The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for September 15th, 2011 09:48 AM
| toldailytopic: What do you think of the public school system? |
In a way, I agree with Barbarian. But, I only agree with the fact that education falls underneath the responsibilities of the states, not the federal government. That is the only way to explain the discrepancy between bad schools in California and good schools in Illinois and in Indiana (supposedly on both bad and good).
I went to what was considered a bad school in California. That school had a lot of science/math/English competitions and sent loads of kids to them. It was considered a bad school because of the violence that occurred there. I transferred to what was considered a good school in Illinois for my senior year. This school only sent kids to choral competitions. There were 450 students in my graduating class in California (and that was a small school). There were 52 students in my graduating class in Illinois. To me, the smaller size made the Illinois school better. And, it was rural so the kids were mostly farmers' kids and were nicer than the kids in the school I went to in California. That said, all except for my government and economics classes in Illinois were repeats of classes I had taken in California. I took a purely academic course load with only one non-academic elective (choir). But, everything was taught to me in one or more of the previous three years.
Now, skip forward 21 years. My daughter started out school in a Christian school, in California. She knew how to read and write before she started kindergarten. Needless to say, she got bored very easily in kindergarten because she was reading things way below her level. In first grade, we had pretty much the same problem. For second grade, my husband and I tried public school, hoping that they would allow her to learn more at her own pace. Boy! Were we wrong about that or what? It took all of two weeks before her teacher asked me to come in for a conference to tell me that I needed to teach my daughter
not to go ahead in her books. I suggested allowing my daughter to go up a grade and the teacher said they couldn't do that because it would make the other kids jealous. So, I suggested allowing my daughter to spend half the day with the third grade class and half the day with the second grade class and then let her go to fourth grade with the third grade class. Once again, the teacher said that they couldn't do that because it would make the other kids jealous. She, then, suggested that I homeschool my daughter. I talked to my husband about it and we decided to do it. We continued until my husband passed away, a year and a half later. Then, we moved from California to Indiana. Because my daughter blamed me for his death (organ donation and the logic of a nine-year-old), I enrolled her in the local public school. I had test results and all my records from California, showing that my daughter had been doing sixth and seventh grade work. Because of her age, they enrolled her in fourth grade. The teacher complained almost daily to me that my daughter would not do her classwork. She told me that my daughter had complained that the work was too easy. I told her that she should give my daughter work so that she would be challenged. She didn't listen to me at all. So, when the semester report cards came out, I was surprised when my daughter had gotten all C's and D's, doing fourth grade work. I talked to the teacher and she told me that my daughter had started telling her, "I don't know how to do it," whenever she didn't want to do the work. So, I decided to go talk to the principal about it. His first comment to me was, "I guess she isn't as smart as you thought she was." I turned around and said, "She's smarter than your teachers if she can fool them into thinking that fourth grade work is too hard for her. I can do a better job teaching her than your school can." And, I pulled her out to homeschool her again. With the exception of one semester, two years later, when I taught Spanish in a Christian school, we homeschooled through the rest of her school years. She finished twelfth grade in June before she was supposed to start her senior year. So, I had her pick her favorite subject (reading and science) and study them until she turned 18 in January. Then, she got a job. She decided that she didn't want to have anymore schooling.
Now, when it comes to socialization, my experience has been much the same as The Berean's. Most students of public schools that I've met (both in California and Indiana) socialize great with
their own age group, usually. Most homeschooled students that I've met (from all over the USA) socialize great with
any age group. Although people I know who are against homeschooling because of "lack of socialization" complain about the homeschooled children only having contact with people the parents choose, almost every single one of them would comment on my daughter's ability to communicate with anyone easily.
I'm hoping that my daughter realizes how important it is to continue learning throughout her life. But, she's twenty-one years old, now. I cannot tell her what to do anymore. I can only advise her.
