When our [homeschooled] daughter was 8 she was reading to her cousins (16 and 14) and having to tell them what some of the words meant.
What makes that more interesting is the the 14 yo cousin was considered by the other adults in the immediate family to be a very good student. That was repeated often. But neither of them was reading at anything close to the level our kid was. And no one but my wife and I made the connection that her cousins were getting completely crap educations. Now 22 years later, the cousins have bombed (beyond belief) in life and still no one has ever connected the dots.
We started HS'ing about 87-88 I guess...did it K-thru 12...from SoCal to OK....The wife's family...thought we were crazy lunatics. A couple "Masters" prepared educators....within her family...not to mention some doubter's on both sides....voiced their objections.
Well we persevered...not without some doubts along the way. And we sacrificed...money wise.
But it was the best thing we ever did.
My girls are very successful now...And many of their cousins have degree's in "Modern Dance"..and "Foreign Religions"..etc..etc..and living back at home.
It's sad actually.....
Partially in response to “No Child Left Behind” (which demanded accountability/results - the reason it was opposed so strongly by the teachers’ unions) and partially due to taxpayer pressure (due to the sky-high costs of public education), many schools now simply award inflated grades. Parents think their children are learning (because their grades indicate that), and here in NJ many parents scattered all over the state believe their school ditrict is one of the top districts in the state (”We’re all winners!”).
Any parent that assumes a school (public or private) is really teaching his/her child is foolish; here in NJ private schools had been better in the past but now will accommodate anyone who can pay the tuition. My children describe a class where you could raise your grade a full letter by bringing in a can for one of their food drives; that about sums up the value of grades...