Posted on 05/14/2010 12:23:51 PM PDT by BruceDeitrickPrice
A mother in Oregon left some provocative comments on an article I posted about dumbing-down. She didn’t like what was going on in her local school; neither did her children apparently. They were evolving ways to deal with this problem. Maybe there are ideas here that others can use.
People seem to assume there are two roads: homeschooling (which isn’t practical for millions of parents); or living with the nonsense (which is killing the country).
This mother’s “third way” was talking to her kids, explaining things, openly sharing her concerns, trying to undo damage as fast as it happens.
These quotations are from one parent. Please add ways you’ve dealt with dumbing-down. ---
“I ask them a lot of questions about what they are learning in school. I ask them what they are being told in history class. I ask them if the teacher has some kind of agenda they are pushing. If one of my kids has been told something weird, I correct it. If I am not sure of the answer, we research it together.”
“I feel like the school takes the very simplest concepts and make them so convoluted that kids can’t get around them sometimes.”
“My daughter was so upset with her homework that she was crying. Once I showed her the simple steps of solving the easy math problems made into a puzzle, she started doing them very quickly and angrily.”
“Both of our kids tell us (mom and dad) that they learn more from us here at home than they do at school. The really sad thing about that is we don’t spend that much time really teaching them. All we are doing is helping them with their homework or debriefing them when they come home brainwashed.”
“My daughter gets frustrated because she has to show her work for the simplest thing that she already knows--like 2 times 5 is 10. Neither one of us can understand why it isn’t enough to simply know the answer. Instead she has to waste her time making 2 groups of 5 little dots or x’s. She is doing all this silly busy work instead of moving on to meatier stuff.”
“I believe this is an insidious way of muddying things up and making a person second-guess their thinking and trick them into believing they are stupid and render them incapable of thinking for themselves.”
“My son can’t believe all the people he comes into contact with at school that simply have no clue, and the way the teachers lie to the students about history and current events is literally breathtaking.”
“I work with them about a lot of things and I either make them read or I read to them a lot. Reading is half the battle and the key to everything in life.”
“I don’t know if this is a dirty trick on my son or a survival thing--you decide. I told him to do whatever he has to do to get through the system and pass. Put down the answers they want to hear and play their game. It hurts, but remember this and it won’t hurt so much: They think they are winning. Let them think they are winning. Think of it as getting over on them as you quietly educate the friends and acquaintances of yours who will listen to reason and are strong enough to think for themselves.”
“Maybe that’s the answer. We infiltrate all their systems and change from within. Use all their own Gramscian planks and Alinsky rules against them to further OUR agenda. Maybe we need to use all their dirty tricks and rules against them and rebuild from within just as they destroy from within.” ---------------------------
[The Education Establishment is always claiming--dishonestly, I think--to teach something called “critical thinking.” But that is precisely what this mother is teaching her kids to do--think critically about their own education. Priceless....The link at top is to the article that prompted these comments: "The Secrets of Dumbing Down Revealed, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2505833/posts ]
Free time?
Wife’s career?
Second income to support your lifestyle?
Cable TV?
Adult toys?
Expensive vacations?
or, homeschooling your kids.”””
Can you & your spouse work on different shifts to homeschool the kids?
I want to see cooperative homeschools.
Why can’t I be paid to homeschool other peoples kids too? Just a few should be OK.”
A perfect term to use-a cooperative.
Might be worth talking to a lawyer.
Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama is trying to get them back..................
There are places in the country where a house is affordable on one income. Seriously, there are.
“(after I explained taxes to my six-year-old, his response was, “But that’s STEALING, Mom!”)
LOL! Smart kid.
I am in Southern California, and there are so many wonderful options like co-ops. What we do isn’t “my vision” of what I want for homeschooling, but as a single mom who has to work and still wants to home school it’s the best of all worlds.
My daughter is in kindergarten - she goes to school 2x a week, and I home school 3x a week. There’s only 6 kids in her class.
It’s their curriculum (Bob Jones) - I’d like less workbook work, but for now, it really works for us. There are at least 4 other schools that are similar in style and substance nearby. The teachers and parents who help in subjects get paid based on how many kids are enrolled. Tuition is very minimal.
There are tons of options out there if people look for it. I agree with another poster - I don’t want my daughter to have to butt heads with a teacher because of what is taught in class is so different than what is taught (or allowed) at home.
I can’t imagine ever putting my daughter into a “normal” public or private school.
Free time?
Wife’s career?
Second income to support your lifestyle?
Cable TV?
Adult toys?
Expensive vacations?
how about none of the above. we cannot afford private school. as for homeschooling.... i have a high school diploma, an associates degree from a community college, and a 15yr old son who is way smarter than i am. he is in advanced math classes and NJROTC. those are things i cannot provide in a homeschooling situation. i also have a very active 4 yr old who needs plenty of my time and attention. she would be disruptive of any homeschooling. please do not assume that those of us who send our children to public school are selfish and more interested in our own pleasures than our children’s education. we are fortunate in that our public school is a small town, conservative district with parents who stay involved and engaged. we don’t sit down and let a bunch of alinsky-ites teach our kids that communism is great and personal responsibility is child abuse. we can improve the public school system if we get involved and hold the administrators responsible. demand a better education for your child in the system your tax dollars support.
Not sure of your State or local laws, but that might become a daycare and be regulated.
Yes, we can call in “My Home Tutoring” hhmmmm
Find an abled and trustworthy teacher and pay them a small fee (maybe pay by the week or month) to home school your kids. This person does not need to know the answer to everything, thats why teachers’ books have the answers after all.
Reading, Writing, Math etc... field trips to the zoo, the museum etc Sounds like a great idea to me.
“Lincoln freed the slaves.”
Actually, he didn’t. The 13th Amendment did that. They teach in public schools that Lincoln freed the slaves, but no.
I know.but it fits............
Ping
Another reason for the separation of school and state.
Part of what I hate most about the institution of school is that it is an institution and people can not free themselves from the infrastructure. All that influence by your child’s peers is not necessary. The urban public high school ITSELF is a horrible thing to do to a child. Never mind what they are doing inside the classrooms.
Bells clanging, us-versus-them mentality, gates, imprisonment (especially if an act or G-d or of man occurs - try and get your child out if there was a shooting or an earthquake), walking in hordes, hall passes, drugs, competitive dressing, etc. I understand this treatment is necessary if someone has broken the law and SENTENCED to doing time, but otherwise, why do this to a good young person?
Right. Even a single mom could do it; she needs an in-home caregiver who will follow her instructions while she's not home, and she needs to do most of the schooling during the hours she is NOT working. You don't need much time. 3 hours a day is plenty.
School, especially high school, was a hateful place when I went there.
I do know some “single mom” homeschooling families.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.