Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All the state mandated "politically correct" classes & "theme of the week" lessons need to hightail it out of the classroom. I didn't appreciate being required to spend 20 mins a day on such things as "compassion" & "responsibility" from a 10 page handout with a checkoff list from the state. I taught 6th grade for pete's sake...you want to turn off a bunch of middle schoolers...give them a hand out on "compassion" with little pictures....
Absolutely everything that pertains to NCLB starting with highly qualified teacher requirements & state mandated fear testing. Most HQ req's keeps incredible teachers from branching out into other areas. If the govt wants an HQ requirement, then it needs to establish one that makes sense. State mandated fear testing has destroyed public education. Actually, it sped up the process. Public education has been going down hill for decades since society wants it all for free & put nothing into it.
Things need to go BACK TO BASICS:
reading...if you knew how many student can NOT read at their grade level...it's amazing
writing...coherent sentences with proper grammer & punctuation
math...no calculators until high school
arts...music, visual arts, dramatic arts
phys ed....get out & PLAY!!!
non denom religion classes (world religions)/history...do I even need to explain?
finance/econ...financial responsibility...life is not an ATM....
basic computer skills....and a computer for every student is SOOO not necessary or valuable
School is too over the top & too satuarated with useless mandated requirements.
What else needs to be taught: a class for parents...that what goes on at home is far more valuable & has a far bigger impact than what goes on in school....and that parents need to be involved & hands on....mostly after 1st grade when the biggest requirement for parents is bringing in cupcakes for 100 Day celebration.
Schooling needs to be year round. The school day needs to start later & not be so long...and it's so long b/c of so much useless stuff that is "taught". Our middle school starts at 7:30am & ends at 3:30pm!!! That's ridiculous. Year round. 9am start. 2-3pm end.
Makes me so sick. There are so many schools cutting out art and music education. Musically inclined kids, as well as those who study art are shown to be smarter and more creative (obviously). I would NEVER send my kid to a school that didn't have a good solid music AND art program.
I think that schools teach a little about too much and that this acts like a vaccine.
Apparently, there is some evidence to show that doing fancy chemistry demos in elementary school actually turns kids off chemistry in high school because when the teacher tells them that they are going to investigate such and such reaction, they think back to the demo the teacher did in elementary school and think ‘done that’ and then do not engage at a deeper level.
I think schools should stick to basics (Reading writing and arithmetic) and encourage kids to investigate things that they are interested in.
Mind you the flip side is that many kids wont investigate anything.
I suspect that the schools do so much has contributed to the demise of clubs like scouts and other special interest societies. You can even do surfing at some schools here.
Of course, while some of us see Americans as very innovative and have a lot good skills we outside the US, joke about their lack of understanding of world geography.
So I do not have a clear view on what should and should not be taught. I guess teach a love of learning and that would be a good start.
Makes me so sick. There are so many schools cutting out art and music education. Musically inclined kids, as well as those who study art are shown to be smarter and more creative (obviously). I would NEVER send my kid to a school that didn't have a good solid music AND art program.
I wouldn't want to send my kid to a school that didn't offer music and art either. However, I think kids that are struggling with the basic core curriculum should take the time normally dedicated to Art/Music and use that to supplement the core courses they are struggling in. It may seem like I am anti-Art and music but I am really not. I just think if a child uses that time on math/reading/writing instead of art/music IF they are behind their classmates in those subjects, then the parent can enroll the child in an art or music class outside of school.
I wouldn't want to send my kid to a school that didn't offer music and art either. However, I think kids that are struggling with the basic core curriculum should take the time normally dedicated to Art/Music and use that to supplement the core courses they are struggling in. It may seem like I am anti-Art and music but I am really not. I just think if a child uses that time on math/reading/writing instead of art/music IF they are behind their classmates in those subjects, then the parent can enroll the child in an art or music class outside of school.
I don't know. Just my two cents.
At its basic level I agree with that. Although being well rounded is a great thing, every person at the very least needs to know how to read, write, spell, speak properly, and know basic math. Second would be natural sciences and home ec things. Those are everyday things we all need.
You can get by not knowing how to fingerpaint alot better than not knowing how to manage your finances or how to read traffic signs.
I think that schools teach a little about too much and that this acts like a vaccine.
Apparently, there is some evidence to show that doing fancy chemistry demos in elementary school actually turns kids off chemistry in high school because when the teacher tells them that they are going to investigate such and such reaction, they think back to the demo the teacher did in elementary school and think ‘done that’ and then do not engage at a deeper level.
Very true. And there is so much oversaturation b/c the public school system is held to ridiculous accountability levels since NCLB was implemented.
Kids are bored out of their minds. Teachers can't teach. Admin spend 99% of their time writing up complaints from parents b/c JOhnny was looked at sideways or paperwork to prove that every single 2nd grader can spell the word "GO" and they have the 35 tests to prove it. It's the same old same old every Sept (reviewing all the stuff from the prior year) & May (not doing a thing b/c 3 months of vacation are headed their way).
Home school or private school. I've lost complete faith in the public school system. Overregulated by the wrong people with the wrong interests.
Children are bored not b/c they don't like learning, but b/c THEY ARE NOT learning b/c too much is given to them on a daily basis that's has absolutely no value to THEM. School needs to be about the children, not about the Dept of Education & it's yearly requirements.
This may sound like a joke but I am serious. I think a course called common sense and etiquette may be helpful. Classes on taking care of your health as well as financial management would be helpful. I feel these should be mandatory.
This may sound like a joke but I am serious. I think a course called common sense and etiquette may be helpful. Classes on taking care of your health as well as financial management would be helpful. I feel these should be mandatory.
Etiquette is limited in its usefulness as every person's personality is different and all react different to whatever is said.
You can say Whatever to 100 different people and get 100 different responses and reactions to it, from downright rude to excessively friendly.
Plus cultural differences would make it limited too. Such as shoe throwing being a high insult in the Mideast is more of a joke or the act of a 5 yr old's tantrum in the US.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
