First of all, art teachers HATE coloring books! There's even "uncoloring books" out, where it will start a drawing and encourages kids to be creative in finishing it. Second, Becky, I don't THINK it was signifying a possible learning problem, but I can't say that for sure. If it WAS, no one told the parents that! They were pretty much told to bring the child back next year, and they would re-test her. But what if it was? Do children with learning disabilities not deserve what the parents determine as a quality education? Or are all children with special needs, especially minor ones, stuck in PS? It would seem to me that a Christian school would want to minister to the needs of ALL children. So the question is WHEN is a child "ready"? Mandatory attendance laws REQUIRE a child to be ready by age (6) in most states, and not before that! (OK, they are permitted to be ready at age 5, but NOT age 4 or 7!) As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to determine that ourselves. We don't have to compare them to what they SHOULD be doing. Then, when they ARE ready, they catch up in no time, rather than being pushed before the fact and developing a low self-esteem, because of all the stuff they "can't" do. would want to minister to the needs of ALL children. Last of all, the studies show that all the advantages of the "Head Start" program balance out in the long run. The kids have never left the environment where education is not valued, so they eventually don't value education themselves. School is a social time and that's it.
I NEVER tell a child to color in the lines. I just allow the child to be creative. When I teach sunday school, VBS, or whatever, I never mention coloring in the lines. I actually think when a child colors the green dog with purple stripes it looks the best of all! I love creativity. I had an awesome art teacher in elementary school that stressed creativity and not coloring in the lines. I always remembered how he encouraged creativity and try to do that with my kids and those I teach or do daycare for.
I saw one of these the other day at Barnes & Noble. It was $11.00!! I wish I had thought of that! It made me think of when I was in school and my mom was teaching, we would play in her room before class. Someone would draw some kind of crazy line and then the other person would have to turn it into a picture. Shoulda marketed it!:lol:
Aussie Mom< I think I Was asking to hear more about comparisons of different schooling practices in the different countries Lol But I see what you mean when I go back and find more ideas going around on this thread< I may edit this before I am done!
I agree with AussieMum. When I was in my early 20s, and living at home in between college terms, we had a Japanese exchange student (high school) live with us for a few months. He was the same age as my brother, and they were in 11th grade, I think. Atsumi had already taken about 5 years of English at school in Japan, although it was all reading and writing, not speaking English. So he had a very good grasp of the language, just had to start almost from scratch in speaking it. I've always been very impressed with Japan's education and work ethic. I heard some of that from a missionary who spoke at our church recently. It's nothing like what we have here in the US. My sister-in-law is English, and now living here in the US, and I know from knowing her and from visiting England that all foreigners (foreign to us, that is) do not "all want to live in our world and be like us."
Well I did nto mean EVERYONE, I just am proud of my country, we started with a bunch of people who started thier own way of living, we have struggled and learned along the way and personally I know our country can learn a lot more thats one reason I home teach, but I am not into comparing my learning capacity with another nation. That was what I was getting at. It just confuses me that we have a long list of waiting to get to move here people from around the world, and yet we are such a poorly taught country? thats all I was saying,
I just wanted to add to Angela - The Kindergarten here in our town is DEFINITELY more like first grade and I did not prepare my daughter for it. I mistakenly thought kindergarten was about playing and learning the "basics". They were expected to already know the basics and be able to start "creative writing essays" by mid-year!! I have been homeschooling for 4 months now and my daughter is "caught up" and could do all the things expected. But it has been with much effort. Here are the things I wish I would have done for her at age 4 instead of 5: -Purchased LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD movie (she TOTALLY learned her phonics after watching this 3 times) -Purchased her a kids calendar and taught her about days, weeks, months, and seasons and weather. -Printed out or bought handwriting tablet paper and had her practice her name and alphabet. -Used "memory" games to learn numbers. There is a book series called "Games for Learning" and "Games for Math" and "Games for Reading" that is awesome. (Got at amazon) They will learn and not even know it! Also, i agree that www.starfall.com was a fun learning website my daughter enjoyed starting at age 4. Good luck!
Let me add something else as well. At Jeannie's first evaluation last year I was concerned that the evaluator wasn't thorough enough. He was like, 'It's kindergarten, Mom.' I later talked to an instructor at the high school who knew my son, and I told her my thoughts on the evaluator's comment. She said hes been out of the classroom too long. He was my high school principal in the 80's. She said K was different now than even in '91 when Kevin went. She said more is expected, more is taught, and the unprepared child will be lost.
I think education levels depend on each state too. When we lived in AZ, Kindergarten BARELY taught more than ABC's and 123's. I remember a friend who sent her son to private preschool and kindergarten, then to public school starting in 1st grade. They were just starting to teach reading when he got to 1st grade and he was bored to tears b/c he learned to read halfway thru kindergarten. In PA, Kindergarten is MUCH TOUGHER. And you repeat if you are not reading by the end of it.
