Helping Goose with her math homework...

[unixronin]

... I find myself seriously beginning to question whether it is the goal of the US primary education system to achieve a specified uniform standard of education, or a specified uniform standard of ignorance.  Goose's fourth-grade math class doesn't seem to be about teaching kids to do math, as to teach them the metaphorical equivalent of counting on their fingers.  For instance, in questions on making change, they're not allowed to say "Three quarters, a dime and three pennies," they're required to draw little pictures of rows of coins.  HELLO???  That's going to stand them in great stead when they're figuring out if they can make their rent and their car payment out of their Wal-Mart paycheck, isn't it?

(Hmm, on second thoughts, for a Wal-Mart paycheck, maybe just lining up rows of coins would be practical....)

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

We're trying to fill in the gaps and holes, but sometimes it seems the school is actively working against us. At her age I could multiply three-digit numbers in my head; Goose has to run for paper and pencil to add and subtract them, and the school isn't helping. They're teaching all the kids to rely on crutches, whether they need them or not.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Right, that was my point. Schools these days actively suck at teaching kids. It is a disservice to the future of any child to force them through the current public education system.

-Ogre

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

The problem with homeschooling Goose is that she demands an audience to perform to. And we just aren't enough for that. Pirate has learned her alphabet, her numbers up to 20, how to spell her name, how to type, and is well on her way to learning to read and to spell. Wen is learning the alphabet and how to count.