Ist cyphercat post:
Cyphercat -- Students are told -- largely by their parents -- that they must go to college. The result is that too many colleges are springing up (Northwestern Michigan University?!) and accepting too many kids who have no hope of ever graduating. There has to be a large profit in these hordes of kids who attend college for one year or just one semester.
second cyphercat post:
People have been criticizing American education for years, as pbrown says. There is even a book with a title along the lines of 100 years of failed school reform, which is something of a logical fallacy because schools have changed continually over the past century.
My father was born in 1923 but did not attend kindergarten. He began first grade in 1929. There were boys in his third grade class -- held back before the days of social promotion -- that needed to shave. The stories he tells of rude and unruly kids could be told today.
ebrown -- You're right about things like the quadradic equation . . . which I have no memory of. However, some things are just there as stepping stones to others. It is pretty hard to understand history without geography.
BTW, it is no better in Europe. My daughter took a year off between high school and college and worked as an au pair in France. When she a friend from Denmark were on the subway and guys would hit on them, they would ask where they were from. When my daughter's friend truthfully answered Denmark, the ignorant wouldbe swain invariably said, "That's the capitol of Amsterdam."
In my school in Michigan, we began Michigan geography in the second semester of third grade. During fourth grade, we had US geography, with world geography following in the fifth. We began history in the sixth grade. There was a lot more to learn in cultural and economic terms in those days.
So. Is it profitable not to teach geography? Energy sources?
plainoldme wrote:Linkat -- We had parent-teacher conferences at school this week. Some of the students work at the school during that time, either as guides who give directions or as representatives of the clubs/sports/performance ensembles to which they belong. One of these kids told a teacher that her mother has never attended a single open house or ever went to a parent-teacher conference. The teacher felt like crying for the kid.
That's so sad. By just attending the conference you are showing your child how important s/he is and how important education is. Really the appointments are only 15 minutes once a year a parent should be able to suck it up and attend even if they are busy and even if there are no issues with their child or their grades.
I love going - I love to hear about what goes on during the day - I wouldn't miss it for the world.
u r really doing too much for ur children. u don't have to go see the teacher all the time, u should have time for urself also
Linkat -- I think it is sad as well. The girl even told the other teacher that her mother doesn't care. How can you not want to know who is influencing your children?
My former husband never visited the colleges our kids have attended. I just don't see how he could be uninterested even when they were in their twenties.
