Monday, September 17, 2007

"Do they speak English in Michigan?"

This is a question my 9 year old asked me when she was almost done with 3rd grade.

I kid you not, Ladies and Gentlemen. My third grader - a bright, straight-A student - had no idea that Michigan was a state and that English is the primary language spoken there.

She was in the public school system at that point. I had assumed that she was being taught trivial things like the 50 states and the “other” Presidents - not just Lincoln and Washington. Other trivial stuff like who George Bush is. (Either one.) I was wrong.

That got me asking questions. (Of all the kids, not just her.) Know what I found out?

They had all kinds of lessons on tolerance and self-esteem and other touchy-feely stuff, but can’t find Georgia on a map.They could tell me about their friend (3rd grade) whose mom hid her pot (not the cooking utensil, either) in their classmate’s bookbag (the cops found it anyway), but they could not tell me what the Declaration of Independence was.

They could tell me the procedure for “lockdown” and what to do if a bomb threat is called in to the school - but not who John Hancock was.

That is when I started to seriously look at homeschooling. For the sake of my kids and their education.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Kudos to you! I hope it goes well! My sister and niece are both starting home school this year. I even asked my son if he would like to try it but he's now a Junior and said, "what's the point, I'm almost done now!" Schools are just so bad it seems. I know he's missed multiple days of school before and was able to catch up--with no homework! Makes you wonder what they do all day!

Shay :o) said...

It really does make you wonder. LOL

I am amazed at how quickly we get done during the day. We really only spend a couple of hours doing actual schoolwork, yet we get a LOT done! Reading, writing, math, social studies (LOTS of working with maps, LOL), and science. We also throw in other "extras" if we feel like it (if, for example, something we study really interests the kids, we will go more in-depth and do some Internet research on it).

I guess because I am dealing with only 3 kids and the teacher is dealing with 20+, it just makes a huge difference. :o)