When my son was in fourth grade I was dismayed when his teacher at he beginning of the year sent home math homework in addition. Fourth grade math should be division. I spoke to the teacher about this and was assured that they were just doing a review. A month later he is still bringing home addition homework. Then the teacher admitted t…
When my son was in fourth grade I was dismayed when his teacher at he beginning of the year sent home math homework in addition. Fourth grade math should be division. I spoke to the teacher about this and was assured that they were just doing a review. A month later he is still bringing home addition homework. Then the teacher admitted to me that she was compelled to teach to the lowest common denominator (no pun intended) and that addition was all the dumb kids and English as a Second Language students could handle. I pulled my son out of that crappy public school and home schooled that year and his math and reading scores increased by two grade levels by the end of the year. All this while working a full time job myself.
If you love your kids, get them the hell out of the public school system and into anything else, whether a charter school, home school teaching pods, anything. And read the Underground History of Education. The original is out of print by can be downloaded free at: https://archive.org/details/TheUndergroundHistoryOfAmericanEducation_758
I homeschooled as well. Read, read, read - quality books, not twaddle, and above their reading level. Well written books help children expand their vocabulary and will help them learn to write well. And for Pete’s sake teach them spelling and grammar and good sentence structure (diagramming). It’s not difficult. I don’t even have a bachelors degree but my kids can read and write and speak well. Both got perfect scores on the English and Reading sections of the ACT. It was a big financial hit (though I was able to work PT) but worth the years we had to live frugally. A lot of people “after school,” supplementing their kids’ public education, if they can’t homeschool.
When my son was in fourth grade I was dismayed when his teacher at he beginning of the year sent home math homework in addition. Fourth grade math should be division. I spoke to the teacher about this and was assured that they were just doing a review. A month later he is still bringing home addition homework. Then the teacher admitted to me that she was compelled to teach to the lowest common denominator (no pun intended) and that addition was all the dumb kids and English as a Second Language students could handle. I pulled my son out of that crappy public school and home schooled that year and his math and reading scores increased by two grade levels by the end of the year. All this while working a full time job myself.
If you love your kids, get them the hell out of the public school system and into anything else, whether a charter school, home school teaching pods, anything. And read the Underground History of Education. The original is out of print by can be downloaded free at: https://archive.org/details/TheUndergroundHistoryOfAmericanEducation_758
I homeschooled as well. Read, read, read - quality books, not twaddle, and above their reading level. Well written books help children expand their vocabulary and will help them learn to write well. And for Pete’s sake teach them spelling and grammar and good sentence structure (diagramming). It’s not difficult. I don’t even have a bachelors degree but my kids can read and write and speak well. Both got perfect scores on the English and Reading sections of the ACT. It was a big financial hit (though I was able to work PT) but worth the years we had to live frugally. A lot of people “after school,” supplementing their kids’ public education, if they can’t homeschool.