Posted: 10/6/2008 6:48:01 PM EDT
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Maybe some of you can give me advice on how to best deal with the homework situation my family is dealing with. My kids have attended school in Everett; Edmonds; and now Bellevue over the last 2-3 years. There seems to be a common thread in that they come home NOT knowing what the assignment is. No notes. No books. No clear understanding of what was supposedly taught in class. I've been given websites to visit to 'assist' my kids. WTF are they teaching these kids in school during the day? |
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Quoted: Maybe some of you can give me advice on how to best deal with the homework situation my family is dealing with. My kids have attended school in Everett; Edmonds; and now Bellevue over the last 2-3 years. There seems to be a common thread in that they come home NOT knowing what the assignment is. No notes. No books. No clear understanding of what was supposedly taught in class. I've been given websites to visit to 'assist' my kids. WTF are they teaching these kids in school during the day? You know man I don't know what to really tell you. I went through that with my boys during Jr High and High school, and they were 3.0 and 3.8 GPA's. I was glade when the last one just graduated last spring, now my 2nd grader is coming home saying they are learning about Obama and nothing about McCain. I have a real issue with teachers. A few are great, most aren't worth a shit. I don't know if we have any teachers here but I would like to know WTF they are teaching our children also. |
| I spend at least 1 hour a day with each of my kids with their school work. I am not the most patient person so it was hard in the beginning, probably was harder for them, but what a huge difference it made. I can't afford to solely rely on school system to educate my kids.. |
I've got extras... Seriously, call the teacher, introduce yourself, and ask what you need to do before taking a strap to them. I bet he/she helps. All kidding aside, I have met very few teachers who are not dedicated to their jobs and our children. They are just as frustrated at having to deal with the 10% as we are in the real world. |
For the SKOOLZ? I'm trying to be tactful...  I make the best attempt at containing my contempt for these methods the 'educators' are using, but it is frustrating beyond belief. Yes, as mentioned above, the kids see and hear this frustration from me and I want to either send a letter to school with them or make a personal visit to find out just what the hell they're doing in school during a day. My elementary student has a thing called 'market place' where they earn money for completed work and are penalized for it by paying back money and getting a 'homework ticket'. Conversely, I'm paying taxes for their education and they aren't getting it in school. Do I get money back for that? Right. Anybody have a 'strategery' to share with me? tactful, of course...  |
Seriously, introduce yourself to the teachers. Approach them as someone wanting to help their children and you'd be surprised at the reaction you will get. We have approached all of StepScrun's (Ashtonn) teachers this way and get nothing but gratitude and praise. I've been told by his 1st & 2nd grade teachers how much of a blessing it is to be able to deal with parents who want to help, want to hear the good and the bad about their kids' day. Let them know you concerns and see how you can help at home. |
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The websites that I've been given are updated the day an assignment is due...usually in the evening.. It's like when somebody says, "Hey! You shoulda turned back there!"  I'm sure the teachers are telling the students what is due and when, but they just aren't writing it down. (I know that's the case with mine) I've found emailing them during the day helps a lot with finding out what is expected... As for the political indoctrination...it's a fundamental flaw--or blessing--that we tend to "follow the leader", whoever that "leader" may be. (For "leader" read: "authority person") Peers, teacher(s), priests/pastors, the president, a political party, women, money....FOLLOW THE LEADER! BELIEVE! OBEY! FIGHT! Ooops, sorry I digress... |
I always check there website but sometimes the teachers dont up date the info. I just tell my kid's, just pass math, writing,and science and I'll be happy. Luckly they are straight A students, but girls seem to do better then boy's when it comes to school. As for me I'm dummer then a door knob when it comes to some of there school work. I was a drop out.
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Strangly enough, I just went through that at with the Pleasant Glade elementary school in North Thurston Co. Three weeks ago when I had my kids for the weekend, my son notices i'm watching the news and he asks me why I like McCain. I explain some things and then he tells me that his reading teacher has been telling them that Bush is a liar, how great Obama is and that she is going to vote for obama. He said that nothing positive was said about McCain at all, or any other conservative type. I email the school and hashed it out with them. I let them know that I had no problem with the school teaching how govt. works, etc, but as to personal aspects of politicians, the school is not the goddamn teachers bully pulpit. I was told that the teacher planned on calling me to discuss things. The bitch never did. I wanted it to be taken care of so I kept contacting them until the superintendant called me and told me that she had been told to desist in her crap. The last time I talked to my son, he said that nothing else had been said by the teacher since. I frankly don't want ANY personal bias taught in schools. That is not what public education is for. That stuffs needs to originate at home, along with the teaching of morals. Schools are for teaching the wheres, whens whys and hows, not morals or political leanings. That is for the parents. Frankly though, I detest the propoganda factories that modern public schools have become. They teach children from an early age that they must rely on the govt. to protect them from the harmfull effects of irisponsibility. They are taught that the govt. is all powerfull and that the state is more important then personal freedom, liberty, and responsibility. No wonder so many younger voters are voting democratic in droves. They have all been brainwashed by the public education system into voting the state as much power as they can because they have been taught that the state is the only thing that can save us from ourselves, and that the state knows what's best for us better then we do. It's been a long difficult road countering that crap with my children, and the process won't end until they are out of public school, but since I don't have full time custody of the kids, I don't have much choice in making it happen sooner rather then later when they graduate....
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Well, I can only really speak for the 8th grade science teachers at my own school. When we aren’t teaching kids how great Obama is, how we all came from monkeys, or how the flying spaghetti monster is the only true god, we’re covering one of three interconnected areas of science; Systems, Inquiry, and Application. Inquiry is easiest. It’s asking a question, using the scientific method to plan for an investigation to provide data which may (or may not) help answer the question, conducting the investigation (collecting data), analyzing the data, drawing a conclusion, looking for “next steps” in regards to the original or a new question, and presenting the findings to a group of peers for peer-review…don’t forget the title, axis, labels, and source on that graph mister! Anyway, it’s easiest because it’s formulaic and repeated often enough to where most of our students lay waste to the rest of the state on the inquiry portion of the 8th grade science WASL…(over 85% meet or beat the standard) Systems are the meat of the year. Here is the short list of the things we cover in 8th grade science: • Electricity & Magnetism • Forces & electrical charges • Resistance, current, and voltage • Energy transfer and transformations (conservation of energy…not the “green” type) • Effects of magnetic fields • Electromagnetic waves • Atoms & Molecules (including both ionic and covalent bonding) • Fission & fusion • Radioactivity & isotopes • Compounds • Periodic table • Chemical equations (including chemical shorthand) • Chemical reactions • Simple organic chemistry • Phases of matter & conservation of matter (not “green” type) • Kinetic theory of gasses • Genetics & heredity • DNA & RNA • Meiosis & mitosis • Natural selection & adaptation • Ecosystems • Plate tectonics • Earth history (Precambrian to present, Eras, Periods, and Epochs…plate movement, climate, flora, and fauna evidence (or not) from each time unit) • Fossil dating,…C14 ties in nicely with the learning during the Atoms, molecules, and Periodic table unit) • Rock layers, and types of rocks • Wa. State geology, from the Volcanism to the Missoula flood Again, that is the short list of our year in science. We try to help our students learn in a manner that will equip them for success in high school and beyond,….so we utilize a combination of individual & group work, student projects, jigsaw activities, hands-on projects and activities, text-book reading, multimedia presentations, lab work and write-ups, lecture & note taking, and work sheets (when they help like a tool). Application is applying the above Inquiry and System knowledge to solving real world problems. This is not so bad, but requires resources to provide authentic experiences, so most are limited to problem solving activities we can pull off in or near the classroom. We try to conduct as many design or problem solving challenges as we can, but sometimes it is hard to do if kids can't work on their projects at home (ex. building an automatic egg breaker from old printer parts). Then there is the math… We also, because it applies, work on converting standard units of measurement, calculating mass, volume, area, and density, and a lot of work with measuring and converting units of time and/or temperature. I expect the parental units to hold my students accountable for their grades and keeping up with assignments. The resource (recourse?) I have when a student is not performing up to standards involves conferencing with the parents and extended learning opportunities twice a week for an hour and a half after school.  Of course if a kid isn’t paying attention, doesn’t do their work, doesn’t write the assignment down in their planner, or is just a slacker, it might look like I don’t care….but really I’m crying on the inside.  eta: Dang....I forgot all of the life skill & high school planning crap! |
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How many of you parents randomly without pre warning stop in during the school day to see how and what your students are being taught? My mom and dad did this throughout my schooling. No announcement, or warning to the Teachers. The Teachers wanted a 1 day notice (my folks did not want them to have time to change their teaching) and the Principal was fine with it. My folks would check in at the office ask where we were and head over to class. It is your money and they do work for you after all. |
I was 86'd off the campus for showing up unannounced. So, I pushed back in my own little passive/aggressive way. Got the fktard principal in doodoo cuz he refused to put up a flag or flagpole on the campus. He felt nationality and borders and patriotism were neanderthal characteristics. There are some good teachers out there, but they're getting harder to find than cooties in a convent. |
I know where that comes from...  ...But I ain't sayin'.... 
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