Need for early education programs

[RAGNAR]

nnn

[sailaway21]

I regard the "self-realization" agenda of educators as more of the same old, same old from the 60's education-major programs. I believe that this notion of socialization skills grows out of the same seed.

We can contrast the farm boy, who may well miss school if the school doesn't shut down, for harvest time work, with our current educational self-realization program. The current program allow the child to be whatever he wants to be, while the poor lad has little idea of what that might be, and that there are some things that might be better than others. The farm kid on the other hand has a concrete realization that his labor, hard labor, is involved in the very success of the farm. He knows that his labor results in not only the food on the table but the ability to pay for the equipment around him. He may well wreck his own truck or car, but he'll be highly unlikely to treat farm equipment in such a cavalier fashion knowing that, can it not be fixed by himself it will be a direct setback to the family. Self-worth? He has it because he's earned it. He's earned it in a tangible way that will accompany him the rest of his life, long after he's left the farm. The self-actualized child of our present school system is stuck on square one trying to decide what direction to go in. That's fine in and of itself but, in the meantime he is almost literally crying out for structure and discipline that allow him success in tangible ways. Not made up success, but concrete success based upon his hard work. He'll likely find it, in spite of the school.

Kid's come equipped with all the tools. They even exhibit them, well before school. Who hasn't seen the kid, who's helping grandpa out, who comes in and explains how "we" fixed the truck. Kid's aren't stupid though. They unconsciously know when they're being set up. And school for many of them is a set-up. Show up for class, pretend you're listening. pretend it means something, don't get into too much trouble, and we'll let you out someday. They get more educational challenge at dance class than they do in school. They certainly don't receive anything like my mother used to call "the satisfaction of a job well done". Which was her explanation for why the kid down the block got paid for mowing his parent's lawn and I didn't! (g)

[Giulietta]

Why don't you ask Luis what he thinks about this thread??

[artbyjody]

So here ya go - a different approach to early education "Lock them Up"

Maybe home schooling isn't such a bad idea after-all

[DJEVANS]

As for the socialization of homeschooled children...education is education and the bottom line is that you really do get out of it what you put into it. My daughter is 4, homeschooled, and through contact with friends and eventually entry into sports and extracurriculars through community programs and local schools, she is very well socialized, thank you very much...the last time I took her to the store she received no less than three compliments on her beautiful manners (4! "Pardon us ma'am", "Hello, how are you today?" etc...) and she gets along very well with other children. Most homeschool curriculum emphasizes specific, healthy behavior as far as interacting with other people, at least at this early stage.
She may miss out on some aspects of the public school environment, but how many of those kids are missing out on real time with their parents and a solid, value-based education? Home schooling isn't for everyone, but it isn't any more wrong for any given family or child than many other solutions, and when it works, it's a beautiful thing.
My kids are never going to come home from school and tell me some kid in their class brought a gun to school, either.

Just my 2 cents.

[sailaway21]

I think that home schooling, for many, is an even more radical idea than a wife not working. Ironically, the entire labor movement in the first half of the last century was centered around the ability of a man to raise a family of four based upon his forty hour earnings alone. WWII and the influx of women into the war effort changed all that.

While no one would deny women their place in the work place it's more than passing ironic on how we define family financial stability in these times. Women are far less likely to enter and stay in careers than men are, with some taking time off for kids, and some of those never returning to work until after the kids are grown. Yet we look askance at those families where they make the decision to have the mother at home, even with the kids in public schools. I certainly want my daughter to finish college and have options, but were she to come to me and say she'd rather marry and be a home-maker after college I'd find it hard to object. I'd certainly rather she had children while younger than the current trend of starting at thirty. That being said, and given the performance of the public schools, it seems logical that the children's educational needs be met by one of the two people most concerned with their development and future.

[RAGNAR]

zzz

[42ndstreet]

Sounds like Cuba. Leave the kids with the parents. Also, keep the fathers in the family. Stop Family Courts from kicking dad out.