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Noble Realms → General Discussion → Public Schools Suck!!!
They put me in challenge too, but it didn't add any extra work, cause I never did my homework in the first place. I never understood why, if I understood something the first time, I had to do it 120 more times. It took me a long time to realize that school wasn't really about intellectual development.
treehugger wrote:
I talked to her about maybe doing the homeschool thing, but she wasnt too keen on the idea. I think right now, the social thing is the biggie for her.
Yeah, that's the biggest hurdle with an older child. I imagine it would be hard, depending on their maturity and perspective. She may some day get sick of school enough to throw up her hands and say "Fine! Let's try it!". You never know...That's cool that you've already suggested it to her. Maybe sometime when she's on a rant about something sucky that happened at school, you could interject with a gentle reminder of the cool, other possibility 
If you lay it out to her in a way she is keen to, then it would be a more appealing choice. If possible, you could make it so you guys can go on field trips to places she wants to go, and offer to have her friends come with her. Think of things that are relevant to her and her learning abilities and work with those to come up with ideas she'll like. And since she's old enough, she can have input on what things she's interested in doing.
But then again, some kids like to be in a school situation because of the socialization thing. So if she's learning and getting along well, then it probably won't matter. Most of us went to public school and turned out fine... Well, that's debatable on my part 
Ah, well, see you've got me going now!
Sorry about that! I was afraid that would happen 
Oh, and sorry...I just realized I have given you advice that you didn't even request. I have an irritating habit of giving out unwanted advice.... I'll shut up now 
I'm with you on the homeschooling Seeking the Truth. I homeschooled my 10yo twins until my daughter piped up one day and said she wanted to try the local Steiner School, where lots of her friends were going. It was a school we had considered when looking at starting school, but we lived too far away at the time, and went with homeschooling (and we un-school too, or 'natural learning', if you like). Then we moved closer and naturally had more to do with that steiner community because a few of our friends were going there. Now, I had always said to them that if they wanted to go to school they could, and if they then wanted to come home they could. So, she went of to Steiner 1 day a week, which the school were great about doing. Daughter was 8 by then. Over the last two years, she has moved into full-time, while son did part-time, now they are both full-time. I'm lucky. Even as steiner schools go, this is a fabulous one, no dogma, very reverent of the children as individual sovereign beings, and very small, natural, and beautiful, LOTS of parent involvement. Last year was the first time my son ever went full-time to any school (his choice), and he is actually enjoying it a great deal.
The opportunity to keep your kids to yourself is just beyond words, grab it if you possibly can, even if its not forever. It's you they want to be with, and learning is inherent and just about unstoppable. I always did alot of thinking aloud and following their interests. They are very different to alot of kids their age, even the steinies who have been there from the start of school age. NEVER 'bored'. They just never use that word. They are interested in everything, everything that school taught ME was boring, and which since I left I have found to actually be increasingly fascinating.
The world can't be chopped into subjects, put into boxes. It has to be experienced holistically, then the fun never stops. I highly recommend it even if it's not forever. We intend to homeschool for at least part of their highschool years, hopefully taking them overseas to see it all for themselves.
Something I read years ago that always stuck with me and which I always used in order to try and explain ourselves to the many people who were surprised by what we were/are doing with our kids education (eg "I think you're mad" Mother in law) is this,
"Information is information. It can be learned anytime, anywhere, at any age. But self-confidence, self-discipline, self-motivation etc., are easily lost and very difficult to regain." or something like that.
I can highly recommend unschooling.com and any books by John Holt if you are interested in looking into it further.
My public school experience was horrible! I was in high school when the incident at Columbine happened. From then on, the school became a fortress. We had to practice "terrorist drills" in which the students made barricades out of desks and chairs to "protect ourselves."
We had to wear cards with our name and a bar code on it around our necks. I refused to wear mine, and got lots of detention. Detention was in a room painted completely black, just to scare us.
There were lots of other silly rules, like the nurse wasn't allowed to give you pain killers, no matter how much you were suffering! And teachers were required to lock you out of the classroom if you were late. You couldn't come back in unless you had a detention slip.
There were metal detectors at the doors, our bags were searched when we came in, and cameras were everywhere. You weren't allowed to have a calculator, because you might be able to blow up something with it or whatever.
Our school was run by the rich Masonic families, of course.
I really didn't learn anything there. We were taught to follow the politically correct/orthodox way of thinking and to never doubt it.
MM, stories like yours above make me cry. So very obviously so very wrong. I wish I could protect every child, and give them the love and respect they deserve and require. Public schools (even in Australia, which isn't quite as bad as US) just plain make me mad. And it never ceases to amaze me just how many people don't get why, and don't question it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DUH!!!!!
Limukala, that reminded me of my son. He NEVER did his homework. Every year I would get a call from his teachers, "Caleb is soo smart, but he wont do his homework, how can we fix this?". By 5th grade, I gave up trying to make him do his homework. He'd ace all his tests, so they couldnt very well fail him. This went on till he graduated high school.
Free*World..your kids are lucky they have such wonderful parents. I agree with the love and respect thing. A lot of kids just dont get that at school.
Seeking the Truth....your advice was good, nothing wrong with getting someone else's perspective.!:)
Mutant Mouse...what a horrible experience for a child. Im so sorry.
Funny thing is...I grew up at a boy's private boarding school. My father taught physics and math, and we lived on campus. And yes, being a girl, it made for interesting teenage yrs. It was the first school for boys with dyslexia. Its a very prominent, highly regarded school now. I could never understand these rich people sending their kids away for the whole year. My father not only had to teach them, he also had to be parent and disiplinarian. (if I could have only had a nickel for everytime I walked in and found my dad jacking some kid up against the wall (the boys nicknamed dad "wall-job Eddie") screaming at him for some indescretion. It was the 50 and 60's, you could get away with that crap) Anybody ever see the movie"The Dead Poets Society"?. Thats pretty accurate of the environment I grew up in. Anyways, Ive gotten sidetracked. 
I just hate watching my daughter get on the bus knowing that at some point in the day, she's going to get some sh*t from a teacher that pretty much hates being there and shouldnt have any contact with kids.:(
Unfortunately, a lot of people figure they had to deal with it, and so then must their kids. Rite of passage I guess. But I felt I was treated horribly a good deal of the time. I have a major issue with authority, and got in trouble a lot for questioning it. I think people are just afraid to question any type of beaurocracy or authority. Its been programed into us from day one.
Hello treehugger (by the way, I love your username!), I have two children, a boy 16, and a girl 10. When my son started school, kindergarten, his teacher's comment on his first report card was, "He seems like he's in his own little world", etc., etc. Well damn right he did! He did, and still does have his own mind! And this has been the comments from his teachers through out all the school years. He also had a problem with doing school work, it wasn't that he wasn't smart enough, hell, he's very intelligent. I believe he just didn't want to be there. Well he's not there anymore because he quit. Now, my daughter is in 4th grade and she likes school pretty well. But I have been thinking of home schooling her because for one example: the weather was not too cold, she had on a t-shirt, a sweat shirt, and a coat (with a hood). The teacher thought she wasn't dressed warm enough! They made her put on a heavier coat and told her to wear the hat they gave her. Well she wore the coat but not the hat. I was livid! How dare they dress MY daughter! I wrote to the teacher and advised her NOT to dress my daughter with their clothes! There have been some other instances as well. I'm a good mother who loves her children very much and take care of my children! I will list some websites and material that may explain why the PTB (powers that be) think they can run our children's lives, and also the adults.
( http://mayanmajix.com/croft.pdf )
( http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/elizabeth/ )
( http://www.freedomtofascism.com/ )
( http://www.atgpress.com/inform/indexinf.htm )
( http://www.proliberty.com/observer/ )
( http://www.natural-person.ca/ )
( http://www.outlawslegal.com/ )
( http://wethepeoplecongress.org/index.php )
( http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid= … pr=goog-sl )
( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid … to+fascism )
hope this helps!
Thanks for links globug . Ive been in the process of reading the Mary E. Croft book That is something that everyone should read. Great stuff.( when I see your user name I picture that little green glowbug that my kids had when they were little. The head lights up when you hug it )
I remember when my youngest was born. I wasnt legally divorced from my ex (even though we had been separated for 6yrs. Just couldnt afford a divorce in NY) The state of NY would not allow me to put my daughters biological fathers name on the birth certificate. They said legally, my ex was her father!!! So I left it blank, I guess it was an immaculate conception!:rolleyes:
Yeah, I hate it when other people think they know better for your kid than you.
I really do want to either home school my daughter - or send her to private school (which we may just be able to afford). Though I am not sure how much better private schools are.
The other alternative is to send her to a Waldorf school...but their fees are very expensive indeed!
Interestingly the UK may get its first Gov. funded Waldorf school by the end of the year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6290115.stm would be nice if so - and is one of a few things that shows a changing attitude in this country towards education.
There is a new Waldorf school being built near us but I know we wont be able to afford it. Sigh
Noble Realms → General Discussion → Public Schools Suck!!!
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