Not to mention one could avoid all the problems associated with failing to teach things at home "the way the teacher wants me to do it". I've run into that particular crash with math quite frequently. I can teach the kids math concepts based on how I understand the problems and how I was taught to solve them. 9 times out of 10, my presentation of the concepts is significantly different from the way it is taught at school.
That has not been a problem where we are. For one thing, math teaching is conservative here, so no fancy new curricula. But I have also noticed that math is one of the few areas where creativity and ingenuity are not only tolerated, but even encouraged sometimes. It is kind of odd really, since in humanities courses the kids are more or less expected to recite the text book verbatim. I may also have avoided the problem, since whatever I discussed with dd or gave her to do was usually not anything they were doing at that time in school anyway. At this point she is pretty much ahead of me, so my math teaching days are over. :) To make up for it I turned her on to quantum mechanics (which I equally know nothing about, but find cool as a concept).
For my son it's a combo; part reinforce the concept that is being taught and part stretching the child so that he takes it to the next level, even within the same subject.
Our per pupil spending is a little less than double that :0
Students 15,528 Total spending per pupil - Compare $15,142 Instruction as percentage of all spending 78.5% General education spending $124,576,604 Special education spending $51,798,746 Pupil/teacher ratio 13.6 Average teacher pay - Compare $72,846 Dropout rate 1.3% Students receiving free or reduced price lunches 9.8% Limited English proficient students 143% Teachers with master's degree plus 30 hours or doctorate 53%
I suspect that most European countries teach math in a fairly similar way...and one that is rather different from U.S. methods. For one thing, my kids have had to learn how to use decimals and commas appropriately depending on whether they are doing math in Swedish or English. The Swedish math is nicely old-fashioned, but still rather different in some areas. Otoh, I have to say the math teachers have generally been quite tolerant of the kids doing things in a somewhat different fashion. I've heard it is much more rigidly taught in American schools.
I'm talking about the population in our school district, and in particular, our school. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but that is the reality here.
I do think parents becoming more involved with help those kids. I think me helping my own child helps her. Recognizing that my kids have an advantage over these other kids is just reality. I'm not going to disadvantage my own child by not helping her just because other kids don't have the same advantages. If I was as content as you think I am, I would probably choose to send my child to a more middle class school (or private school) where everybody has the same advantages.
Speaking as a parent who has a child who often grasps the material quickly, I have seriously thought over the years it would easier to homeschool, certainly less frustrating for my child and in turn myself.
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For my son it's a combo; part reinforce the concept that is being taught and part stretching the child so that he takes it to the next level, even within the same subject.
PumpkinAngel
Our per pupil spending is a little less than double that :0
Students 15,528
Total spending per pupil - Compare $15,142
Instruction as percentage of all spending 78.5%
General education spending $124,576,604
Special education spending $51,798,746
Pupil/teacher ratio 13.6
Average teacher pay - Compare $72,846
Dropout rate 1.3%
Students receiving free or reduced price lunches 9.8%
Limited English proficient students 143%
Teachers with master's degree plus 30 hours or doctorate 53%
I suspect that most European countries teach math in a fairly similar way...and one that is rather different from U.S. methods. For one thing, my kids have had to learn how to use decimals and commas appropriately depending on whether they are doing math in Swedish or English. The Swedish math is nicely old-fashioned, but still rather different in some areas. Otoh, I have to say the math teachers have generally been quite tolerant of the kids doing things in a somewhat different fashion. I've heard it is much more rigidly taught in American schools.
You are probably right.
PumpkinAngel
I'm talking about the population in our school district, and in particular, our school. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but that is the reality here.
I do think parents becoming more involved with help those kids. I think me helping my own child helps her. Recognizing that my kids have an advantage over these other kids is just reality. I'm not going to disadvantage my own child by not helping her just because other kids don't have the same advantages. If I was as content as you think I am, I would probably choose to send my child to a more middle class school (or private school) where everybody has the same advantages.
Speaking as a parent who has a child who often grasps the material quickly, I have seriously thought over the years it would easier to homeschool, certainly less frustrating for my child and in turn myself.
PumpkinAngel
Pages