Other Opiates - What kids know.

National Review Online ^ | September 3, 2002 | Mark Goldblatt

[TxBec]

My favorite one is Mother of Divine Grace School. This is run by Laura Berquist, author of Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum

[Freedom2specul8]

Listening to people like yourself, reading a few online articles..and studying the homeschool philosophy through various methods and reading the book "Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling" helps understand the reasoning behind homeschooling and alternatives to public schools. I never even considered homeschooling as an alternative until it was pointed out to me from a friend (ONLINE)who homeschooled his 3 boys clear up to highschool. There is a freeper named "born in a rage" who has been collecting homeschool links for a very long time. (she's awesome BTW) Her links to previous articles etc., will give someone a great education about "education"..

[Freedom2specul8]

"But you and gummi seem to have devoted considerably more study to the subject"

I doubt it yeti. I quit studying it a couple of years ago. (not speaking for gummy)

"Seems to me to be that the confluence of non-academic mass attitudinal therapy and weak academic instruction has left students unprepared for higher education. What does the article mean to you?"

I think that is well put. I'm not sure what primed the parental attitudes..I guess the words free education must have been the key.

[GummyIII]

I, as a public school teacher, support and advocate home-schooling as the ultimate resource and teaching method for children. I applaud you.

[Marie]

It's a great book! I follow it closely with my daughter, but my son requires a lot more flexability. My main philosophy is, get them READING and stress math. Everything else is gravy.

[Marie]

OH! Check out http://www.narsonline.com/ for a graduation option! (I know it's a little early, but it helps to know all you options.)

[Marie]

Thanks, Gummy. MY FIL is a teacher and it's been a long road to win him over. (results speak louder than words)

[dd5339]

Thanks for the info. It is probably a little early to look at graduation options for her as she's only 9 months old! I kind of have a feeling the time is going to fly though and I'm going to look back and wonder where it went.

Semper Fi

[Mugwump]

Actually, "bald-faced lie" is correct and goes back to Elizabethan times. As memory serves, "bald" in this sense implies the terms "open," or "obvious.

Any of you less rusty on their etymology, feel free to correct me.

[TxBec]

I envy you. I wish I knew what I know now when my kiddos were that little. I'd have started them homeschooling right from the start (I know, better late than never and all that, but still...).. Take all the notes you can, explore all the different options you have and enjoy every minute of it : )

[Irene Adler]

"They don't know what they should know. The second is more subtle yet even more worrisome: They assume they know much more than they actually do know."

I have taught on the university level for 20 years, and both of these statements are painfully true. The second is especially telling. Today's students really think they know a lot....seriously.

So do the public school certified-education-major teachers who "teach" them.

[Irene Adler]

How about, "It's a doggy-dog world"?

[Irene Adler]

"I went to high school in the '60's. Even then I realized I was learning more from my personal reading than I was learning in the required classes."

This was absolutely true for me, too, and the time period was the same. as well.

[Interesting Times]

In this instance, not only did the students fail to identify arguably the most famous quotation of the last two centuries, or to recognize the name of the leader of the Protestant Reformation, but they felt secure enough to laugh at an educated guess far closer to the mark than they realized.

The cultural shift from honoring earned self-respect to handing out free "self-esteem" wasn't an accident.

You aren't likely to object to your indoctrination -- or even notice it -- if you can't think rationally and lack the humility to wonder if the things you believe are really true.

[Lizavetta]

Well, parents who homeschool are usually very knowledgable about the shortcomings of the local public school.

I didn't realize until somewhere in my late 20's/early 30's how BADLY I had been screwed, education-wise. I knew next to nothing and despised learning because it had been such a depressing and frustrating experience. Now I'm a history bookaholic and homeschool......I simply will not allow my kids to waste away in the brain as I did. Thank goodness I recovered.

[Lizavetta]

Maybe homeschooling will help, though I don't know a lot of Moms who can teach their kids calculus. Oh well...

I don't know many moms who can teach it either, but I also know hardly any people who need it.

For those students who want it or need it, there's online courses, community college, or taking the class when you start at a 4-year college.

[HassanBenSobar]

I don't know many moms who can teach it either, but I also know hardly any people who need it.

Not everyone needs it. But it helps america keep a technological edge that a significant fraction CAN understand and use it. And lots of high-school age kids are capable of learning it. (One could argue that if home-schooled kids are so much better off than other students, they all ought to be able to learn advanced math as well as other advanced subjects). The same could be said for foreign languages (how many parents can speak more than one language?)--and foreign languages are easier learned when one is younger.

I'm not trying to bash homeschooling--parents who do this are obviously committed and serious about providing their kids with a good education. I just don't see it as a panacea. (I also think anti-intellectualism is as dangerous to the nation as the erosion of educational standards, but that's probably a better subject for a different thread).

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

The second is especially telling. Today's students really think they know a lot....seriously.

Most of us become aware of how little we know from year to year....until, at last, the universe is once again infinitely wondrous and we are very small. Perhaps it is possible for today's students to learn.

Thank you for hanging in there for 20 years.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Does this sound familiar, Teacher? (^:

[mamelukesabre]

Oh that's a good one all right. I don't think I've heard that one yet, but I'll be on the lookout for it now.

Another thing that bugs me about kids these days is the way they use slang even in formal settings. For instance, the sentence: "Can I tell you somthing?" would often be pronounced different in a very casual setting, something like "Cin I tell ya somthin?" And words like cantchya(can't you) are also used in a casual settings. But you would think a college student would know better than to use this kinds of slang in a formal presentation in front of their class, wouldn't you? Well, they don't. You will hear this kind of slang even in a formal setting such as this.

It really really bugs me. They might as well turn around and rake their fingers on the chalkboard. It would have the same effect on my nerves.