Irriated with the school system

[mavh2005]

I need to get this off my chest. Urgh.. difficult child came home from BM's last night. Of course she hadn't done her spelling homework. So we started working on that.. difficult child is in the 4th grade and couldn't spell 'dropped' She's at or above grade level in spelling, how in the world can she not know how to spell? This is just the tip of the iceberg. I went to this same school when I was a kid.. By 3rd grade we HAD to know our multiplication facts. Memorized them and tested on them. Now, the teacher says, oh she doesn't need to know that... What?? Not know her math facts? Why? Oh.. she can use the table to figure it out. Please... she has to know this stuff or else she's going to fall behind.. But what do I know.. I'm just step mom who doesn't know ****. And of course BM doesn't help either.. that's another whole topic.

Anyway, I'm already thinking about homeschooling easy child when she starts school. Its not just difficult child that is having issues... I watch a boy that's the same age as difficult child and he doesn't have to learn his facts or learn how to spell. It's always "how do you spell ??"

Ok. I'm done now.
Thanks for reading.

 

[WhymeMom?]

It is a world of spell check and calculators...... don't know what will happen when electricity is out and batteries are gone....... rather than learn the multiplication tables kids are learning to text and dowload....... difficult to know what they will need in their life but learning basics ranks high in my book......

 

[Shari]

I hear ya. My 7th grade step daughter had a writing assignment. She had 3 photos and was to describe what was taking place in each. The directions were to be sure to include who is in the picture, where they are at, what they are doing, etc. And she wrote "The who is David. The where is in his room."

I worry.

 

[DaisyFace]

I hear ya!!!

I hate that research papers have turned into Copy/Paste projects right off the internet without so much as even crediting the source. What happened to actually having to learn a subject before writing about it?

And don't even get me started on computerized attendance and other records...

It's been explained to me that because of software issues, the school cannot keep track of student attendance. What??? When I was in school (you know, during the Stone Age) the teachers had no problems reporting kids who cut classes. If you skipped school, you were in big trouble.

Today? O well, if the computer doesn't say they were absent I guess it's OK.



If the kids keep "learning" in this type of environment....we will never, ever be able to retire. No one will know how to do anything if there is a power outage.

 

[Mattsmom277]

Lack of learning, loss of quality of learning, is my biggest pet peeve about the education system. We are told that if we expect more of our children, we can expect them to do greater things etc. Yet we are expecting less and less of our children through their school years. And we wonder why we are grooming a society of uneducated young people, underachievers, low wage earners etc. Well if we provide a quality education, we can expect a quality future for a kid who grasps the opportunities. But we seem to be yanking the options out under their feet. Parents really stick their heads in the sand. If ALL parents were outraged, something would have to change, force the system to change. But when so many parents turn the other cheek, this is what our kids now get.

No apologies please for your vent at all. I've seen (and posted) similar threads here through the years. You're not alone

 

[mavh2005]

Its so good to know I'm not alone in this. If difficult child was mine biologically, she'd be pulled out of school in a heartbeat and I'd homeschool her. All our school system is worried about is pass this test so I don't lose my job... All they do anymore is "prepare" for the state tests... I think I'm turning into my dad now. He always complained about how much testing we had in school and now I'm doing the same thing. Jeez.