When we enrolled #3 in school, we hoped that they would help him actually learn math. I've worked at it for years and he wasn't on grade level. I thought they would have new programs to try, expertise to tap into, and lots of work for him to do. That's right, I expected homework.
I wanted homework for my son. It was the one way I felt I could still be a part of his education. I know other parents complain about the piles of schoolwork, but I would welcome it. He hasn't had homework in months, and before that it was only spelling words.....what happened to the spelling words? I've met with the teacher and asked her to send work home. I sat in the IEP meeting with the school's hierarchy and begged for them to allow me to help in his education. He's not getting an education from what they're doing at school..I know because he's still failing all the stupid assessment tests. Could they send something home for him to work on? No. They can not. Apparently.
Until now.
Two days ago we were finally sent sheets of work to do with him. The problem is it's not anything academic. There is nothing in the booklet of worksheets to help educate him in anything he needs to know in order to graduate out of the third grade. For the next six weeks, my son has homework designed to teach him how to take a test. The booklet we were given is full of sample problems and questions that mimic the style of questions found in standardized testing.
I had heard the term "teaching to the test" and I assumed that that meant the teachers were instructing students in the exact areas of knowledge that would be on the test. Before I had a child in the school system, I thought that it wouldn't really be that bad because at least they would be learning something that kids their age should know. How dumb was I? Teaching to the test actually means teaching children how to take a multiple choice test. How exactly does this prepare them for life? The only multiple choice questions I face usually sound something like "Press one for English, Press two..." I don't think kids require special training for that.
For the next six weeks, this is what my son's school will be teaching their students. At a meeting this week, the staff informed the parents that we were expected to practice with our children every night and that they would be reviewing this information every day between now and the test date in April.
I know I'm not a professional educator. I have no degree in education, heck I don't have any degree at all...and yet.....It just seems to me that if we had had this level of intensive educational focus on his actual reading and math, #3 and his classmates would know how to figure out the answers on their own, and they wouldn't need six weeks of training to know how to bubble in the letter 'C'.
13 comments:
Six weeks? That's just nuts.
I mean, if they're going to have to take standardized tests, it makes sense to spend some time preparing them for the event, but you would think they could make it overlap with real work by, I don't know, practicing taking spelling or math quizzes -- whatever they need to do for school anyway -- in a similar format.
Crazy.
I sometimes think you are making this stuff up. But then I know you aren't and I want to cry.
We use Kumon for our kids. Do you have that there? It provides homework, twenty to thirty minutes a day.
I love these posts. UGH. I love the one about the school nurse, triple UGH.
So wicked, so horrible so self-serving. And, families directly suffer under the taxation of having to pay for all of this propoganda and nonsense.
Quadruple UGH. I want to home school my daughter now.
Public school is like going to a public health center or the DMV or fill in the blank.
We need a Tea Party type of revolt over public schools.
As nice and as well meaning teachers are, the system is broken.
OMG! And I thought our Catholic school math book was bad!
I like Little JoAnn's comment, and I think that up here in Wisconsin, we are starting to have a Tea Party type of revolt over the public schools. It's a nice side benefit of our state budget debate.
Leila- I wish it were a figment of my imagination. That would mean I was brilliant and he was being educated
Stealth - We do have Kumon, but they can't take him because of his vision issues.
L.J. - We are homeschooling again next year. This year has been a waste of his time. The schools don't have any more knowledge that we do, and they are too bogged down with regulations to be able to adapt to the students' needs.
I am so inspired by your struggles. I have a dd who has a very hard time with math and reading. She is making progress, but soooo slowly as to almost be imperceptible! I have thought about putting her back in a traditional school, but I am very conflicted as to whether it would be in her best interest or not. Seeing how you have persevered in you advocacy for your son has made me do the same for my daughter here at home. God bless you, your family and your precious boy!!!
Sharon
So frustrating! We are mostly happy with our choice of parochial school. We have a greater voice due to the smaller size. We wish you the best as you navigate through these times with your precious son.
I don't think I've ever commented here before but I've been reading for awhile. :)
This is something that absolutely drives me crazy! I live in Florida and we a pretty well known for our crappy public schools. In all the public schools the kids are taught to pass the FCAT. It's these stupid state mandated teats put into place several years ago that are in addition to the State test that was already in place. The teacher all teach the kids just to pass these tests. The tests have so much weight to them, not just for the students, but for the schools as well. The schools are graded every year based on these tests and the better the grade the more funding they get. It's really really sad.
I work with our parish's youth group and we have some amazingly smart teens. However they can't remember anything. We prepared them for Confirmation, they had the interview with our priest and they have already forgotten everything that they learned because they viewd it as a test. It's so unbelievably sad.
I was the last class in my high school that didn't have to do the newly mandated SOLs in our state. Teachers can't stand them... it's more wasting precious classtime teaching to a test than learning content or critical thinking skills.
I spent most of school with my head on my desk, asleep. I graduated a year early and made the honor roll every grading period with that method.
Looking at this from both sides as parent and former instructor: Either direction, this makes me want to bash my head against the wall and scream.
The reason for spending six weeks to learn to take a test is that there are are so many children that literally cannot fill in the bubbles. They cannot write or print or even hold a pencil properly.
Most children in school cannot or will not follow simple directions. Some children cannot read the simplest directions.
Many, many children do not mind or pay attention to anything said by an instructor, because my generation (not me!) decided it was bad to punish a child for misbehaving.
Remember when there were only one to three children that acted out in class? Now there are only about three children who behave in a class.
As a parent and an instructor, wasting time teaching to do a test and/or teaching to the test is extremely frustrating and infuriating.
I could go on and on about this subject.
I'm so glad I no longer have children in school!
We are homeschooling again next year. This year has been a waste of his time. The schools don't have any more knowledge that we do
So glad to hear that you are bringing him back home. But I would say it wasn't entirely a waste... it seems like you have built up confidence in your own instincts.
I've worked at it for years and he wasn't on grade level.
...and this is a problem... why? Isn't that the beauty of homeschooling? You can focus on the strengths as they develop. If the child is good at A and can't grasp B, let him focus on A and gain confidence, and before you know it he might take on B of his own volition. (Maybe I'm spoiled because in our state they don't have to be tested to any specified state requirements each year. So it didn't matter whether my children learned their times tables by 1st grade or 3rd grade...)
I do work in education. In fact, I am about two months away from my PhD in special ed at the #1 school in the country. This sickens me. Can I just tell you, this is the reason my degree is related to systems change! The whole system needs to be overhauled. Throw it in the trash and start over! Frustrating. I am so sorry that this the mess you got when you turned to schools to help your son.
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