Fed up, decided to homeschool this year - principal said "kids can just use spellcheck" (high school, grades)

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

I had to teach my son how to graph an equation using tables and graph paper.
He was only taught how to do it on a graphing calculator.
Tried to explain that what he did on paper is what the calculator did internally.

You have to know how something works to go on to make a better version of it.

Exactly, same here. Entering an equation into a calculator to get the min/max/derivative does not require knowledge of the underlying principles and sets a poor precedent - not to mention the extra work they'll have to endure once they get to irrational numbers and Linear Algebra.

[MattOTAlex]

Originally Posted by Momzuki

I am so frustrated because we moved to an area that is supposed to have great public schools. Kindergarten was great and the teacher was willing to let me son work on his level, at least enough to keep him from going crazy. This year was a different story, and I'm glad I found out at the beginning of the year. I tried to work with the school but I was totally shut down.

My biggest clue that there was a HUGE problem was when the teacher said there would not be any spelling lists or spelling tests. In first grade! Even prior to this, I suspected something might be a problem because of the poor quality of work that was coming home. Very different from last year.

I delved a little deeper into the spelling issue and the principal told me that kids didn't need to learn how to spell because they can just use spellcheck! He said spelling isn't even important enough to be on the report card in the upper grades. He also told me that public school cannot meet the needs of a gifted child, and that my son is ahead so I should not worry and everything would "even out by third grade."

The teacher, principal, assistant principal, and curriculum director all assured me that "word study" would teach conventional spelling of irregular words. Because I am a former teacher, I knew that it would not. I found an author who also was concerned about spelling not being explicitly taught, and I voiced my concerns. He wrote an article about us and our decision to homeschool:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...spelling-tests

Spelling was just the tip that led to opening the whole thing up. Reading and math were not ok, either. As I asked questions I kept getting more and more dismayed.

Insanity and inanity.

Further evidence of the downfall of public schools. Just affirms the need for private schools and other alternative educational approaches like homeschooling.

[Spazkat9696]

Spelling, reading, and writing instruction are so closley linked! The principal was basically saying literacy is not important! We do an independent word study, in my class, along with daily teacher lead phonics instruction and content word vocabulary lessons to cover spelling in my room. It must work because I have some of the best spellers in the school. This is my second year with my students, and I'm pleased to say 20% of my class was able to start the year on a derivational constancy stage.

[Azile]

About the comment about spell check, you have to know how to basically spell the word (get the gist of the spelling anyhow) to get the correct spelling from spell check. So many words are spelled similarly but mean totally different things. There, their, and they're, for example, are spelled similarly but mean totally different things. Your, You're...again different meanings, similar spelling. Tare, tear, wear, ware, dear, deer, bare, bear, I can go on. All are valid words that won't even get picked up by spell check. If the person writing them has a specific meaning they want to express, how can they do it properly if spell check doesn't pick them up?

Learning to spell is VERY important! It seems like from some of the replies here, learning to spell isn't a dead lesson, it's just not the main focus. I suppose that's a good thing. I know vocabulary and spelling was huge when I was in grade school. I just assumed it would stay like that since it was such a big deal then.

[EA]

Have you been on the internet? No one uses spell check!

[stepka]

Originally Posted by Kreutz

If your basement isn't finished, you may want to get on that now. The results of your helicopter parenting will never need to leave home to roost.

Hmm, I homeschooled my kids for essentially the same reasons and they are too independent these days! One is a top notch speller; the other does well enough when she wants to. Both are amazingly good writers though I never formally taught this but I did have them do it a lot. I made them learn all the math facts and learn to count back change and drive a stick-shift. They both still read quite a lot though not as much since they're in college. People forget that we are not actually educating our kids--we're giving them the tools to educate themselves.

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Kreutz

I would say in order to be more competitive we need to drop this idea that the 20th century baby boomer era education matters in the 21st century.

You still can't compose an English sentence.

Go ahead, call me a grammar N***. I am one. OK, a grammar Fascist. I think I like that better.

[Kreutz]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

You still can't compose an English sentence.

Go ahead, call me a grammar N***. I am one. OK, a grammar Fascist. I think I like that better.

It looked like English in sentence form to me.

Do enlighten me from your Edwardian-era grammar book written by a virginal centenarian dowager where I erred so I may appease people on Internet forums with nothing of substance to say who live only to find arcane grammatical errors no one else cares about.

You do realize English is the most fluid language on Earth and is actually harmed by rigid grammatical constraints right?

Our stores of literature would be in sorrier shape if your kind ruled the roost. Thank God you didn't exist prior to Vbulletin.

[Kreutz]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Getting back to the OP there is no reason for school vs homeschool. I still remember sitting with my dad learning to write my name and doing other things when I was a kid (long ago) WHILE I was in school. Do you think having a child in school means you don't have to do squat except drive them to soccer practice? It's a battle line people like to draw so they can feel a "win". That's really most of what I see these days when it comes to education....a battle that doesn't really exist. Nothing prevents anyone from teaching their kids anything, anytime, anyplace, even if they happen to go to school.

This.

[RogersParkGuy]

Originally Posted by Momzuki

I am so frustrated because we moved to an area that is supposed to have great public schools. Kindergarten was great and the teacher was willing to let me son work on his level, at least enough to keep him from going crazy. This year was a different story, and I'm glad I found out at the beginning of the year. I tried to work with the school but I was totally shut down.

My biggest clue that there was a HUGE problem was when the teacher said there would not be any spelling lists or spelling tests. In first grade! Even prior to this, I suspected something might be a problem because of the poor quality of work that was coming home. Very different from last year.

I delved a little deeper into the spelling issue and the principal told me that kids didn't need to learn how to spell because they can just use spellcheck! He said spelling isn't even important enough to be on the report card in the upper grades. He also told me that public school cannot meet the needs of a gifted child, and that my son is ahead so I should not worry and everything would "even out by third grade."

The teacher, principal, assistant principal, and curriculum director all assured me that "word study" would teach conventional spelling of irregular words. Because I am a former teacher, I knew that it would not. I found an author who also was concerned about spelling not being explicitly taught, and I voiced my concerns. He wrote an article about us and our decision to homeschool:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...spelling-tests

Spelling was just the tip that led to opening the whole thing up. Reading and math were not ok, either. As I asked questions I kept getting more and more dismayed.

As someone with a background in applied linguistics, I can tell you that contrary to what most people believe, spelling tests and spelling lists are almost useless pedagogical tools.

The use of such methods was inspired by behaviorist assumptions about language acquisition, assumptions we now know to be false. The idea was that proper spelling was a "habit" students acquired through repetition. It was deemed critically important that spelling words be isolated and any mistakes be immediately corrected to prevent students from acquiring the habit of spelling them incorrectly.

But this is not how people actually learn to spell.

Spelling "mistakes" change over time, as part of a gradual acquisition of standard spelling. It is similar to the way a child starts out using words like "bow-bow" for the family pet, then goes to "doggie" and, finally, "dog." As long as students read and write regularly, their spelling almost always develops over time.

The reason lots of people can't spell is they don't read enough. It isn't because they don't memorize spelling lists.