Public schools, assessments, and classroom teachers

Let me start out by saying that I am not an educator, but I come from a long line of them. And I whole heartedly agree with you.

While there are problems with every educational system known...nothing is perfect, the public education system offers by far the best chance for us as parents and educators to give our children the best education we can.

My family was fortunate in that we had the financial opportunities that allowed us to provide our children with private school. When we began searching for a school for our daughter, my father-in-law, asked me to give public school a try for six weeks. He told me that if I wasn't satisfied, then I could place her anywhere and he would not only pay for it, but provide her transportation as well.

I have to tell you that it not only met, but exceeded my expectations. I learned a great deal about children her first year in school, but most of all I learned that public schools do have exceptional teachers and quality programs.

Now through the years, I have had my share of tangles with some teachers. I have even wondered why a couple of teachers were even teaching at all. But with both of my children, who by the way were honor graduates, now out of college and doing extremely well, I can tell you without a doubt, public education was by far the best choice for us!

We lived across the street from 2 home schools and I don't have a clue how those kids learned a thing since they were busy wondering the streets while the mother/teacher was in her bathrobe at 1 in the afternoon. I returned one's 2 year old to her one afternoon in the rain after he entered my back yard. Mother had no clue he was even missing. Now I am not saying that all home schools are like these 2 were.

We are now sending our Grandson to public school as well and are equally as pleased with his education.

By setting standards for each grade level it helps to ensure that all children are exposed to the same concepts and skills across the country. No matter what state, county, or demographic area you live in, your child will be exposed to the same content as other children.

I do not see why my child needs to be exposed to exactly the same content as every other child. My children are individuals. I do not plan to even expose the two of them to exactly the same content in our homeschooling.

My son reads fluently and he is only four. He started reading at age two. I can only imagine how bored he would be to go learn phonics in kindergarten next year. Needless to say, he won't be going.

My daughter is not so big on academics but has done five ballet performances -- real ones that require an audition and talent to get a part. She has done a modeling job. She is pursuing her interests which frankly aren't what I'd prefer they were but at least she is passionate about them.

It is way too late for me to enter this discussion so I am leaving a short comment so that I can easily find it to return to tomorrow.

Andrea,
I am thrilled to hear that you are doing such a great job with your own children and that you are individually tailoring the content taught to each of them.
I can tell that you are a mother that values education and your children are thriving in your homeschool environment. I do not have anything negative to say about homeschooling in general, as I have heard many parents such as yourself describe wonders that are taking place in their homes and have personal knowledge of a few adults that are very successful that were also homeschooled as children.
The great thing is that you have a choice and have the means to work with your own children from home. For many parents this is not a choice as they must work for one reason or another and must rely on public or private schools to educate their children. Public schools must ensure that to the best extent as possible that all children have equal opportunities. When I mentioned that all students across a grade level are exposed to the same content, that did not mean that individual teachers could not or do not introduce extra concepts. Many if not most teachers read books and introduce themes that are of high interest of their students for that given year. For example, one year I had a class full of students that were interested in Space. Although my science curriculum did include a small chapter on space, I knew that that particular class wanted more! The students created posters and wrote reports and well as designed projects all centered around the theme of space. This goes on all the time with all kinds of different subjects. Often the things one class is interested in is not what another class may be highly interested in. However, the basic academic content is standardized, meaning that every child during that grade level is exposed or introducted to certain content or skills. My son has always been very interested in building things and he loves math. What if he had a teacher in second and third grade that had never really touched on fractions and then he went to fourth grade and was expected to solve problems involing those? If his classmates had been introduced to fractions in the years previous to fourth grade, they would have a greater advantage and he would feel left behind. Even though his teacher may offer him extra assistance, he could possibly struggle in order to just keep up. This is just an example of why certain content is taught in certain grade levels. Often a skill or concept is only briefly covered. A child needs background knowledge.

Another thing that is highly important is equality. Public education must ensure that all children are provided an equal education. If there were no standards for each grade level, then some children would e taught some skills and others may not ever be taught those skills, especially if each year it is left up to individual teachers. Grade level standards are just basics, not the total curriculum by any means. Explaining the hows and whys of teaching and education to other professionals and parents is not easy. I would never have understood if I had not taken child psycology and/or studied child development and brain research. If another professional tried to give me a brief run down on their profession, medical, legal, or business related, I would truely never gain a perfect understanding.
I can not and will never be able to explain everything in just one article or even several. That being said, I want to point out that most children that are homeschooled are not taught by certified educators. It is their parents that teach them and most do a great job. Those that do well are the ones that read read read and talk to others who are homeschooling and gather ideas. Active, loving, caring parents are doing great jobs with their children and sometimes those children do better in their homes than they would in a public school setting. Just as some students do not do well in the school setting, some children do not do well in homeschool environments. I have had a couple parents over the years who enroll their children and tell us how difficult their children were to teach at home. The reasons range from discipline to uninterest and so on. This does not mean that ALL homeschools are terrible or unsuccessful. We sometimes experience the same problems in public schools. However when that happens, all schools and public education are lumped together. This is what is upsetting as there are many more success stories then failures just as in homeschools.
I am not sure why some feel that there is this BIG RIVALRY between public educators and homeschooling parents. The ultimate goal is to educate children and help them obtain the skills and knowledge they will need to be successful throughout their lives. For some children the best place to do this learning is in the home for others public education offers what they need.
Long before America had formal education and offered free education to all children, parents were teaching in their homes. Those children grew up to be adults and many were very successful in the occupations that were available at the time. (By the way, for a while, only rich white males were offered any type of formal education.) As the times changed, little school houses popped up. One room school houses with one teacher and children from various grade levels were there. Poor children attended, but these schools were mainly for white children. Of course over time, blacks formed their own schools. As time passed and America changed, discrimination became illegal and schools were filled with all genders and all races. The basic education that was taught even 40 years ago is not the same basic education taught today. WHY? Because the world has changed. The jobs of today and even in the future expect more and education has to continually change in order to meet the goal--which is to provide children with the skills and knowledge needed in order to be successful. For example, when I was in high school, I took typing. I remember my mother telling me that I was lucky. When I asked her why she responded that she was never given the opportunity to learn typing and after she graduated there were so many jobs that required the ability to type. She had to find financial aid and attend a votech school to learn to type. Today children have access to computers and software as early as Kindergarten. Students are assigned projects that envolve them using power point or web page design. I remember just being asked to write a report and turn it in. But the job market keeps changing. Which is why the standards keep evolving and changing.
I can't imagine my child sitting in a classroom with a teacher who was teaching the same content as she did back in 1980! Standards ensure that all children have access and exposure to basic education. Teachers often go above and beyond those basics.
As far as your child not wanting to be bored doing phonics, then continue working with him at home. Whatever methods you are using are obviously working.
For years the school systems used whole language as a means of teaching reading. I remember that because I was a student during that era. I do not recall reading until first grade--although my mom said I was never below grade level. My brothers daughter went to school in the early 90's when whole language alone was still used. Her son is a smart child and has been in all honors courses throughout school. However with whole language alone, he also did not read until the end of first grade. In about 1998 or so--do not quote me-- there became a shift. NOT to do away with whole language entirely, but to also include phonemic awareness and phonics into the reading programs. Teachers are still required to read to their children many times throughout the say with both fiction and non fiction tests. Story elements are discussed and vocabulary is pulled from their stories. However children are also taught to decode and blend sounds earlier. From my experience--I can not speak for all teachers---my students LOVEd working with sounds and words. I gave them letter tiles and they combined them and the sounds to invent their own words as well as tryed to spell common words. Teaching little children is so much fun and watching their eyes light up when they learn concepts is the biggest reward for teachers. I always thought MATH was boring too--My brother hated writing. My brother now teaches high school Biology!
I actually excelled in Math in High School and College and now tutor high school students with algebra. (All from the girl who hated math in elementary school!)

Again, thank you Andrea for sharing the great news about your own children and how well they are learning. I think its great that there are parents like you with big hearts and the ability to spend more time at home with their children.

Vicki

Whoa... I didn't respond simply because I haven't checked my Gather email in awhile. Secondly, I taught for 4 years before I quit because my 15 month old was sitting in daycare and I didn't feel comfortable with that--I wanted to raise him myself. Thirdly, I'm not making lots of $$ on my sites...LOL That kind of cracked me up. I'm a full-time, homeschooling, work-at-home mommy who is trying desperately to help her hubby pay the bills so I can continue to stay home with my kids.

About the educational system, I'm sorry you feel so defensive. I don't feel my statements were "blanket statements" because I can only speak about what's happening in my neck of the woods. Also, people have very different ideas about what "education" should entail.

It's hard to get what someone's trying to say online. I'm sorry if I came across as hostile. Really, all I am being is honest. That's it. I can only share what I've seen and what I'm currently seeing and my beliefs about how children learn. I want people to understand that they DO have options. That they DON'T have to sit back and accept what is happening. Time and time again I hear parents complaining about how their kids don't have enough recess or too much testing. They also are fed up with school violence, sexual acts in the younger grades, etc.. There are many issues for each parent to consider.

To sum up, parents have to make choices based on their own beliefs about education, what's happening in their area, and their children's individual learning needs. There's no "right" or "wrong" because every family is different. It's interesting to note that there's a growing trend of educators who choose to homeschool these days. Many of us are frustrated with the system and don't want to subject our kids to it--that doesn't mean everyone has to agree with us.

Oh, and by the way, I think I've made about $30 as an Amazon Affiliate in the whole 2 years I've been with the program. It's really not much of a money maker, so please don't think I'm getting rich off recommending great homeschooling books. I'm simply sharing what I know with other parents who are looking for an alternative to their child's current learning environment. I hope my articles help someone out there have the courage to try homeschooling if they're considering it.

Jan

P.S. What book do you think I'm recommending that talks about how "terrible traditional school systems are?" I can't think of any I've read on that topic--plenty on school reform since I helped found the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform during my very first year of teaching. I've only read a few homeschooling books--everything else I recommend is about natural living and attachment parenting.

Thanks for your response to my comment, Vicki. I actually come from a family of educators. Two grandparents and two aunts were/are teachers. All but one are retired now. I would never disrespect an educator nor would I call myself one. I'm only the facilitator of my children's learning.

I'm sorry but I can't take credit for my son's reading skills. He did it all himself. He's going to be the easy one, at least until the library runs out of books.

I find myself contracting out a lot of my daughter's education. I just cannot teach the things she wants to learn like art, dance, and drama. I do know that she would not have been able to be as active in ballet if she had been in a traditional school. The rehearsal schedule just would have been too much. She has lost interest in ballet now and is looking for a new passion. I sure wish it would be schoolwork for a change.

Andrea,
Thanks for writing me back, yes it is hard sometimes to figure out what makes each child tick!

The important thing is that you care and are there for her. Do not blame yourself for her choices or lack of motivation. I am sure that all at once it will become clear what she is all about. It may even surprise you!

Keep in touch, I love reading your articles, you are such a REAL person!

Vicki