Why we will not use the public school system

[raro]

One real problem with the public school system is that it (like so much government) is bloated... teacher-light and administrator-heavy. At the school where I teach students with emotional disabilities (middle school), we have math specialists, reading specialists, psychologists, and social workers who are doing the jobs that parents used to do. But at the central office, we have behavior specialists, transition specialists, yada yada yada, and they have to justify their jobs, so every few years they recycle some old program and call it "new." New math, new behavior plans for students, new ways of diagnosing, new ways of teaching, and they're all stuff that was tried before and now they've renamed it something new. And for a year or two we get useless training on the program, and then it fades out. If you want to talk about teachers not having time to do stuff, it's because of all the useless "training" they give us.

That's not to say we shouldn't have training. But it should be relevant. My students, for example, have generally spent time either in mental hospitals or juvenile detention, or both. They're great kids who are trying to overcome some pretty terrible things. Last year I had a really sweet autistic young man. I asked if the autism specialist could come give me a few pointers. I had to fill out papers in triplicate and go through all sorts of hoops, just for a 15-minute chat!

Last year I taught 12 subjects to 3 different grades, with no assistant. Try teaching 6th grade math, 7th grade social studies, and 8th grade language arts in the same classroom at the same time! It's no wonder that the burn-out rate in my county is 3 years.

If I could homeschool, I would, but since my husband died several years ago, I don't have that option. It amazes me that parents and teachers are so seldom on the same page. I've made it a policy that when I talk to parents, I focus on how great their kid is, and when I have to explain problems, I don't imply that it's the parents' fault, even if it probably is. Why alienate the main person in your student's life?! And yet I've seen teachers do it over and over, always ready to assign blame instead of trying to get the parent's insight. I could go on forever (since it's the first week of school and I'm over-stressed already!!) but I think you all get the idea...

 

[lorihadams]

I have a friend that works in a public school system and she is required to call every one of the parents whose children are failing on a WEEKLY basis. Do you know how many complaints of harrassment she's gotten??? Now she usually gets the answering machine when she calls parents whose children are usually failing for long stretches and she says "I know you know this already, but just remember I am required by the school board to do this"

It's ridiculous.

I just sat down to do a weekly lesson plan because we start homeschooling in earnest on Tuesday and both my children came and sat at the table and asked if they could do "schoolwork" with me...so I gave them some easy workbook pages that I knew they could handle doing on their own to ease them back into the swing of things. Then we watched a Winnie the Pooh dvd on counting so my 4 yr old could practice a bit and we bounced around the house counting like Tigger...it was fun

I like being able to break up the day with fun stuff that is also educational...one day we looked up marching band videos and watched a few and then made marching band hats and marched around the house playing all our instruments. It was great.

I just like that my kids are interested in learning about stuff and I genuinely try to find answers to their questions when they ask them and not just put them off. I also like the fact that I can be honest with the answers to some things that would ordinarily be "dumbed down" in a public school setting. I also speak correctly to my children and correct them when they speak improperly, but not in a critical way-I just repeat what they said correctly. I have found that by not encouraging baby talk my children have learned grammar and sentence structure just by us using it correctly ourselves.

I just like the fact that my children don't get lost in the shuffle when we homeschool. I used to teach and you try to give everyone individual attention when they need it but it is hard when class sizes seem to be getting bigger and bigger and there isn't funding for assistants in classrooms anymore. I also make a point to involve them in "class" settings when I can, we got to story time every week at the library and both children are starting gymnastics in 2 weeks. They get structure from another adult and get to practice some of the skills they have been taught at home and it gives me a break. They also have a wednesday night bible study at church that will be starting up again soon too...our children's director left for a 3 yr mission to Sweden and the interim director is leaving this fall for a 3 yr mission trip as well so we are in limbo there.

We have a local chinese restaurant that has wonderful servers that teach our children new chinese words every time we eat there and quiz them on the ones they were taught previously...this has given me the idea to incorporate a unit on China for our studies this year because they really seem to enjoy it. We also try to teach some spanish here and there so we will probably do some studies on spanish speaking countries as well. Next week we are studying native american tribes that are indiginous to our area and incorporating some map skills, writing, art projects, and history lessons in with that.

I like that I get to have input on what materials we are reading too...this week we are starting Little House in the Big Woods and reading some of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" and also will be memorizing one poem per week to recite to daddy on Fridays.

We can get everything done for the school day in a few hours versus 8 hours in public school and 1 hour a day on the bus which gives them more time to be active outside, persue their own interests, take lessons, and get better sleep. I would like for both my children to start learning a musical instrument of their choosing next year as well.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I ws able to be actively involved in my DD's schools, because I worked part time. She went to public school til HS. Her 1st elementary school was pretty good. I volunteered in her class one day a week when she was in kindergarten. That way I got to keep tabs on the teacher. She used me shamelessly I loved it. DD loved having me at her school. Through the years we took every opportunity to teach our DD things that weren't taught at school or we enhanced what was taught. Her father and I both were very active with her schooling. When she attendet Jr HS, the system began to really fail her. I was at the school complaining about something or other all the time. Wether it was that my DD was bored to death, because the teacher catered to the middling students or a teacher made a threat toward my DD for some reason or other. After one year in HS, we as a family decided to get her into a private school. We managed to do so, because DD was super smart and passed the entrance test with flying colors and we got scholarships and we worked at the school to help pay for the tuition. DD was finally challenged again at school, made many new friends and got a scholarship for college.

I think it depends on each individual situation. I was unable to do the same sort of thing with my Stepson. I was willig, but the "politics" of step parenting prevented me from doing so.

I was able to help several of DD's friends, whose parents either couldn't or wouldn't work with their kids an the teachers.

I also had friends, who did he same with their children and we often helped each other or did stuff together. This made it easier and more fun for ll of us.

There are good teachers and there are bad teachers and then there are super teachers. DD was fortunate to have had a few super teachers, mostly good one and few really sucky ones. The sucky ones saw a lot of me but so did the good ones, because I was happy to work with them.

 

[curly_kate]

One real problem with the public school system is that it (like so much government) is bloated... teacher-light and administrator-heavy. At the school where I teach students with emotional disabilities (middle school), we have math specialists, reading specialists, psychologists, and social workers who are doing the jobs that parents used to do. But at the central office, we have behavior specialists, transition specialists, yada yada yada, and they have to justify their jobs, so every few years they recycle some old program and call it "new." New math, new behavior plans for students, new ways of diagnosing, new ways of teaching, and they're all stuff that was tried before and now they've renamed it something new. And for a year or two we get useless training on the program, and then it fades out. If you want to talk about teachers not having time to do stuff, it's because of all the useless "training" they give us.

Exactly. Public schools can do a lot of good because there ARE a lot of good teachers. Unfortunately, the bigger a district gets, the more bloated they become at the top. Then that's where all the money goes, because of COURSE the people that get paid the most are the ones that work with the kids the LEAST.