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I feel very sorry for this child. Smother-Mother is attempting to raise a robot, not a child.
When this kid reaches adulthood, he will look back on his formative years looking to reminisce about the happy times and find very few.
He'll go back to his own school next fall when the Covid is over, and be with his friends...the other academically gifted kids with "like minded" parents. The school/curriculum is a melting pot of classmates from all different cultures/ethnicities whose parents value education and want to give them all the advantages they can to succeed. If grandson didn't love the challenge, his parents wouldn't have enrolled him there.
Their local public school doesn't have much to offer for advanced kids. By age 4, he was reading fluently at a first grade level, doing double digit addition and subtraction, reciting his times tables through the ten's, and could name all of the states and identify them on a map. His big trick was reciting the alphabet forward AND backward. If one of DD's customers asked him if he knew his ABC's, he'd do this and they'd be gobsmacked.
They had him psychologically tested (at their own expense) and the psychologist who determined his eligibility for early enrollment told his parents that sending him to public school would have been a huge mistake. When giving DD and son in law the results of GS's evaluation, he asked them if they were familiar with "The Big Bang Theory". He had GS pegged as a "Sheldon" at age four.
Grandson's just a happy math geek who has lots of otherwise non-academic fun...Minecraft, bike riding, sledding, Hot Wheels, Lego's, Boy Scouts (when the physical meetings resume)...OUTSIDE of school time. His parents try to enforce the same school day discipline during remote class as he'd be required to have during physical class. When he's completed on-line one-on-one instruction, assignments, quizzes, etc., he has to sit quietly at his desk and read a book (like he'd be required to if he WERE in physical school), but he still has designated breaks and play time. This is not a "vacation", and it's not being treated like it. Obviously, that's not the case in a lot of remote schooling situations now.
DD told me that she knows of some parents of kids in public remote school who only have their kids do the "basics"...they don't think that the Science and Social Studies lessons are necessary! That's scary.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 02-04-2021 at 12:45 AM..
#1, kids are amazingly resilent and have very active and inquisitive minds. (they can go far with very little) Covid is a blessing of personal time that many applicable lessons could be experienced and learned. (USA EDU is squandering that wonderful opportunity, too bad, but not unexpected. I wonder if we have any THINKERS as USA educators anymore).
I would suggest you are not "homeschool" material, you are trying to "traditionally school" at home, absolute total difference in mind, method, and objectives.
Seems you want a 'multi input / culture' for your kids, and not confident that waiting around for USA publiuc schools to get back into their 'normal' (failed) ways of educating is risky for your kid's achievement.
I suggest you pack your bags (and kids) and leave the USA and find a country / situation that CAN provide what you desire for your kids. Millions do this. (All over the world). We lived internationally from grade K - 9 as do many in USA. This can take on all kinds of flavors. Families / coworkers often chose to be based in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, or Bangkok for excellent options in Asian schools (many more options today). The ones in Singapore were simplest (english speaking), but some great success was placing their kids into Chinese speaking public schools (you have a choice in Singapore, tho you MUST academically qualify (annually)). Their kids today have wonderful educations, spouses and international careers. We 'unschooled' because we traveled everyday, often to different countries in Asia, Europe, Canada, and within USA).
The choice is really yours to make. We sacrificed career / income during child rearing age, but were commited to immerse our kids in a wide variety of people groups, cultures / local habits (music / traditions), education, recreation... Was it perfect or easy? Certainly not and our kids would wholly agree!
It was what we could make out of our circumstances at the time, and it worked out. Far better than if we would have chosen the 'Optimal Path', and certainly much different than the 'Normal Path' (ick).
Our 'Unschooled' kids became very proficient at gaining and growing 'cross-generational' and 'cross-cultural' relationships and experiences. They were leaders and public speakers in their colleges (at age 16), as well as continuing to be business and community leaders and civic volunteers 20+ yrs after beginningcollege. This has nothing to do with our contributions to their education. (which we did very little). Our kids were largely self taught (once they could read), and we only availed vast opportunites of experiences. (Tho not what they always wanted or thought they needed). We just had to work with the resources at hand. (which did not include the internet at the time). I envy the breath of educational opportunity accessible today. Fortunately some families, kids, and teachers are running with it. They will be very content and well positioned for the 'new future'. From what I see of USA Public Education... unfortunately the trajectory is following the USA EDU mode since 1970s (excuses / blaming / disappointments). (6 in extended family are still teachers, as are many friends, colleagues, and neighbors) Spoke to 3 teachers about this today. Sad (for the students). Returning to 'Normal' is triple sad when there was such a vast opportunity to transform USA EDU. Lost.
I'm jealous. We are considering a permanent move to Taiwan for the reasons you state. While we would not "unschool" our children, the education they would receive in Taiwan is far superior to what is available in the United States. This is a constant source of irritation for us as we note their Taiwanese cousins receiving public schooling that is in-line with their abilities, while our children are languishing in US schools with a significantly retarded curriculum, especially in STEM.
Unfortunately, the work/life balance we could achieve in Taiwan would not be as advantageous as what we have in the USA. Furthermore, currently, advanced degrees in China and Taiwan do not carry the same weight as degrees from US Universities, though who knows what the situation will be in a decade or so?
Finally, while the international schools in Taiwan are fairly "diverse" (if you consider the children of diplomats and international businessmen diverse), in culture if not in economic strata, the public schools are decidedly not. Taiwan is a monoculture, or--at best--a bi-culture of Chinese and Native Taiwanese.
Currently, we are sticking with the plan of supplementing their US education at home and doing cram school (or summer camps) in Taiwan for Mandarin. It is not like you need to travel to another country to learn math or physics. I am trying to determine if private schools, especially ones that stayed open during the pandemic, offer enough advantage to justify their costs.
He'll go back to his own school next fall when the Covid is over, and be with his friends...the other academically gifted kids with "like minded" parents. The school/curriculum is a melting pot of classmates from all different cultures/ethnicities whose parents value education and want to give them all the advantages they can to succeed. If grandson didn't love the challenge, his parents wouldn't have enrolled him there.
Their local public school doesn't have much to offer for advanced kids. By age 4, he was reading fluently at a first grade level, doing double digit addition and subtraction, reciting his times tables through the ten's, and could name all of the states and identify them on a map. His big trick was reciting the alphabet forward AND backward. If one of DD's customers asked him if he knew his ABC's, he'd do this and they'd be gobsmacked.
They had him psychologically tested (at their own expense) and the psychologist who determined his eligibility for early enrollment told his parents that sending him to public school would have been a huge mistake. When giving DD and son in law the results of GS's evaluation, he asked them if they were familiar with "The Big Bang Theory". He had GS pegged as a "Sheldon" at age four.
Grandson's just a happy math geek who has lots of otherwise non-academic fun...Minecraft, bike riding, sledding, Hot Wheels, Lego's, Boy Scouts (when the physical meetings resume)...OUTSIDE of school time. His parents try to enforce the same school day discipline during remote class as he'd be required to have during physical class. When he's completed on-line one-on-one instruction, assignments, quizzes, etc., he has to sit quietly at his desk and read a book (like he'd be required to if he WERE in physical school), but he still has designated breaks and play time. This is not a "vacation", and it's not being treated like it. Obviously, that's not the case in a lot of remote schooling situations now.
DD told me that she knows of some parents of kids in public remote school who only have their kids do the "basics"...they don't think that the Science and Social Studies lessons are necessary! That's scary.
Is this school in a major city or in a place like Silicon Valley? How did your children find this school for their grandchild?
Mine in private till 10th grade. Did fine. Now has a BA in Business Finance. Best friend is a Biomedical Engineer.
The amount of busy work in public school is crazy. The cost of public schools is on a runaway projection. Here it’s over $26,000 per student compared to $3,000 in private. And before the lie is continued, we had many students with learning disabilities and handicaps. They are just as equipped to handle children’s need as public schools are, shop wisely. We need the voucher system. The educational system is broken and can never be fixed without going down endless rabbit holes.
Is this school in a major city or in a place like Silicon Valley? How did your children find this school for their grandchild?
Let's just say that disgust and disappointment with their local school district (and particularly the elementary school principal) had a lot to do with the urgency of searching and researching. Education for their kids is a huge priority at their house.
DD and SIL found the school (in a city some distance from their rural home) while looking for options when it was obvious oldest Grandson was ready to start school, but the local district wouldn't accept him for early enrollment. He just missed the cutoff by a few months. Had they followed the district's protocol, he would have been almost six when he started Kindergarten...and by four, his skills were already grade levels beyond that. He was tested (at DD's and SIL's expense), and was determined to be psychologically mature enough, with a high IQ (140's). He could recite his times tables, recite and identify all the states on a map, read at a first grade level, and like I said in my previous post, recite the alphabet forward AND backward. They had several interviews that spring, and the principal...who DD was less than impressed with...gave her and SIL the impression they didn't know what to do with or WANT to deal with such a bright kid. No gifted programs offered in that school. Later enrollment meant "bigger for sports", and the more advanced kids "helped" the slow ones. That pretty much nailed DD's opinion of that school. "Dumbed down", in her words.
The Grandkids' cousins go to that district. A ten-year-old cousin, turning eleven this summer, will be entering fifth grade in the fall of 2021 (their parents "red shirted" them). Oldest grandson will be entering fourth grade then (and probably starting sixth grade math), at seven. Both families just stress different things (in the cousins' family, it's athletics and sports).
Oldest grandson had to have more testing (at their own expense) before he was accepted to his present school (where he'll be doing virtual schooling for the rest of the year). They did the same with youngest grandson, who was also accepted for early enrollment into Kindergarten there, as well. He turned four this past fall, and is reading at a second grade level and can count to 500. He likes to do it on the long commutes to and from work with DD every day. This is how oldest grandson memorized his times tables...DD and the kids practice them together in the car to pass the time. Me too, when I'm with them. I'm the one who taught them the song about the "Fifty States", so they can name all of them. We're now working on the Capitals.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 02-08-2021 at 11:38 PM..
Let's just say that disgust and disappointment with their local school district (and particularly the elementary school principal) had a lot to do with the urgency of searching and researching. Education for their kids is a huge priority at their house.
DD and SIL found the school (in a city some distance from their rural home) while looking for options when it was obvious oldest Grandson was ready to start school, but the local district wouldn't accept him for early enrollment. He just missed the cutoff by a few months. Had they followed the district's protocol, he would have been almost six when he started Kindergarten...and by four, his skills were already grade levels beyond that. He was tested (at DD's and SIL's expense), and was determined to be psychologically mature enough, with a high IQ (140's). He could recite his times tables, recite and identify all the states on a map, read at a first grade level, and like I said in my previous post, recite the alphabet forward AND backward. They had several interviews that spring, and the principal...who DD was less than impressed with...gave her and SIL the impression they didn't know what to do with or WANT to deal with such a bright kid. No gifted programs offered in that school. Later enrollment meant "bigger for sports", and the more advanced kids "helped" the slow ones. That pretty much nailed DD's opinion of that school. "Dumbed down", in her words.
The Grandkids' cousins go to that district. A ten-year-old cousin, turning eleven this summer, will be entering fifth grade in the fall of 2021 (their parents "red shirted" them). Oldest grandson will be entering fourth grade then (and probably starting sixth grade math), at seven. Both families just stress different things (in the cousins' family, it's athletics and sports).
Oldest grandson had to have more testing (at their own expense) before he was accepted to his present school (where he'll be doing virtual schooling for the rest of the year). They did the same with youngest grandson, who was also accepted for early enrollment into Kindergarten there, as well. He turned four this past fall, and is reading at a second grade level and can count to 500. He likes to do it on the long commutes to and from work with DD every day. This is how oldest grandson memorized his times tables...DD and the kids practice them together in the car to pass the time. Me too, when I'm with them. I'm the one who taught them the song about the "Fifty States", so they can name all of them. We're now working on the Capitals.
If your grandchildren like nerdy humor, then they might like to learn The Element Song. It was Daniel Radcliff's parlor trick.
Hm, so it's in a big city and they had to move the entire family there in order to attend?
They didn't need to move there, they commute (as do many of the students who live all over the area). It's in the same city where son in law's office is located, and he drives GS there with him every morning, or at least did until the Covid. SIL still works from home several days a week, and the school offers virtual classes this year, which GS is taking. Hopefully, next year things will be back to normal for everyone.
Per the OECD in terms of, "social-welfare" we outspend every nation but France and regarding K-12 we are usually in the top 3 or 4 in spending. Short of removing kids en mass from bad home situations I'm not sure what else we could do?
There are many adjustments I like to see in the classroom but that's a different matter.
I meant that many of the myriad sub-cultures in the USA do not emphasize education and therefore the aggregate US culture downplays the importance of education. Schools being closed is given lip service as a national crisis, but almost equal, or even more emphasis, is placed on the burden to parents rather than the damage to childrens' development. Even in this thread we have posters emphasizing schools as a safe environment for students to just be, or to get a meal; as if they were to function as a YMCA or a domestic violence shelter. Learning in school is often treated as a secondary or tertiary concern.
It seems to be considered sufficient if students are safe and fed. Educating them is optional.
Well, obviously everyone can’t send their children to private school, either because there aren’t enough openings, or the family can’t afford it.
If I was able to stay home with my kids, I would homeschool them according to an accredited program, rather than have them do remote learning from the public school. If I had teenagers I would make sure they had a social outlet like sports or planned gatherings. When the government stifles our personal freedoms, we have to figure out a work around.
What’s the worst than could happen? The kids would perhaps be a year or two behind, scholastically, but at least their mental health would be preserved.
The kids whose parents both must work outside the home are really in jeopardy. I know a man whose hours are flexible. He offered to teach a group of his children’s friends M-F mornings. They are teenagers, so they had some personal responsibility for following through in the afternoons.
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).
). I envy the breath of educational opportunity accessible today. Fortunately some families, kids, and teachers are running with it. They will be very content and well positioned for the 'new future'. From what I see of USA Public Education... unfortunately the trajectory is following the USA EDU mode since 1970s (excuses / blaming / disappointments). (6 in extended family are still teachers, as are many friends, colleagues, and neighbors) Spoke to 3 teachers about this today. Sad (for the students). Returning to 'Normal' is triple sad when there was such a vast opportunity to transform USA EDU. Lost.
