More school for kids?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/27/obama-proposes-longer-school-day-shorter-summer-vacation/
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20090927/US.More.School/

My personal opinion is that entire public school system needs a complete and total overhaul. Longer days are not the answer, especially with the kids running from one extra-curricular to the next after school. Though it is good that Obama is looking at how to improve education (I'm not one who is generally excited about his ideas, so that's saying a lot!) I also think it's good that he's looking at the ways other countries school their children, because our schools are seriously lacking compared to many other countries and we could stand to learn from the ones who are doing it right.

Now if they wanted to offer optional study groups, tutoring, or something along those lines after school to keep kids out of trouble and help them with homework or projects that would be a good idea. But who is going to fund this when the schools are cutting back on more and more due to lack of funding? Though funding doesn't mean that schools will be ran effeciently and in the best interest of the students. (See Stupid in America for some good examples of that.)

Year round school would be an improvement in my opinion. The typical three month summer isn't practical mostly because of how much information that kids lose during that time. Most teachers that I have talked to say that it takes the entire first month of school just to review the previous year because the kids have forgotten so much. If the kids have a couple weeks here and couple weeks there throughout the entire calendar year they will retain much more and will not need to waste a month on reviews. Of course that is nothing compared to the six months wasted studying for the state standardized tests around here...I'm not even going to go there right now.

Changes do need to be made in the public schools, that is one reason that we are homeschooling. I'm glad that the president is willing to look at other options. Although I think that the problems lie much deeper than any one change could ever fix. There are so many aspects of the public school system as well as our society as a whole which need to be changed before the school system will see any changes. There are many flaws in both that you can't just throw some change - literal and not - at the schools and expect to see a radical change.

What needs to be changed? I'm glad that you asked! For one the family unit needs to become the core unit of our country once again. Mom and Dad need to be parents and children need to be children. Just walk into any store and you will see that more often than not that just isn't the case. The children are ruling over the parents, and the parents have lost all hope of having any real authority over their children so they give in or possibly bribe or threaten their kids. Teachers also need to be allowed to be authority figures once again, how often do you hear a parent telling their child to listen to their teacher? The more common scenario is that of the parent always siding with their child and not even listening to what the teacher has to say. Many parents will place the blame on teachers when the children are not doing well in school. When kids grow up not respecting authority there is chaos in society as we often see today. If any of what I am saying resonates with you, you should check out Dr. John Rosemond and read his weekly column and his books.

There are many more changes which need to be made. I cannot possibly try to list all of them right now in a single blog post! I have already listed a couple of flaws in society now I will list some in the schools themselves. One problem is that children are seen as a dollar sign and not as someone the system should be working for. The children are supposed to profit the system. How incredibly wrong and backward is that?? The teachers are not allowed to have creative freedom in their curriculum, they must teach to the test. Why teach to the test? Because the higher scores mean more money for the schools and the teachers. Teachers spend up to six months per year teaching the children to pass the test. What kind of crazy goal is that? The children should be taught the academics which will serve them (the student, not the school system) in their academic growth. They should be learning what they need to know which will be built upon each year through college if they choose to go. That is how the system should work - for the children, not the children for the system.

There is much more to say on the topic but this is where I must stop for now.

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