The assignment that I gave that got the most parental complaints (the only reason that my principal ever took any stands) was memorizing pi to as many places as the students could. I was told it was unreasonable to expect them to memorize a number that went on forever. When I reminded him that they only memorized what they could within a week's time, not the entire infinite sequence, he said that there was no reason to memorize pi since it is well-documented in books. When I told him that the point of the lesson was learning mnemonic devices, as well as measuring and improving memory capacity, he said that it was not part of my curriculum. When I reminded him that the ISTEP state standardized tests (our apparent Holy Grail from the state's viewpoint) included a memorization section, and it allowed them only 20 minutes to memorize a list of 25 nonsense words and definitions ("a grelb is a hammer"), he got tired of discussing it, and simply reminded me that I was not allowed to give that lesson. I then surprised myself and asked the consequences if I didn't. He said I would be written up and the record put it my file. I said (as politely as I could, to lessen the confrontational nature that was becoming apparent to the others in attendance) that if that were the case, then the lesson would be worth it to me. He, of course, upped the ante to a possible suspension for insubordination.
*sigh*
I had given that lesson for 3 years before it came up, and every year had at least one child going over 200 decimal places, and only 4 kids (total, out of 400-ish) ever attained less than 100.
The great part was when, a few weeks later, some man won $100,000 on a TV program for memorizing pi to 100 decimal places. All of a sudden, my kids felt cheated for not being allowed to do the lesson. Others thought I was being unfair since I had to substitute much more menial worksheets for a week, rather than the fun lessons I had prepared.
As for my current school (you're surprised I left?!?), there has obviously been some wretched breakdown in communication between the 3rd-5th grade math teachers, because I would be willing to bet that 75% of my kids do not know the 12x12 multiplication tables by heart. I have been including it in as many lessons and quizzes as possible, but they simply use fast addition to fill in the chart (add 4 to every subsequent number in the 4x column, etc), rather than actually memorizing the products. The parents and the administrations simply aren't interested in hearing the kids whine about heavy intellectual labor anymore. It's really sad.
Good luck, homeschoolers. You truly are doing the right thing for your children. Never let the talking heads guilt you into doubting it. As your ranks grow, I will get more hopeful for the public school system. The ONLY way the NEA and the educrats will start making meaninful changes will be after they start realizing that they are losing numbers, money, and power. Trust me, I've been to board meetings, faculty meetings, and national conventions where dissenters like myself are given a fair chance to be heard... just before they forge ahead with their own incredibly stupid plans anyway. You home-schoolers are the only hope, not only for your own kids, but for those who would actually like to see the public systems wake up and start focusing on fixing what they've broken in education.
One day I would like to wake up and read a news account of the largest association of homeschoolers offering to help educate the teachers of America.
I suppose if I remembered my calculus, I could remember how to construct an infinite series that would allow me to calculate pi to any desired degree of exactitude. But I don't remember enough to do that.
"...there has obviously been some wretched breakdown in communication between the 3rd-5th grade math teachers, because I would be willing to bet that 75% of my kids do not know the 12x12 multiplication tables by heart. I have been including it in as many lessons and quizzes as possible, but they simply use fast addition to fill in the chart (add 4 to every subsequent number in the 4x column, etc), rather than actually memorizing the products."
I've seen that myself! I tutor inner city kids (K-6) in an afterschool care program and you are right - about 75% of 4th and 5th graders do not know their multiplication facts. Actually many don't even know addition and subtraction facts and do a lot of counting on their fingers! I and the other volunteers are working on this problem, but it's slow going. Of course the kids always want to use a calculator (we don't let them).
I am home-schooling two kids while I write and market a book. One is old enough to have taken standardized tests, FReeper NattieShea, age 8. Her Stanford Achievement test scores last year indicated that she is a perfectly normal 10th grader. She scored Post High School in mathematics and algebra :-). She is completing a self-taught course in high school geometry now and will begin trigonometry, analytic geometry, and calculus this summer! THIS is an example of her literary work at that time. Her current term paper analyzes five works by Dickens for how his perspective of the Industrial Revolution was biased by his childhood experience.
Her sister is now barely 8. She is completing her work in fractions and can multiply binomials in her head. I am now introducing matrix algebra as a means to do subtraction. Her term paper is on five books by Jules Verne. She is the athlete, NattieShea is the dancer.
That’s right, we taught times tables and fractions before doing large subtraction problems. That is because we are free to integrate the curriculum into new and exciting forms that save huge amounts of time. It has its downside in that all experiments don’t work, but the benefit is that we can change it if it’s a flop. Our process of rapid iteration creates a customized curriculum and pedagogical style for each child.
Here is the really damning piece of information insofar as public schools are concerned:
I spend less time teaching these kids than it would take me to drive them to school and back plus help them with their homework. I have no doubt that, if they were in pubelick schools I would spend MORE time dealing with the behavioral problems arising therefrom than I do now while achieving excellent results and producing kids that are a pleasure to have. Parents beg us to loan them out hoping that they might be a positive influence on their kids. Home schooling is the best thing ever to happen in our family. It has brought us together like nothing else ever could have done.
When a market of home schools reaches, say five million kids, there will be dedicated broadband services and cable channels, private laboratory facilities in mini-malls... In short, the MARKET will provide the ancillary capabilities that one would rationally assume constitutes a limiting factor for the continued developmental acceleration of home-schooled teenagers. As parents find ways to integrate their professional development with their educational responsibilities, using the power to bring their professions into the home (as I do), the children will also see and experience that professional life all during their educational development. What do I mean?
I write and consult for a living. Everywhere I go, so do my kids. They see the world of work while they study. They walk the halls of the State Legislature, they visit the farms, factories, and small businesses, they meet forest landowners, they witness discussions with academics and agency administrators. They can sit quietly and study anywhere. Why? They get to see the interactions of adults on issues that matter. So far, wherever we go, I have yet to meet a person who is not delighted to have the kids around. They see me get frustrated with my own inabilities. They see me study and learn the skills I need to overcome the difficulty. They witness the need for quick thinking in debate. They therefore understand the importance of what they are doing. They understand that as soon as they are able, that they can help. Tell me that this is not an incredible learning environment.
For those who have doubts about home-schooling perhaps you might read Charlotte Iserbyt's book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America or John Taylor Gatto's book, An Underground History of American Education to understand where the public system is really going. It is so bad that any idiotic argument about socialization should be shown for what it is: the covetous desire to control how MY KIDS think. Socialization is socialism. Nothing more.
One final benefit. Every time a parents confront what they don't know, that they need to teach their kids, they get to go fix the damage done by THEIR public education. Home-schooling re-educates TWO generations of voters simultaneously and pulls families together that will resist the indoctrinal system (including the media). They will break down the entire educational hierarchy, including the university credentialing factories controlled by the PC professorate. That is why the fascist system so greatly fears it.
Fine post, Teacher. I come from generations of public school teachers, and without fail, they approve of our choice to homeschool. (At least those who are still alive.)
I never thought that my act of so-called 'defiance' would actually have a positive effect on anyone but my own kids. Thanks.