Posted on 07/01/2008 10:40:58 AM PDT by wintertime
We must be willing to redefine education. What education looks like now is an artificial construct. It was not created by people who knew or understood children or teens. It was created by bureaucrats and special interests who wanted to control children and teens.
I talked with a young lady the other day – 14-years-old – who loves horses and aims to own stables and teach riding, among other things. She’s been working with horses since she was five. She’s good enough now that she “breaks” new ones and retrains ones facing changes in the use they’re being put to. She knows her stuff.
(snip)
Then there’s her other life – public school. She failed her end-of-year math exam by three points, so she’s going to summer school. She’ll have to pass the test to move on to the next grade. I’ve talked with her. She’s smart and highly competent – just not especially interested in algebra. She’s more accomplished than many adults (even ones who did pass algebra). But she has four more years of school to go, during which time she’ll have to pass endless tests and divert her efforts from what she knows she’ll devote her life to.
(snip) I get many calls a month from parents of teens who simply haven’t managed to fit into the school mold. They’re smart kids, often kids with serious interests they’re prevented from pursuing because so many adults in their lives are running them through the testing/counseling/therapy wringer.
(snip)
In order to redefine education, we will have to engage in some self-liberation, for most of us have a very hard time letting go (I mean really letting go) of the idea that the state knows some secret about education that we don’t and that if we defy their model we just might be sorry.
(snip)
The indirect beneficiaries of the education-industrial-complex are: spouses and other relatives, subcontractors and suppliers to the schools, and even other businesses seemingly far removed from the government schools. For example, my dentist and his office staff depend on government school dental insurance for a living. Ministers in my town depend upon the collection plate offerings of those benefiting from the education-industrial-complex.
Then there are privately employed workers who benefit by not having young people compete for their jobs. These jobs are often union domininated. The more years a young person is a slave in a government school desk, the less competition there is for many high paying jobs.
So?...What is the result? Answer: We have infantilized our teens so that others can suck a living from them.
Much of what is considered "normal" teen behavior is **not** normal. It is pathologic! Behavior that is written off as being "typical" of the teen years is generally **not** seen in homeschoolers who have been homeschooled from the beginning.
I have a few suggestions:
1) Try not to institutionalize your child unless there is absolutely no other alternative. Homeschool if at all possible.
2) I would like to see a private company develop at test similar to the GED. This test could be given to any child at any age. If they passed they would be issued a state high school diploma.
The problem with the government administered GED is that the states in which I lived will not allow youth to take it until they are 16 or 18. This makes it impossible for them to qualify for government ( and many private) scholarships to college and trade schools.
3) I would like see a private company develop tests for each grade. Then employers, colleges, and trade schools could know for certain that a youth or adult really does have a 4th, 7th, 10th, or 12th grade ( for example) education. Most important parents could **know** if their children really were earning the A's and B's the government was putting on their report card. If a youth passed a certain grade then a business, college, or trade school would know they had the academic skills to succeed on the job or in the program of study.
>> What education looks like now is an artificial construct. It was not created by people who knew or understood children or teens.
Funny ... I never thought education was about US understanding children and teens, but getting children and teens to understand things.
This is precisely the problem. Too much “understanding”, not enough teaching.
H
That was me alright. Of course, my serious interests were beach, beer, and babes.
Such reactionary, right-wing statements are not allowed, Comrade. Off to the re-education camp with you.
/sarc
Aren't the official tests already produced by private organizations? That's what I always thought... I'm asking because we're at that point now, trying to decide how to proceed. (We're considering CLEP.)
AKA: undisciplined.
Good luck with that pony business, toots.
Hemorrhage,
My oldest homeschooler finished all college general courses and Calculus III by the age of 15. He then enrolled in business administration program at private college.
During his first semester he attended the private college's “jobs fair”. The next day he received a **serious** offer for an entry level management position with a local bank. I believe that, if he had taken that offer, he would have done **well**....even at the age of 15.
The point is that my son is **not** unusual. He is **not** a genius. He **normally** bright. He is **normal**. It is the institutionalized child who is being artificially retarded in their social, academic, and career development.
There are children by the millions stuck in government schools who are just as bright and similarly talented as my son,..but...these institutionalized children are artificially held back merely to serve as widgets in providing jobs to government employees in the education-industrial-complex.
And they should get rid of the social engineering aspect of education. Such as, condoms on cucumbers, gay pride type celebrations. I have never understood any of that sex education stuff. Sex education was supposed to teach our children the biological facts about how their body works and the reproductive system. And also teach them that there are problems with sex activity outside marriage, such as unwanted pregnancy and VD. Instead it morphed somehow into discussions of how to have safe sex and homosexuality. Homosexuality has nothing to do with reproduction, so there’s no reason to even discuss it.
Try not to institutionalize your child “
Excellent way to accurately refer to sending your child to government school!
I believe you are right, but, to my knowledge it is not possible to get a state high school diploma without doing one of two things:
1) Graduate from high school.
2) Pass the GED which students are forbidden to take until they are 16 in most states ( to my knowledge), and in some states, 18.
Without a GED, getting government scholarship aid ( and even private ) is very difficult.
Also, as an employer, I simply could not depend on a high school diploma as any indication that the student could even read. I wasted far, far, too much time interview people who could not do the job because they could not speak standard English, or read and write well enough.
I resorted to insisting on at least some community college on the resume before asking a person in for an interview. The job absolutely does **not** need a community college level education. All that is needed is basic literacy and reasonable command of English, ( not even math), but other than seeing community college on the resume I simply could not tell of the person could read well enough to do the job.
As an employer, I would like to see a private company issue a certified transcript that a person was literate, and could speak and write English, to a certain grade level, and abandon having to rely on seeing community college on the resume.
By the way, I once hired a homeschooler ( part-time) who was only 14. She was absolutely terrific in the job! She went on to get another job with a larger office, and now is making a career, with an **excellent** salary in being an office manager of a very large health clinic. She never went to college. She never graduated from high school or took the GED. So far, for her there has been no need.
Excellent way to accurately refer to sending your child to government school!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Re: “Institutionalized”
This infuriates the government school defenders. Also, it is being picked up by the larger conservative media. I see it frequently now. :)
By the way, language is important. The Marxists have known this for more than a century. It is time conservatives used language to their advantage.
I agree. Her parents should impress upon her the absolute critical importance of algebra and other courses that she considers to be 'unimportant.' Algebra is the first level of higher order thinking in the mathematics world and it is something she will use every day, whether she knows it or not. Yes, I agree with the author that in her field of horse management this girl is probably much more knowledgeable than a typical adult. That does not mean this girl is smarter, or has the abstract reasoning ability to compete with the business world.
The adults in her life are doing her a disservice by allowing a 14 year old with the typical long term vision of a teenager keep her options so limited.
As far as keeping kids in school longer than they want - I also why 'why?' If they are so miserable and school is such a waste of time, pull them out today and sign them up as home schoolers. Then let them chart their own course free of the public schools.
Some people would rather curse the darkness, than light a candle.
Your post took the words right out of my mouth.
If you do not want to be contacted *please** let me know, and I will remove your name.
I surely wouldn’t wish to bother you, but I don’t want you to miss these education articles, either. Those managing the Public Education Ping list might fail to notify you due to my being the author of the thread.
I will call this ping list:
“The All Opinions Welcome Government Education Ping List” ! “
is the point that she shouldn't have to study algebra? Because I think that we have enough people who can't understand why their house note is suddenly so high and why they owe so much on their credit cards.
14 year olds don’t get to decide that they aren’t going to learn algebra. In fact, a 14 year old who can’t master basic algebra is probably not smart enough to manage a business. This was a really bad example for the author to cite.
“She’s smart and highly competent – just not especially interested in algebra.”
A person such as you describe is suffering from the effects of the sin of Pride -
“I shouldn’t HAVE to do something that I don’t want to do.”
BTW, anyone hear “Madam X” call into Rush today?
She said something about her daughter being “the victim of a liberal education” and “marrying a domineering metrosexual”.
My first thought was “Well, WHO’S FAULT IS THAT, PARENTS?”
Therefore if "sweet lil' 14" doesn't want to learn algebra, she shouldn't be forced because SHE has decided her fate already. Might be good for a parent to help her form a backup plan.
It figures, doesn’t it?
Libs think themselves smarter/wiser than anyone that has ever lived, including God Himself,
so why shouldn’t they believe that the next generation is wiser still?
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