There was a very interesting article about the “usefulness” of public schools. I will say it is an opinion piece and I realize that, but the headline itself made me think. The idea of public education isn’t entirely “new” but the idea of private, individualized education is older and more established.

I don’t believe homeschooling is for every child, but I don’t believe public schools are either. The statistics are extremely negative for most of the states. Of course, numbers aren’t something we can wrap our minds around. But if just one child loses his or her chance at a good education – it should be tragic.

In a world where specialization is the name of the game, public education is (for the most part) generalized. I can chose what news items pop up on my version of a news website, but in school the education is the same for each student. We are able to pick what color our iPod shuffle comes in – but not how we learn to read and write.

People have screamed forever about smaller class room sizes, more pay for good teachers, but there’s still problems. While “No Child Left Behind” has attempted to address these problems, the solutions are slow in coming.

So the question remains.. have public schools outlived their usefulness?

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So, according to CNN.com a group of highschool graduates are being denied their diplomas because (now get this…) people cheered for them.

…

I can’t even begin to express how stupid this is. The school withheld the diplomas (just the paper diploma, not the actual transcripts – they still graduated) because of a policy that’s supposed to “restore the decorum” of the graduation ceremony. This, coupled with what I blogged about on MINDsprinting’s Myspace, is making homeschooling seem more and more like a good choice.

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I feel like lately I’ve been bursting with things to talk about… but no time to talk about them. Or I don’t think about it when I actually am at a computer. It’s a weird feeling. I have WAY too much to do before this move. Someone hire me a personal secretary.

I’m working on my resume. Selling yourself on a page of paper is really strange. It’s like saying LOOK AT ME I’M THE BEST! Without really doing that. I liked my old resume, but I feel like I need to put more “here’s what I’ve accomplished” rather than my job descriptions. I cut out a lot of my part-time jobs too. It looks dismally small now, but cleaner and easier to read. Selling yourself is like cutting yourself into tiny bits. Or putting your hands over a photo so you can highlight only the eyes. Again, very weird.

I read about the use of plastic handcuffs in schools. I don’t really know how I feel about it. I’m in two worlds…. I have to let that story sit with me some more.

I’ve become the publicist for my dad and his new book.

I’m worried about this whole pet food recall thing. I keep wondering when the other shoe is gonna drop and my cats are sick. I hope not. I love them muchly. M’lady hasn’t been eating, but she’s really picky about the food she eats. I got the stuff she likes last night and she was happily munching away today. So I guess she’s fine. They’ll all be going to the vet soon enough.

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I read on our wonderful little kiosk screens in the elevator the other day that kids spend more time watching tv than they do read or being read to. Now, while this shouldn’t surprise me – it kind of did.

I will agree that TV for kids has grown leaps and bounds. I love shows like Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues and others that teach valuable, educational lessons and make it fun.

This does not, however, replace books.

Gosh. READ people.

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I’m hungry. Isn’t it weird when you’re hungry you can’t concentrate on anything else?

I mean, you can, but your brain keeps going back to “hungry!”

I’m having a fun time with Flat Stanley. Clicky here to see the pages I’m designing for his visit.

If you don’t know about Flat Stanely it’s a school project based off the book “Flat Stanley”. Basically it’s kind of like a penpal, a kid sends you Stanley, you write about what he does with you, about your town, etc.

It’s a fun project. I’m going out later today and taking some more pictures. I hope to finish the Flat Stanley book mid-this-next week. He needs to be back by the 20th.

Hear that? My stomach keeps going HUNGRY!

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I loved being homeschooled. I’m glad my parents chose it for me. I’m glad my mother was so patient and put all the time and effort into it that she did. I’m glad my father worked so hard to make money to pay for it.

That said, I fully realize that homeschooling is not a valid choice for every family or every child.

I just wish public school proponants would recognize that public school isn’t for everyone either.

Recently I was asked to assist Rockstar John’s (my friend) kid with a school project. The project involves the school sending me a “stanley” figure (some cut out figure), me writing a story and mailing it back for display at the school.

Which is all fine and dandy but what exactly is the kid getting out of this experience? It doesn’t quite make sense to anyone (homeschool background OR otherwise).

Now, maybe I would understand it if the project was to send it to a penpal… learn about their state (other than yours) and you told them about your state….

That I could see.

But this Stanley thing is just. Weird. And makes me wonder what exactly my friend’s kid is learning in school.

I know that’s not a norm, some schools are better some are worse, but it just blatently points out to me that parents need to be a cross check for their child’s education. Parents and schools should work together to ensure a child is getting the best education possible. This means parents should be aware (as my friend is) about the state of education/comprehension/learning his or her child is receiving.

Of course a great way to do this is with MINDsprinting’s free assement test. It really is a handy tool and the results are detailed, but easy to understand. The test is for Reading and Math comprehension – which really are the foundation for all other subjects. I’ve passed it on to friends of mine who have children (I tried getting Myboyfriend to take it.. but he just kept meowing) and I know they’ve found it useful.

I’m not saying that everyone should board their child up in a one room schoolhouse or that one form of education is better than another. I am just saying that EVERYONE involved in a child’s life should seek to help the child learn and grow to their full potential.

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There’s been a lot of news in recent history about colleges embracing homeschoolers and making it easier for them to attend. When I went to Moody I had to take BOTH the SAT and the ACT (while traditional students just had to take the SAT). If I thought that was a hurdle, a lot of other homeschoolers had doors shut in their face.

Click here to read

According to this article:

The University of California system is known for being tough on nontraditionally schooled applicants. For them, the best ticket to UC has been transferring after taking community college classes or posting near-perfect scores on college entrance exams.

‘For homeschoolers, it was basically a shut door for us because of the restrictions,’ Sample said.

Now the trend is changing:

Last fall, however,

UC Riverside joined a growing number of colleges around the country that are revamping application policies to accommodate homeschooled students.

I’m really excited about this for two reasons, one it gives more credibility to the homeschooling as a valid life choice and two California is usally the trend-maker for the rest of the states to follow.

Homeschoolers have had to fight stereotypes for too long, especially in the academic world. Somehow the prevailing thought for a long time was that homeschoolers somehow lacking parts or all of their education.

“‘There are a lot of students out there that are very prepared for a college level education,’ she [Merlyn Campos, interim director of undergraduate admissions] said. ‘They are kind of being forced into going into a community college.’”

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Shreesh Prasad is the only Nevada state student to score a perfect on his test.

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A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted a “silent” lunch policy after three recent choking incidents. Silent means the kids can whisper – but other than that they have to be silent.

The school says it’s because the lunch room could become very noisy and the teachers were unable to hear the child choking.

I’m sorry, but this is plain ridiculous. Kids are quiet all day in school and in class. Lunch seems to be a natural time to engage in reasonable conversation. They are kids after all.

Are there really not enough adults watching the kids that they can’t see choking happen? Makes me appreciate being homeschooled more.

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Are Boys the Weaker Sex?
Based on article by the same title in Reader’s Digest, February 2002

“We are experiencing a crisis of the boy next door,” according to Willima Pollack, a clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Real Boys (112). According to article there is a strange paradox between the aggressive tendencies in boys and their emotional sensitivity. The ‘crisis’ comes from the lack on behalf of care-takers and parents to nurture their emotional lives.
The article did cite there are differences in the way that girls and boys think, but sees this ‘crisis’ effecting boys in their academic performance. According to the article boys are less likely to go on to college. “By 2007, universities are projected to enroll 6.9 million men compared with 9.2 million women.” This is not only true of boy’s college experience but, according to the article 2/3 of the students classified as having learning disabilities are male.
After watching the video in class about the differences between boys and girls I was fascinated. I resonated a lot with what the video was talking about because I’ve worked with children for a good majority of my life. Currently I’m the director of Sparks, a youth club on Wednesday nights at Moody Memorial Church. I work with 5-8 year olds and could see the differences between the females in the class and the males.
Many of boys in my class are naturally more aggressive and competitive. Not one week goes by where one of my male leaders have to figuratively “sit on” one of the boys. The girls, on the other hand, can be a handful, but they are more collective handfuls. When one decides to act up the rest will follow. Yet, as I’ve learned with working with inner city kids, the worst behaved kid is the one who has the most emotional need.
Rick, one of my leader’s, told me the other day that when dealing with one of the boys (I’ll call him John) Rick started talking to him outside of the group. After awhile John shared things that were going on at home and school. Rick prayed with John and told him that he’d be praying for him during the week. When John came back the next week he gave Rick a big hug. All John needed was love and to know that it was okay to feel sad or happy.
I would agree with this article that most boys need to have a good emotional base to work with. If they are constantly told to not be “sensitive” they’ll hold things in and become bitter. With many of the inner city high school students I work with at church on Sunday mornings I can tell that a lot of the boys are hurting, but they don’t know what to do with their emotions. The boys think they need to hold things in and be ‘a man’. And, as a result, they act tough, but inwardly are breaking.
I also agree with both the article and the video that boys and girls are different emotionally. Yet, we are all the same in some senses. God has created us with our emotional makeup. Boys shouldn’t ‘get in touch with their feminine side’ and girls don’t need to ‘find their inner strength’. Both need to be nurtured to understand that feelings are normal and true strength comes from figuring out how to use those feelings to help others.

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