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Despite what you may have read on the Internet, there is no national “Common Core Reading List.” The document that The Bluest Eye is mentioned in is an appendix to the Common Core standards. The document lists passages from texts that illustrate the suggested difficulty level of the material students at each grade level should be reading. The Bluest Eye appears in a list of sample texts for 11th grade. The passage from the novel in that appendix does not describe rape or incest.
In other words, if your child's language arts teacher assigns The Bluest Eye and you find it unacceptable, it is an issue that should be addressed with your local district.
Last edited by randomparent; 04-07-2014 at 02:12 PM..
Reason: Typo
In other words, if your child's language teacher assigns The Bluest Eye to your child and you find it unacceptable, it is an issue that should be addressed with your local district.
I agree.
The one thing the common core does do is to call for 70% of reading in high school to be NONFICTION.
There are exemplars of texts that might be used, but no required reading list, so it is up to the language arts teachers to decide what to assign.
Figure out a way to afford home schooling.
I know waaayyyy too many non-rich people who do it to buy the "I can't afford it" argument.
Hell, one of my close friends had it so poor that they were living 4 kids in one motel room. Their mom home schooled them...she is successful and her baby sister is at Harvard now.
Common Core is not without its problems, but a lot of what you read is hyperbole. I strongly suggest taking the time to read carefully through the standards and to talk to your kids' teachers about how curriculum choices align with those standards. Attend school board meetings and ask questions. Lots of questions! Controversy over The Bluest Eye is a beautiful example of how incomplete information can be used to manipulate people. Please, folks, before you join the raging hoards, do your research and think for yourselves. Are you really opposed to creating consistent standards for our nation's students? I'm not. Having moved my kids multiple times from one end of the country to the other, I've seen first-hand how states vary in the quality of the public education they provide. I'd really like to see a more standardized progression. Is Common Core the answer? Erm, I'm not convinced that we're there quite yet, but I think the idea has a lot of potential to improve the state of public education. That's my $.02. YMMV.
Now, on to Syracusa's question: What should a caring parent do if the local public school's curriculum choices are less than desirable? There are plenty of tutoring options and academic clubs that can augment what a child is learning in school, but it's really up to parents to find the best options in their area. Kumon math is available pretty much everywhere, but the math club two university professors run out of my neighborhood elementary school clearly is not. You're going to have to do your own legwork on this one.
Last edited by randomparent; 04-07-2014 at 01:55 PM..
Figure out a way to afford home schooling.
I know waaayyyy too many non-rich people who do it to buy the "I can't afford it" argument.
Hell, one of my close friends had it so poor that they were living 4 kids in one motel room. Their mom home schooled them...she is successful and her baby sister is at Harvard now.
I think it would be a better use of everyone's life, work and tax money to push hard and advocate for a better public educational system than to urge people to take poverty vows so they can home-school their children all while being forced to pay taxes for an inferior public school system that they avoid using in the first place.
I am not interested in subjecting ourselves or our children to the abject levels of poverty that you are describing or to the likelihood of falling back on our children in old age, even if they will be Harvard grads. We also plan on retiring one day.
While getting a good education is important, having minimum financial security is just as important. Some may argue more.
Choosing the route you are pointing to is NOT a virtue. Holding policy makers and CC-type of special private interests responsible for the horrible education system they foist upon the citizenry - would be one.
Common Core is not without its problems, but a lot of what you read is hyperbole. I strongly suggest taking the time to read carefully through the standards and to talk to your kids' teachers about how curriculum choices align with those standards. Attend school board meetings and ask questions. Lots of questions! Controversy over The Bluest Eye is a beautiful example of how incomplete information can be used to manipulate people. Please, folks, before you join the raging hoards, do your research and think for yourselves. Are you really opposed to creating consistent standards for our nation's students? I'm not. Having moved my kids multiple times from one end of the country to the other, I've seen first-hand how states vary in the quality of the public education they provide. I'd really like to see a more standardized progression. Is Common Core the answer? Erm, I'm not convinced that we're there quite yet, but I think the idea has a lot of potential to improve the state of public education. That's my $.02. YMMV.
I am not against consistent standards across the nation.
However, it depends on what those standards are, how they are taught and how they are assessed.
Just saying "consistent standards across thre nation" is a good thing cannot alone exonerate CC.
I have read so many terrible things about CC, including the very scary proposition that this is just a corporate take-over of education for profit purposes. Based on what I have seen from CC so far, I agree with this point of view.
Asking those who also agree: given the situation, what should a caring parent do?
I still want my children to get a very good education. What's the solution to counteract the apparently horrible effects of CC?
Homeschooling, private school or moving out of the country are not options for us any time soon.
Supplement at home with a serious curriculum? Anything else?
This is not a thread to debate the merits of CC. I am simply asking those who agree that it sucks...what do you think a caring parent should do?
If you are not happy with the local public school you can:
1. Move
2. Move your kids to private school
3. Homeschool
4. Do nothing and continue to complain
I think it would be a better use of everyone's life, work and tax money to push hard and advocate for a better public educational system than to urge people to take poverty vows so they can home-school their children all while being forced to pay taxes for an inferior public school system that they avoid using in the first place.
I am not interested in subjecting ourselves or our children to the abject levels of poverty that you are describing or to the likelihood of falling back on our children in old age, even if they will be Harvard grads. We also plan on retiring one day.
While getting a good education is important, having minimum financial security is just as important. Some may argue more.
Choosing the route you are pointing to is NOT a virtue. Holding policy makers and CC-type of special private interests responsible for the horrible education system they foist upon the citizenry - would be one.
It's not one or the other. You misunderstand my post.
There are plenty more people I know who live nice middle class lifestyles and homeschool their kids.
I was just saying that just because these people were poor didn't mean they couldn't get a good education - NOT that their education made them poor. They were already poor.
I don't know any rich people who homeschool because they can afford good (actual good, not just churchy good) private schools.
And I would say to you that a much bigger detriment to society is generations of children being raised with two working parents, neither of whom really have time to get involved in their educations and emotional lives on a personal level every single day (but do a great job of lying to themselves about it).
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