In July of 2006, my girlfriend of two years will give birth to our first child. In less than two months, I will be responsible for another life... I'm proud and excited, but to be honest with everybody, I fear for the future of my son. I fear that he will not receive a strong education, as I see society failing our school systems more each school year. I will graduate from Washington State University's education program less than a year after my boy is born. His mother and I could give him the education he needs to succeed, right here at home. However, we both believe that he would be better as a member of society if he were given an education in the school system. We plan to do what we can at home, to make sure that he is raised valuing education and intellect. I hate to say it, but the rest of it is up to our schools.
In the teaching program that I am a part of, I watch other students fail, on a daily basis, to meet the requirements of becoming an educator. The sad part is, they fail with a big fat "pass" stamped on their foreheads. Professors are grading assignments based on completion, rather than content. For example, another male in my program wrote an english lesson that he was asked to give to a group of third grade students. In this lesson, he educated the students on the proper use of words like, "too" & "to," "there," & "their..." you get the idea. When looking over his lesson, I noticed that he had used the words wrong in his lesson plans. All said and done, this man received an 97% on his final project. Why are students like this being patted on the back? It's like saying, "hey, nice job, you'll be sure to help confuse your future students for the rest of their lives! Thanks to you, we don't have to worry about strengthening basic reading & english skills!"
It saddens me to think that, if left up to his future school, my son may never be confident in his education... or himself.
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Michael,
First of all congratulations! Honestly, he has a few years before the education system really begins to affect him. You should start out by being good responsible parents, which if you're worrying about this, it sounds like you are! Confidence starts at home.
Secondly, while you're waiting take the initiative to make your school district a better place. If that doesn't work, check the state education laws. I know in CT for a relatively small tuition, you can send your child to a high school in a different district. The commute might be hard, but it might be a more "social" alternative to home schooling.
Honestly though, homeschooling isn't that reclusive. If your child is still involved in his community, he can still make friends and build relationships (ones that might even be more substantial than the one's he would make in public school). I was homeschooled for 2 years and I loved it. It really helps develop your character.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I've been through almost every type of school system (except parochial).
I agree with elvenqueen10 in terms of homeschooling; most of the strongest characters in college are those who have built somekind of personality at homeschool and not in school.
However, not to deter you two or anything, you probably can figure it out yourselves.
Another thing: the schooling system is terrible! In other countries in the world, there's a metaphor:
a whole bunch of kids try and get to college, but only SOME get in and they are all excellent; however, here, all the kids practically get into college but few actually have outstanding abilities.
Thanks for the advice guys- I agree with you. America is sad in the way that getting into college means nothing. In fact, my girlfriend, possibly one of the most book-smart and politically correct people you could ever meet, never even applied to college. She's 21 now, with her own business and a part-time "for fun" job. She says that she's sad sometimes because she's not "with" everybody else our age, but she wants it to mean something when she gets an education- she doesn't want some generic degree given by some professors that don't care what they're doing.
Even though it's far away, it's never too early to be thinking about the educational future of our future. We'll figure something out. :-)
Congrats on the newcomer! ^_^
I agree with everyone who posted, lol. I'm a freshman in college myself, but I have a lot to say about the education. I've been greatly disappointed in what I have learned my first semester in college. In fact, as an example, my professor for one of classes said I was doing so well, I didn't even have to take the last test or the FINAL. Come on now... this is ridiculous. I was happy when she told me, then after thinking about it... what the heck?!
I didn't really enjoy High School much either. Most High Schools are full of kids who don't care anyways. And if I tried, it was worthless. A good thing I learned though was how to deal with people (any type of people, difficult people, annoying people, shy people, etc.). Also, how to participate in groups, and give in class discussions. Other then that, I didn't need to go to public school to learn what I know today. You could probably gain those social skills in the work-force anyways or in other organizations which are non-school related. ^_^
The best thing you can do for your son is first of all start a college fund early. You don't know how fast it comes up. If you can just put away $100 a month or $20 a week it's not that much but trust me it'll add up. Then after you have a little bit saved up put it into a cd or a bond that'll earn a high interest but at a slow rate so be careful do it early. I know how you may be scared to put your child into the public school system but not all of them are bad many teachers teach their students life long lessons that all of their students will remember for the rest of their lives. In high school if your son becomes advanced in his academics I suggest going this program junior and senior year called running start. I did it and it made me learn some tough lessons that you need to know before you go to college. It's the best thing for any student to do. I hope this helped you in anyway. But just remember you are going to be the only one who knows what's right for your child. So if you get advice and you don't agree with it don't do it!! This is your child's life in your hands and you will do the best you can and that's all anyone will ask of you.
I agree with cloudiestdragon that many high-schoolers do not care, yet I also believe that public high school really isnt that bad, as long as you embrace the opportunities. I'm currently a junior, in the top ten people in my class of 600 something. In my school district, we have academies, areas of specialization, yet you can also just go through regular high school. At my school I'm involved in the Health Science Technology Program-I kind of woke up one day and decided I wanted to be a doctor-and I am currently a Certified Nurse Assistant, and next year I have the opportunity to get a pharmacy-technician and my EMT-basic. By my senior year of high school. You just have to embrace the opportunities-whether its a vocational class or a bunch of AP classes or an IB program, make sure your son never forgets to challenge himself. School is like a big game of baseball. You have to take risks, you cant just sit and watch all the strikes go by. Its okay if you dont win, of course, but it makes it a heck of a lot more fun!
I'm a little late in joining this conversation, but congratulations for your son and good luck with teaching.
I, too, am going to school to teach. And most of my reasoning as to why is based on how often I see teachers now fail their students. Not fail as in keeping them from passing, but just fail as in letting them down in general - high school graduates not being able to read, geniuses being failed because of a learning disorder that went unnoticed or misdiagnosed.
During my few months in Louisiana, I went to an elemtary school and couldn't stay for longer than 10 minutes because at least 75 students between kindergarden and 3rd grade were out in hallways on their knees. When I asked what was going on, the answer was that the kids were "speaking out" in class and that was how they disciplined them. It didn't help matters when I looked up the testing for teachers and saw that they didn't need anything more than a high school diploma if they could pass the Praxis test. Unreal!
Good luck to you. I think the fact that you already have these concerns will help motivate you into doing a good job!
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