Geez Are we falling behind with the times in our education program?

Alright I had an interesting conversation with a friend who also does the written review for my kids every year. Now she has her master in early education and was telling me all of the changes in local public schools down to outing handwriting as a subject and slowly turning away from tradional text books and using ipods and those readers like "kindle" instead. Down to our school public schools no longer teach curvise handwriting. The powers at be and her words found it "a waste of time that children could be spending on Math and Science."

Now of course she found our portfolios tops as normal but she said with the change of things the only thing that she could suggest was more "education time" on the computer. When I asked her what she meant by that she said I see that they research things and do a lot but with the "change in education" is headed she thought that more time on the computer would be a benefit. Now in the long run it is our decision what we use so on for education but I was thinking perhaps we don't do enough on the computer.

Now the publishers I use are:
ABeka
BJU
Saxon
Alpha Omega
Handwriting without Tears.

I have always tried to be cost effective and when I didn't have something I never bought what I needed I always tried to find it online free first. Even down to Math and reading online on those sites that seem more like games than education. If that makes sense. My kids always enjoy those.

I personally don't see the need to out our textbooks or other things we use to go over to more computerized things. I have always thought we kept up in a sense. My kids always have loved sitting with a book or textbook and flipping the pages lol.

So what are your thoughts? Are homeschoolers keeping up? And finally with the education changes happening country wide what do you think is worth keeping and what do you think they need to throw back and start again with?

 

I don't remember how old your kids are, but think about this... if something overtakes our country (another nation, disease, mother nature, etc.), and we have to go without the technologies we're becoming to accustomed to, who will survive? Those who know how to make it on books alone, or those who know how to make it on technology alone? It's easier to introduce a new technology than to teach a whole system using books. Think how much time we spent in the library a generation ago using the card catalog and digging for the right book. Today, kids can type in a couple of keywords, reserve a book online, and pick it up without ever learning how to use a library. They can type a few words into google and find the info they need for a research paper without doing any "research" at all. I remember learning SO MUCH STUFF!!! just from research mistakes. If I were looking for a science or history article, you can pretty much bet I'd get sucked into a national geographic issue and start reading things that didn't relate at all to the topic at hand -OR- I'd find the topic I needed, but I'd find something I didn't expect to learn about it by reading the margin notes. You can't always do that with google.

The older my kids get, the more they'll be require to do research online. HOWEVER!, they'll also be expected to find info in the library, and they'll be expected to write the first draft of a paper, type the 2nd draft, and call the 3rd (or later) draft the final copy.

 

Our country tests at teh bottom of international test scores-they aren't doing a stellar job either. So I honestly don't care what they do, I'm not going to model my homeschool after it. LOL I pulled my kid from PS for a reason.

Just because public school is the most common means by which a child in our nation is educated does not mean it is the best way to educate a child, nor does it mean we should measure our homeschool by its standards.

 

Exactly!

I remember like 5 years ago Harvard or Yale gave a way an iPod to all freshmen thinking it was going to be a major educational revolution. What they got was a lot of Napster lawsuits I think.

I think what your educational evaluator *might* be thinking is that kids need to know how to use the technology because that is the wave of the future.

I think finding credible information on the computer is very important, probably more important than handwriting. But these gimmicks about technology are typically a marketing strategy used to boost sales in iPads or Kindles.

I mean, if your child gets to college and must use a Kindle, is that technology so advanced they wouldn't be able to figure it out in like...oh 30 seconds?

The only point I think she has is maybe the stuff *some* well funded schools might be doing in science labs. Other than that, I highly doubt that most public schools are excelling in the technology area - especially since all those Unions, er I mean schools, are so underfunded.

 

I'm not a fan of reading books on a screen, but I can see how it could be useful for some.

As for technology, I think it is an important part of education now. Children need to learn how to use the computer.

Cursive isn't as important now. I think knowing how to read cursive is more important that knowing how to write that way. Also, I think knowing how to type is more important that knowing how to write in cursive.

As for research I think children need to know how to research using the computer as well as the library.

 

And we are interested in copying the direction of the public school why?

Trends in education come and go. Trends in education will ALWAYS come and go. I have no intention of jumping on this band wagon, no more than I will be ready to jump on the next one that comes along two or three years down the road from now.

 

I have a Kindle, and I love it! I can take it anywhere, and read it anytime I want. That being said, it would not be my choice for teaching my child. I'd agree with some other posters:

What kind of gain do children get by sitting in front of a computer screen or Ipad all day? They work on a laptop at school, come home and do homework on the computer, and read their textbooks from their kindle, text their friends for help on their IPhone, all while listen to their IPad. I sound like a fuddy duddy (and I'm only 23!), but really, it's too much. I bet you parents who disagree with the technology idea are stuck in the past. Will it fuel the "Your parents are fools and stuck in the past" generation that I think we are turning into? We're already in the "Your government cares about you, perhaps more then your parents" routine so how is this supposed to help?

Let's think about cost? How much will all this technology cost the parent? Are they supposed to just fork over the money and deal with it? Whatever!! What will happen to the local libraries if nobody is contributing, and going with online books and research instead? I could go into alot of conspiracy theory for you, but I'll spare you all. lol Suffice it to say, I don't think it's a good idea. Yes, children need to learn how to use the computer, but they don't need to be infront of it all day, nor do they need it to be their sole source of information since sometimes the things you read on the internet is false. You have to really search hard for the proper information.

 

See that is where I am at. I have homeschooled my kids now for 8 years. And in those 8 years we have always done what we wanted to do. I remember one year mixing unshooling with tradional text books, workbooks and so on and the kids just had a blast. Now I did pull my oldest from the public school system and I spent I can't tell you how many hours getting that mind set out of him. I understand public school teachers having to keep up with changes made in school districts so on but I don't see the point of throwing away the textbook and not teaching handwriting. My friend who was our reviewer has her oldest going into public High School and he was told to print and sign his name to a document that the school needed. But like what she said he was never taught cursive in public school so how was he going to sign that document. Which made me think of how many times in this day and age were handwriting in general comes in handy lol. And I can't believe I am saying that lol. But if they don't know how to do it then at the end of the day is it the parents responiblity or the schools?

 

Actually, good public school teachers just keep plugging away, doing the same old same old. They know how to teach and what's important, and manage to do so regardless of the BS the "educrats" throw at them.

I'm starting in on Year 12 of homeschooling; my oldest is a Junior this year. Plus I've got over ten years in a public special ed class on top of that, and my husband is currently teaching in a public school. Is it no wonder that I don't want to imitate the public school?

 

Does anyone remember in which thread I posted the link that talked about Kindle-style readers hindering learning? I can't find the article anywhere.

Basically, it said that people read from a screen significantly slower than they read paper pages. And they retained less.

 

We do a mix of both - traditional books with online fun supplement. For example, my son uses literature and parts of a history text book for history, and we watch video clips online at hippocampus.org - then we do project, reports, and activites to delve further, some is on the computer (a history report or powerpoint presentation) and some is not (art project, diarama, etc). I don't think computers can fully supplant texts, as there are many like me and my kids that just find it easier to read text on a page, not a screen, even a kindle screen.

Overall, I made sure my kids could read, write, and do math before any heavy handed work on the computer. IMHO.

 

I think it is really a good idea to stick with books. Technology is facing a huge threat right now that was in the news. As the sun reaches a new solar apex. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7819201/Nasa-warns-solar-flares-from-huge-space-storm-will-cause-devastation.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter And ok it may turn out to be nothing like Y2K but you never truly know. And further more trends and technology change so fast that it can become outdated in a matter of a year or two. And technology is on an upward curve with things becoming obsolete really fast. I remember computers only became reality for everyday people back in the 80's not so long ago really. And now look where it has gone. Smaller and smaller with talk of implanting the tech into people and so on. I think I will teach typing, cursive and block and the dewy decimal system as these things may be needed one day and it's better to cover all the bases as they say.

 

Well I say, whatever direction the gov controlled schools are going--run, don't walk, in another direction.

Why would hs want to copy a system that churns out kids with low grades, can't read, and have awful manners, not to mention writing that no one can read, and most have never did a real piece of work in their lives?

 

It is true that schools seem to be pushing more technology. One of Pres Obama's plans is to have online classrooms to try to save low-performing schools. Basically, kids would do all their work online with online tutors instead of a teacher. I won't even comment on that! My dad is a curriculum directer at a public charter school and he confirms that at their school they are now offering more and more online courses designed to help below-average students and are offering advanced courses that schools can't afford to provide. The effect this will have? Time will tell. But already many of the teens I interact with have poor verbal communication skills (at least with adults) and their handwriting is atrocious! Not to mention the blank stares I get if I make a cultural or literary reference.
I think it is important that homeschoolers have familiarity with the latest technology, but their learning should not be dependent upon it. I can't imagine a future where we've lost the skill of handwriting to be replaced by texting-lingo (cringe!).

 

So what does that say for those of us using SOS or similar programs?

 

This thread is reminding me of a science fiction story I read years ago (I WISH I could remember who wrote it!), I can't remember the details anymore, but the one kid had heard from his great-grandmother how when she was their age, her teacher was a real person, and she and the other kids had to actually leave their homes and go to a different location, where there were no computers, and everybody had to learn from books, with text that didn't change on the pages, and how weird these two kids thought that concept was, compared to their computer-learning at home. And how strange it must have been to actually drag a writing implement across paper pages to convey thought....

And another one, where the hero of the story was dealing with brown-outs or some other kinds of technology snafus, and he had to reinvent the pencil and writing by hand, and how to do math in his head, and because he did that, work could continue when the technology broke down and the techs didn't get it fixed right away....became honored as a genius for his invention....

 

Maybe it's saying "Print 'em all out, Jackie!" :lol:

Seriously, though, as much as I love spending time in front of my screen (being here, that is), there's no way I'd want to do just screentime all day every day -- I want real books!!!!

 

I wouldn't be too worried about it. A child who likes to learn and KNOWS how to learn isn't going to have any problem at all learning how to use computers and other technology to research or find the information the need. I'm very disturbed by the trend away from cursive writing. That is very short sighted thinking. The schools are thinking that kids are going to type on computers and text on phones and such so they don't really need to know about cursive. However, how would you like to be a historian who can't read historical documents because you don't know cursive?

Public schools are laboratories for the current trend in education. Most of the trends fail and are changed a few years later. I just took my son OUT of public schools because the way they teach was not working for him. I have no desire to follow the latest changes in the local public schools.

 

Has anyone read the book, "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen Ph.D.?
It's a fiction book, but about something that could very possibly happen, and if it did, at least 90% of the United States would literally fall apart. It is about EMP {Electromagnectic Pulse} I don't know how to explain it exactly, but basically someone could use an EMP and detenate it over the United States, it would send out a pulse that would destroy all electronics and anything computerized and literally send us back to the stone ages.

It is a very good book, and a little scary to think that this could really happen, and more than likely will happen sometime, the more advanced everyone gets in technology, the more likely some terrorist will try something like this.

I believe it is good to be technically savy, but the basic's should not be looked over or forgotten. Children should still learn to write, print and cursive. They should also know how to do math without a calculator. They should also know how to use a book, table of contents, glossary index, ect. And know how to research things in the library.

If you enjoy reading, and have not read this book, it is a must read! Not only is it something everyone should be aware of, it is also a very interesting read! I could not put it down.

Here's a link that explains it better:
http://www.onesecondafter.com/pb/wp_d10e87d9/wp_d10e87d9.html

 

Oh, if I had a Kindle I'd love it too! :lol: