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No, but it's not exactly hard when you're spending time complaining on a message board. If you were really dedicated to changing things, you'd be out changing things. </p>
<p>You know as little about me as I know about you.
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<p>You are simply making one faulty assumption after another. You seem to be a nice and well-meaning kid. I have much respect for kids attending Larry Allen's alma mater.</p>
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Studies show that one in three young people in this country drop out of high school before earning their diploma, while nearly thirty million adults lack basic literacy skills.
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<p>do these "studies" show how many of these kids are immigrants who are not fluent in English?
We have a large Hispanic population with many students coming as pre-teens and teenagers. They come without speaking English. It is very difficult to get many of these kids to stay in school.
My kids' high school graduates over 90% but 10 miles down the road the dropout rate is 50% .</p>
<p>We stood behind a young woman picking up report cards yesterday. First she got hers - she'd flunked every subject including gym. They told her that she could make up half of them in summer school this summer, the rest next summer. (Assuming she doesn't again fail all her courses.) She picked up her brother's card and he was in the same boat. You do wonder what is going on in that house that kids are failing every single course.</p>
<p>Are you sure they aren't "school leavers"?</p>
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We stood behind a young woman picking up report cards yesterday. First she got hers - she'd flunked every subject including gym. They told her that she could make up half of them in summer school this summer, the rest next summer. (Assuming she doesn't again fail all her courses.) She picked up her brother's card and he was in the same boat. You do wonder what is going on in that house that kids are failing every single course.
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One of my great grandfathers was illiterate. He lived in Arkansas as a farmer of some sort. He told my grandmother that she shouldn't even go to recess and should just be reading books or asking the teachers questions the entire time!</p>
<p>The lack of parenting ability nowadays is laughable.</p>
<p>In comparison to other countries, school program is way LESS challenging than it should be, including Honors, APs,...with emphasis on busy work vs developing analytical thinking and we keep them in school way too long. 12 grades & kindergarden is way too long of a process. The talk about 4 year olds not being ready to go to school is just waste and makes no difference. They can start school at 7 go for 10 years with the program that start teaching Algebra, Chemistry, Physics in 6th grade with increased level of difficulty in higher grades. It is scary to think what would happen when all these Indians and Chinese stop coming here because their countries develop into nicer places for them to live. I had been working in places that are over 50% staffed with non-American highly educated professionals.
Keeping head in a sand and not facing the problem will not make our kids more interested in school, better educated and better prepared for todays economy.</p>
<p>^And what, pray tell, are you doing to fix it?</p>
<p>Make it fashionable to not watch TV (or play videogames) and instead check out 15 books at a time to read when there is nothing else to do. Stop using tv as a babysitter (the average kid watches 5 hrs of tv a day) and instead realize that a great book makes a terrific babysitter, as well, and moves along a child's reading comprehension like nothing else can.</p>
<p>I always love it when ignorant parents trumpet that 'the schools have failed our kids'. No, stupid, YOU failed your kids. The lack of recreational reading in the home is damning these kids.</p>
<p>What no one seems to realize is that COLLEGE is being decided by the end of first grade.</p>
<p>If a child loves to read, he will read for fun, and then zoom along in school and be ready for the SAT, etc.</p>
<p>If a child doesn't like to read, due to not being read to at home or due to a slight comprehension problem, or just not being constitutionally inclined (math types don't necessarily like to read, nor do active boys), they will avoid reading, and then the lack of practice results in not achieving reading fluency, and then of course the culture doesn't encourage reading, so the problem continues, and then they will not be ready for college.</p>
<p>By the way, you can manipulate an active boy into loving to read, with the help of the Redwall series. A young math type (around 1st grade) can fall in love with reading if he's handed the Encyclopedia Brown series, then Alfred Hitchcock's 3 Investigators series. I should know. I faced both problems with my own kids, and figured out these solutions that work.</p>
<p>And yeah, I just got certified to teach pre-K to third grade, with the hope of teaching pre-K students to read (while making it fun, that is essential) or at least starting the process for the slower kids. It just takes persistence and a good attitude, AND STARTING 'EM YOUNG.</p>
<p>I also just finished up a semester of being a reading tutor to K, first and 2nd graders. I tried so hard to get those 2 boys (2nd graders) to love reading. One got a piece of candy for every easy-reader book on his level that he read the night before. I also had him stand next to the chair, and I stood in front of him, about a yard away, and I said, that is where you are in the class in reading, and here is where the rest of the class is. you have to catch up, and you have to do it now.
Nothing doing. At the end of the semester, he was not reading any more fluently. Discouraging.
And the other boy. I got the best books, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc, for him to read, bought them and brought them in, and in the end, he didn't improve enough either.
2nd grade is a bit late. It has to happen earlier.</p>
<p>In our house it was the Hardy boys or Nancy Drew mysteries</p>
<p>pplprsn-you're my hero. :)</p>
<p>Myself, my sister and my brother all knew how to read before we even started preschool.</p>
<p>I remember my parents reading us the Berenstein Bears (sp?), Madelein, Franklin, Arthur, etc.</p>
<p>I got my first Library card when I was about 5 years old. My mom took us to the library at least once a week (in our AstroVan, to boot), then she would take us to McDonald's and buy us ice cream cones.</p>
<p>It really does start in the home. The school system definitely needs some reworking, but you can't blame it ALL on the school.</p>
<p>So glad to hear other parents are using Hardy Boys and good old Nancy Drews, too.<br>
Ever notice the vocabulary in those? Fantastic for increasing a child's reading vocabulary.</p>
<p>I read the American Girl books.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, when it came to choosing which high school to attend in the area. The local public high schools were not acceptable so we opted for a local charter school. It turns out it was the right decision. Their emphasis was on learning with guidelines on proper behavior for young adults. They provided a well rounded education with no tolerance for monkey business!</p>
<p>TerpDad, we are in SoCal too, in a city whose schools rank at the very top for the state, and we still opted for private school, partly for the academics, and partly for the social/spiritual guidance. There is a different atmosphere in a school where respect for others is the law. Parental participation was required (we had to pick 2 service options such as parking lot duty or library aide). Also, community service was required of the students, which makes them more socially aware. While most parents can't afford private schools, they can make the effort to be involved in their child's education by working with the school to make the experience better. Support the teachers when they assign extra homework, and ASK every night if it has been done, then check it over. This needs to be taught to parents in America (maybe in high schools) before it can get better. Not all kids are going to be college bound, but all kids deserve a chance to earn a decent living when they grow up. And I agree with His GraceFillsMe, nothing is solved by complaining, so we as a nation have to turn more effort to changing attitudes about schools being solely responsible for our kid's futures. Foreign countries are doing better because the general population places a high esteem on education and teachers. Parents do not call the school to complain that their kid has too much homework, or that the teacher has no right to discipline bad behavior. Students are motivated to do well by their peers, and those who are not academically inclined go into apprenticeships to learn a skill. America is the best place to live in the world, and our descendants deserve a better system.</p>
<p>HisGraceFillsMe,</p>
<p>As a teacher and a parent, I must thank you for saying that it does start at home. I have two sons. They, too, read before starting school. The oldest, I recall, read Charlotte's Web at age 4 and understood every word of it. He did all the Encyclopedia Browns, Time Warp Trios, Hank the Cowdog -- all great for boys. Now, a rising senior, he is into Vonnegut big time. My youngest is into biographies and sports, but right now, we're reading No More Dead Dogs -- this is the third time I've read and I still love it. What a great way to bond with your child! When we are done with the books (that's after the two sons and my husband and I), we box them up and send them to our local schools to share with others.</p>
<p>Yes, the public schools have problems. My oldest thought about quitting after his freshman year. Because of an academic problem -- we did not offer enough challenging courses for him. Fortunately, our former principal saw the problem and found alternatives, including online AP classes. As teachers, we need to be creative but we do need parental support. Do not go to a principal and demand a grade change because it might hurt your kid's chances of getting into his top college choice -- I've seen it done. Do not ask administrative personnel to cut AP classes because they are too hard for students -- wait until the kid gets to college and learns the meaning of "hard." The motivation to be a good, dedicated student starts at home.</p>
<p>I truly believe if there is strong parental involvement in early child care and education (reading books to your children, taking your kids to the museums, teaching your kids their ABC's and 123's, enrolling them in arts classes, engaging your kids with concrete and abstract questions), the education system will become much better. Let's be honest people, there's only so much a teacher can do if the parents are not also there to help and enrich their child in the early stages of education (infancy to elementary school). I also agree that illegal immigration is placing a huge social and economic strain on our public education system.</p>
<p>I think we have a general dumbing down of our population that is mostly due to obsession with popular (and very stupid) culture -- VH1, ESPN, Celebs, reality TV, Oprah, Dr. Phil, yada, yada . . . The electronic entertainment is 24/7 and just about 100% brain cell destroying.</p>
<p>I also think that at some point we are going to have to transcend the political correctness police and question the wisdom of placing the majority of six-week-old infants in this society in institutionalized care for the majority of their waking hours (i.e. daycare). I know, I know. Quality daycare is better than lousy care from a drug addict mom . . . But the massive move toward daycare in our society is producing kids who are sick of "school" before they even hit kindergarten.</p>
<p>"And what, pray tell, are you doing to fix it?"</p>
<p>I feel helpless to fix system. All I could do is not use it and send my D. to private school. However better it was maily because of smaller classes and better teachers, it was still following the same program which lacks analytical skill development and not challenging kids enough in area of math and sciences. We made ourselves available to our D. to help her academically. Nothing else I could see doing, except not be afraid to speak up knowing that in most cases people are not open to hear this and will treat me negatively. It is only so much parents can do and reading tons of books, although it is much better than watching TV, still will not prepare them to study engineering (just an example) in college.</p>
<p>HisGraceFillsMe, </p>
<p>In all due respect, people can debate topics and issues and things that need changing on a discussion forum. Doing so, does not imply that those discussing such issues and changes that are needed are not tryng to make a difference in the real world. One can debate or even vent about issues on a forum and still be actively engaged off the forum. I don't want to disrespect xiggi's privacy but he is an advocate for education and going into it as his career field. Please do not make assumptions.</p>
<p>At the time of birth, children every where have about the same ability and skills. So, all the development depends on the environments they live in. </p>
<p>School is not the main problem, parenting is. CC should be considered as a platform above average of the US society. However, so many parents here still have low expectations for their kids. </p>
<p>Setting a high expectation and help them achieve that is the best thing parents could give to their kids.</p>
<p>So, if a capable child does not perform at the right academic level, the parents should be held responsible. Also, the society should make education respectable so every kids will want to learn.</p>