Our 'Education' System

So I'm helping our 6 year old out with her homework, which happens to be the alphabet and what words start with certain letters, etc.

A=Apple
B=Bicycle

And so on...

W=Waffle
X=Exclamation Point

Wait a minute... WTH?

Called the teacher the very next morning and asked just what our daughter was being taught. Her response? Oh, yeah... that's approved material. I said excuse me, but 'Exclamation Point' does not start with an X, this is not approved by this parent, can't you use something like, oh X-Ray or hey, how about what I learned... xylophone!

I'm so upset over this, our education system is getting so dumbed down it's pathetic.

Regardless, we were quick to teach our daughter that this is simply not correct and explained why.

Call the other parents and get them behind you. Most likely that won't do anything either against the bureaucracy but its your best bet.

Wow. I'm 100% in agreement with you and your actions. What a disservice to our children...

don't get me started....oooh, too late...will post back later....

sol92258 said:

don't get me started....oooh, too late...will post back later....

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Off Topic - Sol, that is quite a post padding maneuver... First time I've seen someone post that they're going to post shortly!

On Topic - You'd think the teachers woul do something on their own about it.. shows how much they care. It's "approved" so must be just fine.

Oh, I forgot the math part...

I went to a meeting they held to discuss the way they teach math, 'The New Math' - This I had to see.

83+62=

Grrr...

3 correct answers!

1. 145
2. 'About' 140
3. 'About' 150

I about freaked...

The Zook said:

Oh, I forgot the math part...

I went to a meeting they held to discuss the way they teach math, 'The New Math' - This I had to see.

83+62=

Grrr...

3 correct answers!

1. 145
2. 'About' 140
3. 'About' 150

I about freaked...

Click to expand...

I can see this going over about as well as New Coke.

Many (not all!) NYC schools are bad because the classes are overcrowded, there isn't enough funding, and poorly qualified teachers are hired because there is a shortage of people willing to work. But if you don't have any of these outside factors hurting your child's education, there is absolutely no excuse to bring something as ridiculous as this to the table. That new alphabet and new math make a new low.

TstebinsB said:

Many (not all!) NYC schools are bad because the classes are overcrowded, there isn't enough funding, and poorly qualified teachers are hired because there is a shortage of people willing to work. But if you don't have any of these outside factors hurting your child's education, there is absolutely no excuse to bring something as ridiculous as this to the table. That new alphabet and new math make a new low.

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+1. My wife is a teacher in Wyoming. Now I haven't seen anything like the Zook has her in Wyoming but a lot of things to come down to funding. Wyoming has tons of money due to mineral rights and I think is 1st or 2nd in the nation for state supluses. However, my wife routinely has to buy a lot of her own things that she regards as necessities to teach with. The schools only have so much to budget with. I am not saying that is right, but that is the way it is. Schools find cheaper cirriculums because that is what they can afford within their budget. Again, not right but that is the way it is.

What are you getting so upset under?

I'm a product of the public education system, and my brain cell is fine.

ouch said:

What are you getting so upset under?

I'm a product of the public education system, and my brain cell is fine.

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The question is what happened to the rest of them.

Youse kan gets the bestest of edimication in publik skools.

In Washington we have the WASL test. When it first came out the idea was to have a test that students would have to take as an exit test to prove that they are worthy of a high school diploma. I thought that was what all of the tests and projects in class were for.

Over the many years that it has been in place I have become more and more upset with the test. The teachers pretty much spend most of the year telling my kids what topics will be on the WASL and what won't. If it isn't going to be on this year's test, it is a topic not worth learning.

well... IMO, there is no big deal, it is just a word.

OK, they are two words. One starts with E the other with "."
However, the text books back in my day were not much better*, and yet, I turned out... no, you are right, you should be worried.

*I remember when I was in middle school. I found 4 different physics books with 4 different explanations of how the filament's electric resistance in a light bulb is related to the luminosity and wattage. 3 of those books pretty much reinvented Ohm's and several thermodynamic laws.

TstebinsB said:

The question is what happened to the rest of them.

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Them? you can get moar than tree?

Wyoming has the PAWS test--same thing as Kyle's WASL test. The sand thing is that those schools that don't do as good on the tests get less funding while those that do get more. I am not trying to justify it but that probably explains why the teachers are hinting to what is on the test and what is not. To make matter worse they have probably been told to do so by their superiors.

kwk285 said:

Youse kan gets the bestest of edimication in publik skools.

In Washington we have the WASL test. When it first came out the idea was to have a test that students would have to take as an exit test to prove that they are worthy of a high school diploma. I thought that was what all of the tests and projects in class were for.

Over the many years that it has been in place I have become more and more upset with the test. The teachers pretty much spend most of the year telling my kids what topics will be on the WASL and what won't. If it isn't going to be on this year's test, it is a topic not worth learning.

Click to expand...

We had that in NY too. Our test was called the Regents. I remember teachers saying, "This isn't important. It won't be on the Regents." I don't know what test they offer now.

Isaias said:

well... IMO, there is no big deal, it is just a word.

OK, they are two words. One starts with E the other with "."
However, the text books back in my day were not much better*, and yet, I turned out... no, you are right, you should be worried.

*I remember when I was in middle school. I found 4 different physics books with 4 different explanations of how the filament's electric resistance in a light bulb is related to the luminosity and wattage. 3 of those books pretty much reinvented Ohm's and several thermodynamic laws.

Click to expand...

The wattage is pretty clear (you would probably see it as IV or RI^2, both being equivalent), but I can't picture a middle school physics text even beginning to address the luminosity. It's certainly possible-- all things are-- but as a practical matter, I imagine there's a materials table somewhere that tells you what portion of the energy gets liberated as light and what portion as heat as a function of the material, the relevant geometry of the filament, and the current. I can picture where I'd start to look stuff like that up, but it would take a while.

TstebinsB said:

We had that in NY too. Our test was called the Regents. I remember teachers saying, "This isn't important. It won't be on the Regents." I don't know what test they offer now.

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I think they've started teaching more toward standardized exams more than ever since No Child Left Behind.

The Zook said:

So I'm helping our 6 year old out with her homework, which happens to be the alphabet and what words start with certain letters, etc.

A=Apple
B=Bicycle

And so on...

W=Waffle
X=Exclamation Point

Click to expand...

At least it wasn't X=Excape!




Seriously, is there a chance the exercize was about beginning sounds instead of beginning letters?

We homeskule.