Disappointed in the Education System

If it isn't on the test, then the kids won't know it! And many will remember it for the test and then forget ot later.I'm not even sure history is on the test. Now as for any family member over the age of 30 , they just didn't pay attention. Me? I loved history So I paid close attention . But sadly I was rare even in my day. Now There are more distractions and they only teach to the test.

The deeper my kids get into being in school the more I have an issue with how things are done. Many schools only study the information on the tests that they are administered so they can continue to recieve their in some cases exhorbant salaries and benefits packages but the kids? nada! Watch Waiting for Superman that has alot of information on bad teachers and the system that keeps them employed.

I have watched the educational system go down hill from the time I was in school. It's funny because Bill (my boyfriend) and I were discussing it earlier today. As I told him, if a child was to think outside the box they were ostracized and treated like a total geek. I was one of those kids that didn't think inside the box and went through a lot of misery in school. I got so tired of nothing being taught in the school system. I ended up doing a lot of reading and self teaching. The educators didn't begin to inform the students of important factors about our presidents and their backgrounds. They didn't teach much about the States and their products that the state was known for. I realized at an early age that the school was just a storage unit for kids until their parents came home from work. I have a friend who still can't do fractions, basic math, spelling, or functional English. He spent 20 years in college!!! The only reason he graduated with a degree was not only were they tired of seeing him in the school but they also were tired of his lack of personal care (that guy really stunk!!! And I mean it in the truest sense of the word...he didn't bathe often and seldom brushed his teeth!!!) If you listen to some of the shows on television where they ask the most basis questions about U.S. History you would be even more appalled! From questions about who was the first president, to who was Abe Lincoln, to what is the capital of....the people just couldn't answer the questions. Yes, there is a certain percentage of students that don't listen, but it also amounts to having teachers who know how to capture student's attention. I had a American Lit teacher who spoke in a monotone, and his class was just after lunch. It was in a west facing room which was really warm at 1 p.m. PLUS he was teaching "The Red Badge of Courage" which wasn't too interesting either. With all the factors added up, the result was the constant THUD of student's heads hitting the desks as they fell asleep. It didn't phase the teacher one bit, he just kept droning on in the same monotone. It's a wonder that any of the students passed his class.

I think that far too many people are taught information just to pass exams now, rather than it being because that information is important to them. I know that I can't remember much from my school days because all that we were taught to do was to cram the information needed for the exam into our heads and then forget about it once the exam was over because we didn't need to know it anymore. This is not the way that people should be taught how to work, and it will not result in them retaining knowledge about the important things in life in the long term at all.

This is really something that I know but at the same time, it really baffles me about how much standards have fallen. Both with teachers and what children really need to know to pass. Granted, when I had completed grade school and high school, you could see a little bit of it setting in and I saw many quality teachers leave during my time at high school, with their replacements being less than stellar and those good ones that left being slightly beaten down. School was work but I think that everything about the entire system is so miserable these days for the most part, that children are not going to be inspired to learn, providing that the teachers are going to be inspired to teach. Most schools do cling onto the attitude that they have to pass these children through, pass the next batch through. And a lot of what they do teach doesn't seem to stick. A lot of what I learned as basic knowledge is not something that many children know. Then again, obviously the government won't want anyone smarter than them, because then they might start questioning some of their less than desirable actions.

The school system today is pathetic, the teachers at my kids school are not even trained teaching that particular subject, eg. sports teacher is teaching my daughter art, they rely on computers too much to give them their information which is not always acurate for what they are supposed to teach. What happen to teaching kids with books so that they know that they on the same page as the student. Literally.