Rock and a Hard Place

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Rock and a Hard Place
1524
Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am

There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:00pm

But we are not talking

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:02pm
When did investing in furniture become a more financially sound decision than investing in real estate?
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:13pm

Comparing children against classmates at the age of 5 is inaccurate.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:21pm

But what does that matter overall

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:32pm
So comparing them against their peers at this age

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:42pm
So what exactly is a useful benchmark? The list of skills a child should have in each grade according to their age? What exactly does that tell you? Who decided that at a certain age a child must know x,y,x?

We're homeschooling, but dd is enrolled in a program (for homeschoolers) at a local school. So, she attends one day a week and she gets a report card. Our contact teacher called yesterday to ask me about the report card. She asked, 'Does your dd know her number facts to 10?' She didn't want to hear that dd can do long division with decimals. 'Can she tell time to the hour?' Didn't want to hear that she has been telling time to the minute for years. 'Can she name simple shapes?' Didn't want to hear that she can calculate the area of a room simply by knowing the dimensions of an area rug and the width of the margin between the rug and the wall. 'Can she recognize the different coins?' Didn't want to know that dd mentally calculates the tax on her purchases.

I'm sure that dd is not unique and there are lots of kids out there for whom the age appropriate list of skills is absolutely irrelevant. What exactly is this report card going to tell me? Zip. It's a waste of time and a waste of paper. Comparing dd based on her age is the stupidest thing in the world and will benefit no one.

Now, if we adopted the test, 'Is she being educated according to her age, aptitude, and ability?' We'd probably get somewhere and the report card would actually mean something. The one that's being sent out today will be absolutely meaningless.

What exactly is the point of arbitrary benchmarks? Shouldn't the benchmark be according to what each individual child can achieve...instead of resting on what someone feels the 'average' grade 2 student can do? Or are you so 'touchy-feely'-LESS that the child's individuality doesn't matter and arbitrary lists of skills based soley on the age of the child matter more?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:46pm

Knowing if a class is above average or average as a whole is a lot different than knowing how many kids understand their letters or not.


When the K teacher told me my son was gifted in public school, that didn't mean anything since the class was below average....I certainly didn't need to know the individual scores of the children and where my ranked.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:53pm
What my neighors did/did not do with thier children preschool has nothing to do with me or my kids.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 3:57pm
You need all pieces of the puzzle to get an accurate picture. Her rank within her peers, the rank of our schools with regard to the county/state/nation, her rank within the nation/state/similar school districts, etc, etc, etc.. My dd's rank among her classmates is a very important piece of the puzzle. For one thing it tells me if she's fitting in with her particular peer group. It's also a year to year indicator as to whether she's progressing faster/slower than her peers under the same educational experience. I'd rather know my dd's ranking among her peers than her national average. That has more meaning.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 4:01pm
If all kids stated out on school equal, that would work just fine. It does work for the later years, however, even then we're given both our child's ranking nationally/statewide and within her school. The data I have on my dd confirms that she is doing just fine and will serve as a baseline to judge her personal progress among her peers in the future. It will be 2 more years before she takes her first nationally/statewide normed test. She could lose a lot of ground before that benchmark. Knowing where she is now and where she is next year and the following will help to nip things in the bud if need be.

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