, however, education has long been a passion of mine. I have often been pulled in two directions when it comes to public education vs home schooling, and this morning on the radio I was provided with more to think about.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has voiced his intent to lengthen the school year by 20 days, to institute full-day kindergarten and to rid the school systems of “bad teachers”. I didn’t have time to research this next tid-bit of information, so it may be a rumor, but I also heard talk of lengthening the school day. You can find more details regarding these issues here.
My opinions are many, and my experiences are few. The bottom line is that I am not a parent, so I’m not sure what the right answer is to any of this. However, I have been and continue to be, a student…so this is what I think:
I am an advocate for home schooling for many reasons. Some of these reasons are prime factors in Gov. Strickland’s attempt at revitalizing OH schools. It is EXTREMELY difficult to fire a teacher who has been tenured, and while I applaud teachers for their contributions, and at one time I aspired to be one, I also believe that there are MANY teachers out there who should never have been licensed…and there is nothing we can do about it. This needs to change. In regards to lengthening the school day, or even the school year, my thought is a simple one: stop wasting so much damn time. There is no reason a school day needs to be six to eight hours in length. It’s an issue of quality vs quantity. I also believe that there are too many days off for teacher conferences, extended weekends, etc. Do us all a favor; consolidate.
Did you know that it is possible for a child to complete twelve years of education and know absolutely nothing about the real world once they graduate? I know this because I was one of them. Children need to be more aware of current events, they need to know SOMETHING about money and budgeting their money, they need to know more about governement…Children need to be more prepared for the work force…ESPECIALLY if they choose to opt out of a college education. But even those that do attend college oftentimes have been spoiled, and they do not know how to take direction, they do not know how to respect their peers, and they do not know the value of a work ethic. While I agree with those who say that many of these attributes are ones that should begin in the home with the parents, I am not so ignorant to believe that all children have the luxury of “ideal” home lives. We live in a world of two-parent incomes where family time is often spent in front of the television, and for some children, this is even a stretch. Not every family eats dinner together and not all parents help their children with their homework. The circumstances of children is so individualized that it is almost impossible to create a school day, let alone a curriculum that will meet everyone’s needs. And this is why I often think that in order for my children to succeed, I feel it would be in their best interest if I educated them at home. Because as their parent, I could individualize their education more than someone who doesn’t know them at all. And yet, there are things that only the world can teach them…
Things like, how to take direction from someone other than their mother, how to work well on a team, how to be assertive in an uncomfortable situation…these are things that I learned in school…things I learned because I was the New Girl so many, many times. Things I learned because I didn’t have a choice…I either learned them, or I failed. How do I teach that at home? And if I send my children to school in order to prepare them for these certainties in life, how do I guarantee that they will learn the other things they need to know in order to succeed?
The answer, for me, is that there are no guarantees. And so when the time comes, I will have to decide which way is best for everyone in the family. I only hope we will be able to supplement where things have the tendency to lack. I don’t know what the answer is for Ohio schools, and I don’t know if this education overhaul will work how Governor Strickland intends. But I will be watching closely.
What do you think?
well I think that Strickland is throwing it all out there in hopes that some of it sticks. I think they do have the kids long enough and they need to weed out the bad teachers and really get the classes in order. I have issues with home schooling because I think the social aspect of school is very important in learning to get along in the world, and having friends at school, and all that stuff helps you to become a good person. I think that you can supplement what they are doing in school effectively to help them, like going to the library on certain days, visiting museums and taking one day road trips that have a learning curve to them. all kinds of things can be done, you just have to be creative. I know with Boy Scouts Bob has learned all kinds of stuff that is not taught in school, survival skills and such.
Only a very samll percentage of our society is brilliant. So if Home Schooling was the rule, we would have a few brilliant people, with many average and less. You cannot teach what you don’t know. That’s why teachers specialize in the upper grades. I think what is lacking in society is parents involvement in their children’s lives after school. We expect the schools to teach more than academia; i.e. morals, ethics, religion/or not. And our schools don’t concentrate on specialties. What I mean is once a person is 14-15 years old, they know what they are good at. US schools need centers of excellence that allow student to concentrate of their skill areas and become experts in the fields that interest them. The way we are educating our youth is a gun shot approach, throw everything at them in hopes something sticks, hiding under the guise of “well roundedness”. Instead, we should try hitting the bullseye and helping each person become experts at what they are good at and allow each individual to excel. Lastly, I think each child gets out of school what they put into it and parents have to stop blaming the teachers when their children do poorly and look in the mirror. I vote for public education.
I have no problem with sending kids to school. Of course that is what I’ve done but parents do need to be involved in what their kids are doing at school as well as extracurricular activities. But I totally agree that the way the system works right now with teachers is screwed up. I don’t agree with the way teachers are paid and tenure because there are bad teachers out there. They think this testing is what rates a teacher as well as a student, ya right. Much of the problem with districts doing poorly financially is due to mandates with teacher’s pay and other things that make it difficult for a school district to run. Superintendents have no control over their budgets because of it and poor teachers are paid just the same as a great teacher. It is not a merit system. And this goes into the college level as well. Dennis recently set up a meeting with one of his professors at 10 am one day and Dennis came off a night shift and didn’t go to sleep because of this meeting and this professor didn’t show up for over 2 hours and of course there was no apologizing no nothing. These students are at their beckon call and he had to go to class then and go no sleep for over 24 hours. Why would this professor care, he still makes his 6 figures regardless of how he treats his students. Trust me, when this kid graduates, I will be sending a letter to the University of Toledo because I am tired of all this nonsense. This is not the first time this has happened. And there are high school teachers that my kids have had that don’t teach. Very frustrating and they need to retire!!!
Oh YAY! I love having discussions! Thank you for participating…all of your points of view are tres interesting, and it gives me a variety of ways to think about things. Here are some thoughts you sparked:
Connie, I would like to address your comment about making friends and homeschooling. While I agree that I have met my fair share of home schooled children who were socially inept, there are exceptions, and I think it is improving every year. There are now sports teams and social groups for children who are home schooled and it is becoming a culture of its own. I don’t think the social aspect and its problems are what it once was. In addition, I think that there are parents who know that this can be a problem, and make it a point to ensure that their children are involved in activities with children their own age in order to build friendships and learn adequate social skills. In any realm of education, there will always be those who are more eccentric than others. I’ve seen this in children who attended public school many times as well.
Teta, while I whole-heartedly agree with your first few sentences, you can make the case for either side with your statement. Only a very small percentage of our society is brilliant…so a very small percentage of our teachers are brilliant as well, and while educators are trained in specific specialties in upper grades, it is in the lower grades where I think we have dropped the ball. A foundation of knowledge is needed in order to fully comprehend what is taught at the high school or college level. And while there are some parents who may not be able to teach their children at home (whether they don’t feel equipped, or aren’t equipped, or don’t believe it is right for them, or whatever their reason may be), I think that there are parents who can give their children that foundation just as successfully as a newly licensed elementary school teacher could. For my own children, I can definitely see me pushing them to attend a public school once they reach the high school level-for a variety of reasons…but I want them to know so much more before they get to that point. I vote for a combination approach, I think, but I know that this point of view is not for everyone. I want to provide my children with what I know, and allow them to learn what I don’t know from someone who is brilliant. I want it all…
Mostly, I guess I am an advocate for removing the stigma attached to home schooling, because as you said, you get out of education what you put into it.
Julie, what can I say? That sucks. I agree that testing doesn’t reveal much of anything about what a person knows. I have had this conversation with people over the years about how there is a formula to get through high school (and even most college courses, depending on the subject). All you have to do is memorize what they tell you to memorize for the test, and you are good to go. However, when it comes time to apply the knowledge you are screwed. This is why so many people do poorly in math or science classes. Memorization only gets you so far and then you have to apply what you know. Standardized tests cater to memorization…they are useless in my opinion. I guess that’s why I am enjoying my nursing classes so much…I feel like I’m really LEARNING! And, that’s also why I enjoyed English…there were no scantron sheets to fill in…no multiple choice questions…
I don’t even know what to say about Dennis’s professor. A change is definitely needed.
Nikol, I think we hang out in different crowds. Not all teachers are brilliant, I’ll give you that…..but they all can add and subtract and read. I come across so many people who can’t write, read, add, subtract, figure out a tip, fill out an application. Where would we be if these people home schooled their children. I can’t even wrap my head around that. I also agree that younger kids need a good foundation and that if the parents are diligent and knowlegable, they could home school until they reached their own level of imcompetence. This is why I sent my children to private school until about the 4th grade; smaller class sizes (typically 10 kids in a room)and I could be involved in what they were learning because I was paying the bill and was the customer. Public schools don’t treat parents like a customer, since they don’t depend on them for funding directly.
I believe in public education, because I am one of those parents that could NEVER home school their kid. However I have a beef with the public system. They waste way too much time. I can remember being so aggravated that in grade school and middle school they were watching movies. I also had a situation with my daughters first first grade teacher ignoring her because she didn’t like when children were sent early (she was 5 and turned 6 four days after school started). I have also experienced at a high school level the circulum in the language departments was so inconsistent from teacher to teacher that they couldn’t speak any of the language by the end of the year, and when I spoke to the counsler about it she agreed there was a problem.
I believe the kids need the interaction with other kids. They have to know there are nice people and how to deal with the not so nice. However some children don’t deal well with that at all and I agree in some cases homeschooling should be an option, especially with bullying.
Now dealing with a teenager who has begged to be homeschooled since the first grade, I find that in his last years of high school he does much better going to high school online. He does miss the friends at school, but he didn’t hang out with any of them outside of school. I think at this level it totally depends on the individual but should be an option. Besides he has a life outside of school and friends outside of school.
Oh and if one more teacher gives a kid a Word Search for homework I’m personally going to string them up. Not every kid is good at those and it take hours sometimes to finish.
I am not an advocate of strickly homeschooling within the family and thats all they get. I have friends who have done this and the kids are so backward they have difficulty socializing with kids that attend school. Thats a whole other therapy session. I think you have to start in the system and evaluate it according to your child and make the best decision you can. The decision you make for one kid may not be the decision you would make for the other.
do what I did, I told my kids, “You will need therapy when you are an adult. I am sure I am screwing you up somehow”. Its all good.