Paige

My little brother always has to be "pushed through" the last month
of school (private school). I have been helping him during the last
month for years...each year it is the same, he gets behind in his
work, then rushes to catch up before school is out. I push and push
and he makes it by the skin of his teeth.
Last night I helped him study for a history test. Today I picked
him up at school and he told me he made 43! on it. I feel like it
is my fault somehow for not helping him enough, but there is just no
foundation there to build the knowledge on. He was supposed to be
learning about WWII...if he was interested in WWII wouldn't this be
a much different post? He doesn't care a flip about WWII, and no
pushing from me will make a difference.
I can really see how reading posts here and at other unschooling
sites has brought me to where I am now. I just wish he was allowed
to follow his own path and learn what he needs, instead of being
forced to learn about something that doesn't interest him and
probably never will. Mom is grounding him and making him research
and write reports on WWII...I tried to point out that using that as
a punishment wouldn't help him to "love" learning any, but she just
pooh-pooh that idea. ARGH!
Each spring he begs me to homeschool him "next year", but his
parents have ideas about "socialization", and how would he play
basketball? Bleah. They drive me crazy. I wish they could see
that dragging him through his work is just putting numbers on his
report card, and they don't mean anything.
He also failed a Science test. I didn't help him study for it, he
didn't want to study and mom admitted it was one of the most boring
science lessons she has ever seen. WHY does he have to slog through
a science lesson on the stupid crust of the earth? It's there...if
it wasn't, he would fall into the center of the earth and
melt....what more does he need to know? How rocks break down into
soil?...okay, give the kid a chance to play outside with rocks and
dirt and he will figure it out...make a compost pile and he will
learn how other things break down, also. I'm just so unhappy with
it all.
On another note, my SIL said today that her kids are in the middle
of a MONTH of state-mandated testing. I had NO IDEA they tested for
a MONTH! They spend all year preparing for this test, then they
spend a month working on it and heaven help you if you happen to
be "below average" they figure out a way to get you out of their
system before the test so they can get their money for a passing
grade. One test a year...imagine for a minute you had to spend 6?
8? hours a day preparing for a test...you can do nothing
else..."Yes, that is an interesting rock you picked up, but it's not
on the test so put it down..." OMG! I would go mad. I feel so
sorry for the kids who have to do those things.
My children, on the other hand, are exploring things that are of
interest to them. My little one is bird-watching...we just got her
a journal to write/paste pictures of the birds she identifies. My
oldest is interested in old/foreign coins...we bought her a
scrapbook to put them in, and she is planning on cutting out
pictures of the places they came from and making a really neat
scrapbook with them. Things THEY have come up with on their
own...learning that will have meaning and depth for them, because
they are interested...not forcing them to learn about WWII because
it is in the scope and sequence for this year, or learning about Nat
Turner because it is on the stupid state test.
I'm sorry I have gone on so long. I just really needed to vent,
and this is the only group I am on that will (hopefully) understand
what I am trying to say, and what irritates me about seeing children
being forced to "learn" things that have no meaning.
:)
Paige (who feels better now)

[email protected]

>>>I wish they could see that dragging him through his work is just putting
numbers on his report card, and they don't mean anything.<<<

***WOW! I wish EVERYONE I know could see that! Great way of putting it! So
called well meaning family members drive me nuts!

Nancy***


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[email protected]

>>>One test a year...imagine for a minute you had to spend 6?
8? hours a day preparing for a test...you can do nothing
else..."Yes, that is an interesting rock you picked up, but it's not
on the test so put it down..." OMG! I would go mad. I feel so
sorry for the kids who have to do those things.<<<<
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That is exactly how it is! It drove me CRAZY when my kids were in school!
(Thank God we finally came to our senses!) One yr., when my girls were in 1st
and 2nd grade, I got a notice sent home saying that they were asking all the
younger kids to bring snacks in EVERY DAY for the older kids that were doing the
MEAP tests! I couldn't believe it. My kids were so excited about being able to
be supportive of the "older" kids in school. (I didn't mind them wanting to
be helpful but not in those terms!) They had these little kids all geared up
about what "GREAT KIDS" they would be *IF* they brought in snacks for the older
kids and *supporting* the older kids while they did the test!". So, the kids
who's Mom's didn't go for the bull.... the school sent out were to feel like
they weren't such "GREAT KIDS". The whole thing was ridiculous. That was all the
school talked about, that was all that seemed important to them almost the
whole year! ICK!!!!!

My oldest dd just told me she had to take it in the 4th grade (right before
we pulled them out) she said she remembered that she failed the science one.
She LOVES science and always has but that was when she started to hate it! The
teacher she had that yr. for science had gone through a divorce and it showed A
LOT in her classroom although, I think her personality was always the same,
divorced or not! She was like a drill sergeant. She screamed at my youngest one
once when she was coming into school, "TEN MINUTES ON THE WALL (this would be
at her recess time) FOR YOUR SQUEAKY SHOES!!!!!" Casey is a very soft spoken
kid and when she tried to apologize and tell her that she couldn't help it,
that her shoes were wet from coming in from the rain, the lady screamed at her
again and said 'OK, I'LL TAKE PITY ON YOU *THIS TIME* AND ONLY GIVE YOU FIVE
MINUTES! BUT IT'S ONLY BC I LIKE YOU!" Oh how we LOVE unschooling! <g> Can you
imagine how many there other poor kids out there that have to endure treatment
like that?!! How awful! I talked to the teacher about it and of course she
made it sound like it wasn't that bad any way, bla bla bla.
_____________________________________________________

>>>I'm sorry I have gone on so long. I just really needed to vent, <<<<
_____________________________________________________

I don't mind you venting like that at all! I have needed to before about the
same thing!
(back when my kids were in school)
Glad you feel better now Paige!

Nancy



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