Education, the Great Leveler

Xyle, I agree with you that a child will be a better student if they are taught some of the very basics at home before they begin attending school. No argument about that, and perhaps even up to the 4th grade level, parents can give their children a learning advantage.

Beyond 4th grade level, students actually do better when taught exclusively by qualified professional classroom teachers.

The only generalization that I would call attention to is the fact that very few parents are qualified to teach any school subject.

Fact: The younger you learn the easier it is to learn.

Fact: Every piece of knowledge builds upon what you already learned.

Therefore, early education in basic knowledge of phoentics, drawing and counting makes learning reading, writing and arithmetic easier. The more you read, the more you understand literature. The more you write the easier it is to write arguments. The better you understand basic arithmetic, the easier it is to learn algebra and calculus. This is MY experience with knowledge. My Mother taught me what she knew, which made elementary school easy and fun. When the challenges began in middle school, I could focus on what was difficult instead of finding everything difficult.

If all you learn is what is spoon-fed you as a student in the education system, who is teaching (or going to teach) you after gradution? Learning should be a life long ambition and who is going to teach a child to learn except his parents by example (for a child follows the example of his parents)? Or do you intend to stop learning and to start forgetting everything you learn and establish that precedent with your children? And if you have done that, what proof do I have that you even understood my arguments to begin with? After all, you used numerous logical fallacies and appeals to emotion in your conter-arguements, rather than use logic that indicated understanding. Learn, teach and grow.

WOW !! Xyle, "a teacher needs only to "direct" the student to the knowledge...... etc."

Brilliant,,,,,, and just think of how much money can be saved by not having to require teachers to be trained and certified in the subjects they teach. Just about anybody that wants to be a math teacher could be hired at minimum wage wheather or not they have any working knowledge of math, such as the average parent for instance..... fantastic concept !!

That does sort of kick the door open for good ole mom, that has trouble understanding the morning news paper, to busy herself teaching English Literature to her little darlings,,,,, just as her mom taught her.

Pardon me for saying so, but I do believe thare's a flaw in that plan.

"The blind leading the blind" seems to fit pretty well.

_______________________

heather108,

Abe Lincoln was a self-taught lawyer. You think Law is easier than Math? That learning something on your own is easier than learning it with help? The role of a teacher is to direct the student to the knowledge. It up to the student to learn the actual concepts and facts irregardless of whether or not the teacher is a master of that knowledge or not.

The Primary Purpose of Teaching your children at home is teach the importance of knowledge more so than the actual knowledge. The parents are a child's first role model. If the parent has a disregard for knowledge then their children will fail to see the importance of learning.

A solid grasp of basics permits a more solid grasp of complex systems. Fail to understand F=ma and you will fail to properly learn Engineering. Fail to understand the concept of due process and you will be a poor Lawyer. Fail to learn the human body and you shouldn't become a doctor. All knowledge builds upon what you learned in Grade School. Teach your children what you do know, regardless of how little that is and your children will learn more than what you learned.

Poor teachers don't create poor students. Students who don't see any value in learning make poor students. A student who values knowledge, who hungers for knowledge, will learn with good teachers, bad teachers, or even no teachers.

(As for a person's IQ, if the IQ is low that means the student and the teacher must be patient for it will take more time to learn for IQ is a measure of knowledge divided by time. I believe that anyone can learn anything as long as the thing being taught is broken into its elemental parts. Make it more complex than necessary and a high IQ person will even have trouble with it.)

Xyle, You might want to make a note to not try the home teaching thingy with Algebra II or Solid Geometry.

Suggestion: Teach your children at home before they learn it school. This creates familarity with the subject and makes it easier for them to (re-)learn it.

well, it certainly was stereotypical, and broad, but i definitely agree with what she is saying. not ALL parents do it, but many do at least a little, and a fair amount take it over the top, in the way she meant.

blazius, I'm not trying to fool anyone. I tell it like it is, and those with stepped on toes yelp like a hurt puppy.

With an overall 3.6 GPA, I'm not all that intelligent. I'm just a student of human nature.... ;~)

absolutely true. it makes me feel a special feeling when people say things like that. and not the usual special feeling that i'm more accustomed to having.

Stand strong haya, the world needs more individuality and less mindeless clones.

Or maybe the very reason you wanted to go there was you thought it was a touch-my-privates school. I'm kidding and Heather must be kidding too.

DarkWatch, It may be that your parents sent you to a private school for just that very reason,,,, privacy.

All parents cultivate a delusion for themselves, and others, about how utterly brilliant their darling prodigy children just happen to be.

When your parents friends and co-workers are also the classroom teachers of their pride and joy offspring(s), there are no secrets. There will be many whispered conversations, both imagined and real, about what could be the reason little DW Jr. still wets his pants on testing days.... ;~)

Private school is the perfect answer if you know the right question.

For my parents, they sent me to a private high school not for status, but to get a better education. They were both teachers (one elementary, one high school) teachers in the public school system in CT. I think that might illustrate my point a bit.

Darkwatch, almost all private and church schools have a waiting list of prospective students. That's why they have very few discipline problems.

For the parents, it's a status symbol thing, so there are always students waiting to fill any vacancy.

As for the teachers, working for a non-public school only means that they no longer have to take summer classes to keep their subject certification current as required by State school systems.

In the public schools, you are correct, if you're unhappy you may complain. It may not help, but you can complain and even request a reassignment to a different school.

I disagree heather. In the private schools, if your unhappy with their methods/results, you pull you kid out, and they lose money.

The top schools get that way by paying for the better teachers (who are actually educators, not babysitters).

In the public school, if you are unhappy, what do you do? Complain? Move?

Th

There's not much difference really in public, private, and church schools.

All schools are staffed from the same pool of available teachers that attended the same colleges and learned from the same education department professors.

Parents can't say uncomplimentary things about a private or church school or their kid will be kicked out.

You're only free to criticize public schools.

When I was at school I was taught to spell it "leveller".

Do I get a prize for spotting the deliberate mistake?

oh how true THIS is.