US Public School Curriculum needs to be changed (teaching, career, writing)
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The point of the article wasn't that these things should be taught at school, but that they should be taught. Some of these things could be taught in schools, but many of them are, indeed, best modeled. Parents really do need to take primary responsibility for their children's education, as sending your children to school does not give you an exemption. My mother-in-law was fantastic in this respect and has 2 sons with PhDs, another son who is an expert in his field. They all went through a horrible school system and have been very successful due to their parents' input.
But, here's the issue. A lot of parents don't have these skills themselves. The one area that comes to mind is finances. Most people do not have the knowledge to pass on. And, who in a typical school environment does? I don't believe math teachers are necessarily any more savvy than history teachers when it comes to setting up savings plans, planning for retirement, etc.
I think a lot of this list doesn't make any sense. Many of these skills WILL be learned in school if the child is doing is/her job. A lot of the skills are learned over a long period of time through one process over another. I do agree that none of the financial skills were taught when I was in school. I had to learn them the hard way, while in college.
And passion? That's not a skill, that's something within you that you need to discover for yourself. As a parent I can help my child explore their interests and hopefully they will discover their passion that way. But I think it's rather disingenious to suggest that public school curriculum needs to be changed because a laundry list that someone put out there. A lot of these things are the responsibility of the parent, and the rest, the student will acquire them over time, unless they're sleeping away their entire school career.
As a former teacher, many of these things are actually covered in better schools, public and/or private, but just as many or more things are more the responsibility of a parent in the home. The article itself states that much of this is modeled for children.
The movement in schools has been away from rote methods of teaching to more hands-on and involvement on the part of the students. Only 10% of learning is actually achieved in the lecture/note-taking mode. Reading is largely dictated by curriculum, and most reading/literature teachers can select a lot of the materials. If your child is not interested in the reading materials at school, encourage him/her to read things of particular interest to the student. Magazines are high interest and can be chosen for content and reading level/ability.
As for life-skills lessons, much of that should come from the home.
My Mother taught us how to use appliances around the house, including vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances, and we washed our own clothes after being taught to sort laundry by color and whites and fabric(s). We changed the sheets on our beds, could remake a bed, and wash the dirty linens. We knew to use certain types of cleaners for different situations, and could perform simple repairs and maintenance on most appliances -- changing a belt on the vacuum cleaner, changing the bag, looking for obstructions. We could cook and follow directions in a cookbook. I learned how to sew, and could make repairs to my clothing. I know how to polish a pair of shoes.
All of this began at an age appropriate to the lesson, and became our chores. Even my younger sisters could stand on a small stool to wash dishes, or rinse them for the dishwasher, which we knew how to use.
Even though we were girls, my Father taught us some routine auto maintenance, if only as simple as recognizing that the oil needed to be changed regularly, and to routinely check fluid levels, and tire pressure. When I called Dad for help with a flat, he came to where I was on the side of the road, and made me change the tire, showing me how to do it. Around the house, we learned how to use simple tools like a hammer and set of screwdrivers, how to repair minor things such as a door that wouldn't catch, or was too tight, how to clean our long hair from a clogged drain, and when my sister dropped a favorite piece of jewelry in the drain, he showed us how to take care of that, too.
We cut grass with the lawnmower, but knew how to use it, and how to check the oil level and put gasoline in it. I know how to use most garden tools and what purpose each is designed to do. I can read labels, and apply fertilizer and/or pesticides and herbicides.
What is my point?
My parents taught me such things, and what they didn't teach me, I had the confidence to read and/or try to learn to do myself. As a parent, I followed suit, but I really haven't done as well by own daughter for some reason. I know my sister's children are useless around the house because they have hired help to clean the house, care for the yard, and they eat-out frequently. They understand what a washing machine is, but ruin their laundry.
When my daughter began college, I opened a checking account for her, taught her how to note deposits and withdrawals, balance the checkbook against the statement, and try to budget her money. She has since taught me how to bank online. When she worked, against my thought that school was her job, I made sure she saved more than what she spent, and when she wanted big 'extras' she had the money for them. At tax time, I helped her do those too.
Such an injustice to our children to send them out into the world without skills, and defenseless against anyone out there who would try to take advantage of them.
Too many parents today seem to want to pay for their children, and can afford to do well by them, monetarily, but have created largely useless people and poorly-prepared citizens.
I have been throughly disgusted with the amount of education my children have received in NC public schools. I was doing some research and found a website that pretty much summed up all my thoughts. I hope it's not against the rules to post a link. Check this out and maybe we can all have a discussion. If my children had learned half of this, I would be happy. 27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She’s Not Getting In School | Zen Habits
Your thread title shows a lack of understanding about the nature of the education system. Curriculum varies by state and sometimes even within a state. Education was (is?) a responsibility of the state governments to maintain so its state governments that decide what students learn and when. I am sorry to hear you and your family had a negative experience with NC public schools. Did you relocate? Did they all graduate and go onto other things? Did you find other parents shared your experiences? Were your children in NC schools their whole career?
The material you choose is weak in a couple of ways because this is one parent's overview of what should be taught because it is what they are teaching their 6 children in Guam. It's apparent you agree with them but let me point out a couple of things.
1. Assumptions. The blogger states at the top of this post, "Everyone knows that our school system, in general, is not giving our kids the basic reading, writing, ‘rithmatic and science skills needed to be competitive in the high-tech workforce of the upcoming generation (at least, that’s the general assumption, and we won’t argue it here)." If they're such experts on all things educational then they should know that thesis or argument should be firm and solid, not based on an assumption. Further, if everyone knows it why does it require blogging about it?
2. Contradictions. They cite that kids need "skills needed to be competitive" but yet say one of the 27 things kids need is "anti-competitiveness." Being competitive doesn't mean making enemies. Kids need to learn competitiveness in a healthy way because life will present situations where they will have to deal with being the possibility of losing (job interview, scholarship, college applications, sports). At the same time, having these experiences builds their confidence.
3. Religion. The parent/author believes in a strange composition of educational ideas infused with religion and philosophy. Zen is an aspect of Buddhism but the icon for their website (next to the http) is a yin and yang symbol that comes from Chinese philosophy. At some point wouldn't Buddhism and Confucianism crash into each other, philosophically speaking?
this is where parents are lazy as far as thinking it is the schools responsibility to teach this stuff. try teaching this to your kids at home and then there won't be as many distractions at school which will lead them to learning more. sound good?
I teach middle school math and I teach a lot of these important skills to my students, even if they don't realize it. Granted I am limited in some ways because of the material I teach but I make sure to emphasize skills not only focused on solving math equations. We talk about finances all the time and one project I do with my kids is a savings project. They keep tract of what they are saving at home in a daily journal, all the while they are learning what they can achieve by saving money and how to do basic mathematical functions. They enjoy it and it gives them real life experience with math. You can sit in a classroom all day and TELL them how to do "math" but what good is that? Kids learn by showing and doing. They learn teamwork, study skills, how to communicate effectively, critical thinking and organization. I force them to see problems in answers that I give them, they learn never to be satisfied until THEY have gotten the answer. Class is never boring and I feel my kids are learning more than just math, which is how it should be. This should continue all the way through high school, because when they hit the real world they will use not only what they learned from you (parents) but also from what they learned from their second parents (educators!)!! Kids spend more time in school than at home, shouldn't they be getting the best complete education they deserve!? Private schools/boarding schools frequently have classes that focus on key skills not learned from a textbook. And they prove to be very valuable.
Having taught for more years than I sometimes want to recall -- not they they were bad ones, but more that it makes me old-er -- the pendulum swings one way, and then back again.
In the late 1970s when I began my teaching career, the big demand was for 'Life's Skills,' which included things at the former JR HS level, like reading a menu, buying an airline ticket, following a map and/or directions, studying an instruction manual, etc. in Language Arts/Reading classes, while in Math, it was handling money, recording checks, balancing a checkbook, figuring sales tax, tips on a bill, distance between two points, and the like. This made up at least 70% of the curriculum.
Parents, other educators, *whoever* started bashing the public schools claiming students were ill-prepared for colleges. I was always a proponent myself of the HS geared towards students' interests and talents -- math and science, technology, the arts, the humanities, and then, just a good ole college-prep HS, to boot. You chose the HS based on interest and aptitude, and initiative and talent. Students who would become more blue collar workers developed those skills too at equally good schools that made them employable upon graduation -- depending, of course, upon expertise and training required for a specific job or trade.
So, here we are with NCLB, which I'm not sure focuses on the needs, goals, skills, talents, aptitudes -- whatever measure you want to use -- of most students. While it might be nice to think we are all college material and/or college-bound, it strikes me about as ludicrous as thinking every one of us who finishes college will be a rocket scientist. I, for one, *sigh* wish.
The link here is to a site that advocates those Life's Skills yet again, which is most cases I see as the responsibility of parents. Granted, there are skills some parents may not possess, and in those cases, it is reasonable to assume a school system can pick up the slack. Even in my English class, I chose to take advantage of the 'teachable moment' when a 9th grader showed up for class, and declared mostly out of frustration, that he was quitting school. "You think so?," I asked, and sent down to the library for as many newspapers as we could muster around the building.
As a class, we looked for jobs for which a 9th grade drop-out might qualify, figured the salary and rough take-home pay. Then, because this kid thought he could still live at home and work, we looked at cars and car payments, cost of gasoline, taxes on the vehicle, INS, routine maintenance. We took into account any spending money, incidentals, etc., and what his parents would be willing to help him with, and he came to the conclusion he might just as well graduate from HS -- especially when we looked at job trends, and compared salaries of just non-HS grads to HS grads. It was a lifestyle to which he didn't think he'd like to become accustomed.
I get frustrated because my general impression is that some parents want me to actually raise their children for them. I love children, and only had one of my own, so I'm willing. But, sign them over to me -- they are mine to take home, and 'teach' there too.
this is where parents are lazy as far as thinking it is the schools responsibility to teach this stuff. try teaching this to your kids at home and then there won't be as many distractions at school which will lead them to learning more. sound good?
All of those things were taught to me by my parents. They didn't expect the schools to teach me. They were there for me! Also, U.S schools are on the decline. I notice that in my classes, students want to get easier lessons, less work, when students from different countries are bored asking for harder lessons and more work. Globalization is going to eat up the U.S school system, and most likely the U.S way of life as well. I try to learn as much as I can whenever I can. There is NEVER a time when one can say they have learned too much.
--Brandon
It does not take a village, it takes a parent. The village is more leftist thinking that alleviates parental responsibilty for their child.
All of those things should be taught by the parent(s).
Public schools went down the drain when they decided they should not be just schools anymore but social institutions.
I agree, schools are no way a measurment of how someone will do and in my opinion, they actually are counter productive to many people's success.
The powers to be only want followers, the problme is that when the masses of followers eventually replace the now days powers to be, they will lack any real social sense of leadership and default to authoritarian style because that is naturally the only way they know.
One can just look at history and see the results of what most often happens when the less educated peasantry over throws the gov. Most always a hostile and cruel authoritarian style nation gov forms.
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When she worked, against my thought that school was her job, I made sure she saved more than what she spent, and when she wanted big 'extras' she had the money for them. At tax time, I helped her do those too.
