Comments on: Two Million Minutes: My Kid is in Diapers and You’re Talking High School?

By: My Boaz's Ruth

My Boaz's Ruth — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:40:53 +0000

"If those parents took all of that energy and geared it towards changing the public schools then they would not need to home school. "

Not true. Before homeschooling took off, you had parents active and VERY involved in the schools. And they got the schools telling them that they had no right to question X, that they were overprotective for wanting Y. Etc. Eventually the schools squashed the parents' involvement. And that is when parents started removing their children to homeschool in a big way. Because they got the idea that their involvement did not make a difference in the schools.

You STILL read stories of the courts telling parents they have no right over what happens in the schools. That does not help matters.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:12:36 +0000

I live in the state with the highest property taxes in the US. (take a guess! its fun.)

While it is brutal to shell out this money every quarter, we here in Taxland can boast that we have some of the best schools, highest graduation rates and highest % of graduates who complete a 4 year degree in the country. It also helps that my wife is a teacher. We plan on using our public schools and getting some value on the dollars we have spent.

I work with children I can say with some certainty that parental behavior and expectations are the biggest indicator of how your child will perform. If you are lazy, never read and blame others when you fail, your child will follow. If you enjoy reading, learning, discovering things and being active, your child will make a great student.

By: gweipo

gweipo — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:54:56 +0000

Schooling is interesting, but at this stage I’d say the most important thing you can do for your child is read aloud to him / her. Do this 3 times a day, or 3 books a day (come on a kids book takes all of 2-5 minutes to read if you really stretch it) and they’ll have no problems no matter what school system you put them in!

By: Jessica G

Jessica G — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:21:33 +0000

I think it is normal to have these discussions - it shows that you care about your child's education. The preschool our children will attend is not the same thing as the preschool we attended ... there is competition, waiting lists, detailed curriculum, etc... So of course, high school is going to be on the long list of "what do we do?" I managed to find a preschool that focuses on education in the morning and socialization in the afternoon. A happy balance that did not strike me as extreme in either way. My 3.5 year old is learning about weather patterns, history, basic math skills and the importance of reading (although most reading is about listening). In the afternoon she gets to learn about what to do when a certain boy pushes her on the playground or how much fun it is to play kitty-cat with five other kids hyped up on cupcakes.

I try not to judge people for their schooling decisions. Admittedly, I think most parents that home-school their children have "crazy eyes" (I could never do it) but I try to respect the decision.

Ideally, I would like my daughters to start kindergarden at the local school and continue through 4th grade. Then I would like to find a girls school for 5th-8th. Then return them to the public school system through high school graduation. This plan is based on where we live, with a great school system. If that should change, the plan would change. I want my daughters to have the best opportunity when it comes to math and science and statistics (and my own experience) are on my side with putting them in a all-girls environment for those pre-teen years.

By: kim

kim — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:47:14 +0000

My daughter is a year old and my husband is a french teacher in high school. I am frustrated to hear about all of the American parents taking their kids out of school to home school them. If those parents took all of that energy and geared it towards changing the public schools then they would not need to home school. Parents need to get involved to see changes. At the “Meet the teachers” night last fall my husband had 3 parents show up– he teaches over 150 kids!

By: bombaygirl

bombaygirl — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:41:07 +0000

funny…I was just commenting on my search for the right preschool for my son, last night on my blog. I am torn, trying to decide what’s right for him. And no, I don’t think I will every give up my monitoring of his educational needs vs. his capabilities.

By: brandy

brandy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:51:57 +0000

I believe many elements of our educational system are flawed and I worry about kids getting ‘left behind,’ but it also looks like the documentarians set out to prove their hypothesis that American high schoolers were lazy, ungrateful, and unprepared when compared to children in high-pressure, overachieving cultures. A lot of potential for things to be taken out of context. We will encourage our kids in all areas of study, and I plan to dedicate all kids of time where it is needed. But I don’t care if they get straight A’s or make honor roll as long as they aren’t slacking off, and as long as they are focusing energy on what is important to them–developing skills in art or music or whatever. Life isn’t all about succeeding in the global marketplace. There has to be some common ground, a happy medium. I’d rather not groom my kids to succeed in a world of money, stocks, and board meetings. But I don’t want them skipping college courses to try on sunglasses, either (well, not regularly).

By: JMo

JMo — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:37:12 +0000

I don't think I fall into either of your camps AJ. We stretched ourselves to buy a house one of the best school districts so that we could send our kids to public school (and of course for resell value, should we ever decide to move). While we plan to utilize the public schools, we also plan to be very hands-on with their education. At this point, even the best schools have limited resources, so I believe it's our personal responsibility to make sure our kids are successful in school. I also understand that schools donâ€™t have the resources to provide a well-rounded education that includes arts, music, physical education, nature, etc. Thatâ€™s where we plan to supplement the public education programs.

To answer your last question - I think we will always be actively involved in our children's education. Personally, I really needed a lot of help from my parents with high school math and science homework, and I asked them to proofread my papers for English and history. My parents pushed and encouraged me throughout high school and college and I owe much of my success to them.

My son is 17-months old and we are currently interviewing preschools. We are leaning toward Montessori, but have a few other preschools to check out before we officially decide and fork over the application fee to get on the 18-month waiting lists.

By: Cindi Hoppes

Cindi Hoppes — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:14:02 +0000

In our town, it is know for its' wonderful educational system! Our population is rising rapidly! In the smaller towns around us, their test scores run even higher. I think that is because of smaller classroom size and more individualized attention.
My older sister is a retired school teacher of 34 years! I have learned a lot from her. To me, making the best of each child's ability is what the importance of education is. It is a combination of socialization, learning, character traits, etc. My sons are so different, especially when it comes to their learning styles. We work at home ( they go to the public schools) with each one empathizing their strengths! Cindi

By: STL Mom

STL Mom — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:52:10 +0000

If your kid is failing in school, you definitely stay involved!
My daughter went to kindergarten at our local public school, considered a good school in the area. She was miserable and made no academic progress. We switched her to a private Montessori school and it started out great, but by the end of first grade she was miserable again and making little progress.
We had her tested and found out that she has learning disabilities and attention problems. Now she is at a private school for kids with learning disabilities and is doing great.
What we've discovered is that a school can be wonderful for one child and terrible for another. For example, the Montessori school teacher gave our 6-year-old a work plan in the morning and then expected her to organize her own time and work independently for the next 2 1/2 hours. Many kids thrived in this system, but ours did not. She is doing much better in a highly structured environment with direct instruction.
In my experience, it was very difficult to figure out what the best kind of school would be until we tried a few. So go ahead and research your options, but don't be afraid to look at your decision again in a year or two. A fantastic school may not be the right school for your child.