I've made some comments in the past about the education system or lack thereof that we have in this town, I have just downgraded my opinion about it.

My neighbor is 16 years old, she's on the honor roll at school, and she reads on about a first grade level. She can't sound out 'invading', she has no idea how to read 'pudding', she was never taught the sounds of the letters and was only given the words to identify and recognize, never to sound them out on her own.

During a trip to the library this past weekend I found out in her classes, students can just nap until the bell rings, they have the option of not reading and the option of not even listening when the teacher talks or reads to them, everybody can yap their heads off during class, and this is what our tax dollars are going to.

And she fills out job applications everywhere and never gets picked, and it doesn't occur to her at all why she has to be able to read. What she has been taught is that school is a place to go and play games and you're not only allowed to but SUPPOSED to give up on everything that's too hard. And I know it isn't her fault but listening to her talk and she thinks it's funny makes me want to rip my hair out among other things.

She'll be graduating in 2 years and as it is now can't even find work as a part time dishwasher, but apparently that's another thing, in school they don't bother thinking about the future. Apparently the ONLY thing the school is concerned about is 'as long as they're not out in gangs in the street and they know where they are, that's all they need to do so long as they're not making fun of other students', learning has absolutely NOTHING to do with this school. And yet for so many years they pointed at US and said we're retarded, we're stupid, we'll never make it in the real world...if that ain't the big FAT pot calling the kettle black...

"But Homeschooled kids don't know how to talk to people!"

That IS pretty awful. Not to say that the school wasn't negligent, but I'm wondering what her parents are like to allow this to happen for all these years.

Of course there IS fault within the home environment, it's a single parent household, the father is not a literary person by any means, the mother is gone but her own mother can't even read so I'm guessing that was likewise handed down to her...but at the same time the father is not the one telling the kids to give up on everything and never try and run from anything that's hard and just sleep in class, that is the paid professionals' doing, paid with our tax dollars to be glorified babysitters.

Hell, many schools don't even teach spelling anymore. Truthfully, I don't know WHAT they're teaching. Here in Oregon I've requested itemized statements showing what all $12,000 per student goes towards but that request has never been honored. I could go on and on with my soapbox. Education is becoming a joke, and all the technology has not proven to be a valuable aid.

I am real Old School about the elementary years. I say yank out all computers from grade school classrooms, go back to drilling the basics into our children, and screw that "no child left behind" bullshit.

Bluesmama wrote:

Hell, many schools don't even teach spelling anymore. Truthfully, I don't know WHAT they're teaching. Here in Oregon I've requested itemized statements showing what all $12,000 per student goes towards but that request has never been honored. I could go on and on with my soapbox. Education is becoming a joke, and all the technology has not proven to be a valuable aid.

I am real Old School about the elementary years. I say yank out all computers from grade school classrooms, go back to drilling the basics into our children, and screw that "no child left behind" bullshit.

Amen, that's how we were taught, pencil and paper, and guess what, it WORKED! But NOW, everything's on computers because sabes que 'books are obsolete', but nobody's learning anything, hell the kids can't even tell you what they're reading on the computer when it's soooooo advanced over books...funny, you usually remember the books you read, don't you?

Supernova wrote:

I've made some comments in the past about the education system or lack thereof that we have in this town, I have just downgraded my opinion about it.

My neighbor is 16 years old, she's on the honor roll at school, and she reads on about a first grade level. She can't sound out 'invading', she has no idea how to read 'pudding', she was never taught the sounds of the letters and was only given the words to identify and recognize, never to sound them out on her own.

During a trip to the library this past weekend I found out in her classes, students can just nap until the bell rings, they have the option of not reading and the option of not even listening when the teacher talks or reads to them, everybody can yap their heads off during class, and this is what our tax dollars are going to.

And she fills out job applications everywhere and never gets picked, and it doesn't occur to her at all why she has to be able to read. What she has been taught is that school is a place to go and play games and you're not only allowed to but SUPPOSED to give up on everything that's too hard. And I know it isn't her fault but listening to her talk and she thinks it's funny makes me want to rip my hair out among other things.

She'll be graduating in 2 years and as it is now can't even find work as a part time dishwasher, but apparently that's another thing, in school they don't bother thinking about the future. Apparently the ONLY thing the school is concerned about is 'as long as they're not out in gangs in the street and they know where they are, that's all they need to do so long as they're not making fun of other students', learning has absolutely NOTHING to do with this school. And yet for so many years they pointed at US and said we're retarded, we're stupid, we'll never make it in the real world...if that ain't the big FAT pot calling the kettle black...

And she's on the honor roll, you say?

Chris wrote:

And she's on the honor roll, you say?

That's right. So just imagine what the poor students are like. But she's told me there are ones in the 7th grade who can't even read at all. As they say, where's Dan Rather when you need him?

Supernova wrote:

That's right. So just imagine what the poor students are like. But she's told me there are ones in the 7th grade who can't even read at all. As they say, where's Dan Rather when you need him?

"But at least she's not socially awkward like all you homeschool kids!"