Why are blacks still getting an inferior education?

This is very disheartening news, but I am not surprised.  It was apparent to me by my daughters first grade year that her chances at a good education were slim to none in our Atlanta suburb.  While my son was doing well at the time (in 3rd grade) or so it seemed, I would find out later that he too was getting shafted on his education.

Some of the things that happened.

Someone stole someone else's food and my daughter was pointed out as the thief because the accuser was afraid of the person who actually did it.  My child was a reluctant eater at the time, so that was just crazy.  When the truth came out, my daughter never received an apology.

My son was denied even testing into the gifted program because his grades were "inconsistent".  They would not take into account that those very few low scores happened on days he was suffering from migraines (which he has thankfully outgrown).  Interestingly enough, when I unenrolled him from public school the teacher asked me why I would try to homeschool such a gifted child.  My response, "NOW HE'S A GIFTED CHILD?".

I am not one to bring up race or use it as an excuse.  I don't believe in surrounding myself with only people that look like me. However, the statistics do not lie.  In my kids cases, they stood out for one major reason, and it was not socioeconomic. It was a melanin issue. Assumptions were often made, like everyone assumed I was a single parent.

 I am so glad we decided to homeschool so my kids would have no reason to feel inferior because of their race.  They now, like me, have friends of many races and nationalities, and are on equal footing academically.  Meanwhile...

LOS ANGELES — A 19-month civil rights investigation of the Los Angeles Unified School District found that the district failed to provide an equal education to English-learners and black students, resulting in wide academic disparities, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.

The investigation also found black students are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs but overrepresented in suspensions and disciplinary actions. Schools with predominantly black populations also lack technology and library resources.

READ:
Can Homeschooling Help Me Graduate on Time?

9/25/2011

Many people who were failing in public school have used public school to get back on track and finish their high school years strong. It does however that an great deal of determination and hard work.

Think like a Homeschooler

7/27/2011

Homeschooling families take a different approach to education and have a different way of thinking than public school families. Taking on a homeschool way of thinking could be valuable to the families of public school children.

How to Learn About Different Cultures like a Homeschooler

9/19/2011

A part of social studies for the typical child in traditional school is to learn about different cultures. The same goes for homeschoolers, but the approach is quite different.

I'd Love to do Elementary Math Education Again

The longer I homeschool, the more I wish I could start over.  Just like the new strollers and baby gadgets on the market that hadn't even been conceived when my kids were babies, there are now so many new and shiny learning programs that I have no use for because my kids are nearing the end of their homeschooling journey. 
 
I have always been partial to technology based learning for certain subjects. I experimented with all kinds of learning software that allowed my kids to "play" their way to acquiring knowledge.  While the games my kids played were cool... very cool, the stuff available now is insane.   In my opinion,  to date, the most natural way to teach homeschoolers is through adaptive learning. Adaptive learning is can now be found in many elementary math education programs in which you will find an individualized approach to teaching, that uses "personalization and also learning systems that dynamically assess and adapt to the student's current knowledge and ability levels". 

I love the fact that parents can purchase computer based curriculum and set kids in front of it and allow them to just go for it.  Compelling graphics, fun characters, and intuitive programming does the bulk of the work for them.  They don't have to worry about alignment to common core standards or any of that other educational mumbo-jumbo.  Children don't have to be dragged into a new concept before they are ready, or become a disruption because they have been stuck on a concept for too long waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. 

Sure, as homeschoolers, we want to get down and dirty into the trenches of addition, subtraction and multiplication, but trust me, you will want to back off when it comes time to figure out the perimeter of a circles. I know I did anyway.  Too bad most of these programs don't go past basic math.  While It won't do my kids much good as they've already mastered elementary math education, I am hoping that by the time I have grand kids (take your time kids) that adaptive learning software will be available for kids all the way through high school and beyond. 

What Should the Punishment be for Cheating on the SAT

Seven students were arrested for an SAT cheating scam. It seems they were busted sometime back, when rumours of cheating surfaced and the very high SAT scores were compared to their mediocre GPAs. 

In the past, the punishment for cheating was to retake the test free of charge. Now, students may find themselves in jail for four years.

Some feel that the school should handle such cheating incidents, others feel that arrests and prosecution are well justified.  I am leaning more toward the arrest option.  Considering Atlanta public schools are now a joke because teachers caused cheating to occur on elementary students state tests, a message must be sent. 

As usual, this scandal will very likely result in changes that assumes everyone is a liar and a cheat.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice "called on the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit entity that administers the SAT nationwide, to establish procedures to combat cheating, including photographing students as they take the test and attaching the picture to the answer sheet."

GREAT!

No wonder many colleges are rethinking the SAT and ACT.  In the meantime, these tests are the main way that colleges assess whether or not a homeschooler is college material.

Kristen Stewart recalls being forced to homeschool

 Practically no one who commented on the article linked below felt a shred of sympathy for Kristen Stewart, star of Twilight.  Her story is basically that she ended up homeschooling because teachers refused to go the extra mile to help her make up for her absences due to her acting career.

The thing is, anyone who does things differently from the mainstream is made to feel isolated and disapproved of in one way or another. It's sad, but true. It's a shame that her teachers did not show an iota of support to a child, simply because she had ambitions.


Kristen Stewart: My Teachers Failed Me. Not One, But All of Them. The ...
Not One, But All of Them." The Blemish Not One, but All of Them." A lot of people think celebrities are self-entitled brats who have no concept of the real world anymore because they're surrounded by sycophants. Luckily Kristen Stewart is here to dispel that myth. In Britain's GQ magazine, Kristen says her former teachers "failed" to support her while she was out acting and refused to help her catch up on school work while she was shooting on location. She explains that they pretty much forced ...




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Flipping the classroom... another homeschool method brought to the classroom

No matter how you phrase it, in a flipped classroom, teachers record lectures in advance and assign them as homework. In the classroom, they work through the problems together. This is opposite of how math is typically done in the classroom, and teachers usually introduce the subject matter and have them struggle through it at home. The video explains it all. Interestingly enough, this is a lot like how my homeschooled kids have always worked. They watch math, science, and history videos... as many times as it takes to get it. Then they work through the problems requesting help when necessary.


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What are they really learning when you do their homework?

Happy Elf Mom turned me on to this Joanne Jacobs blog about a mom justifying doing her kids' homework. 

 The actual blog post in interesting enough, as all of Joanne Jacobs posts are, but the comment section really blew me away.

It all starts with a blog post called Don't hate me because I do my daughter's homework.  As I read the post in entirely, I absentmindedly mumbled some words that I won't repeat.  In short, I felt like mom was full if it and trying to justify what she knew was wrong. The post ends with "But, when it comes to math, I leave that to her. I hate math. I will look at her math homework to see if she’s done it, but that’s all. So maybe, yes, I do her homework for her (or at least really, really chip in) – but I only do the fun homework. And you?"  Give me a break.

Anyway, like I said, the comments on regarding this post were far more interesting than anything this mom or Ms Jacobs had to say.

There were parents who justified doing homework because the assignments were stupid or because extracurricular and  family time were more important.

There were others who blasted the mommy in question for her "help" which surely went over and above.  Most felt she was bordering criminal behavior.

I felt that the problem was more about honesty and modeling for the child than anything else.  First, I think it is passive aggressive (and easier) to do a child's homework rather than to speak to the teacher about the homework assignment, and maybe ask for something more valuable.I also think that the parent may be underestimating the value of the homework given. A lot of the things she is complaining about, cutting, pasting, drawing, and puzzles are actual valuable activities for visual and kinesthetic learners.  If the child is clearly a different type of learner, then the parent should help the child negotiate a different type of assignment with the teacher.

Furthermore, and most of all, I feel like this is one of those gray areas that many parents participate in, and then when their kids are adults, the wonder why they kids are participating in questionable behavior.  Now these are my personal pet-peeves, but here's how I see it.

You can't buy bootleg and fake merchandise such as movies, and purses, and be surprised when your kid outright steals.  You have set the example of supporting theft.

You can't accepts a "discount" from a friend who works at a store, and be surprised when your kid is arrested for shoplifting.

You can't lose your temper in the mall parking lot at Christmas time over a parking space and be surprised when your kid is arrested for an act of road rage.

Our kids not only do what we do, but they tend to amplify our behavior.  It might be nothing now, but wait until your grown up kid copies your behavior at a much higher level.  It won't be pretty.  In other words, if mom does Jr's homework now, she should not be surprised when he gets busted for paying someone else to take his college entrance exam... which by the way, could be a punishable offense.


I just want to add a bit of a personal afterthought.  I was interrupted while writing this post by my 15 year old who wanted me to grade her practice PSAT exam.  Had it been a real PSAT exam she would have scored a 206.  This is crazy good...  National Merit good.  (provided she doesn't choke).  I point this out, not to brag, but to explain that any score she gets on the PSAT has NOTHING to do with me, even as a homeschooler.  This is a kid who has always learned independently.  Sometimes she did all of the work assigned to her.  Sometimes she blew it off.  And she always, always rushed through the process.  But in her entire education from public preschool and Kindergarten, through homeschool co-ops, online learning, academic classes, and self led textbooks, she never wanted, or accepted help from me.  She could be stuck on a math problem for a week, and would still shoo me away.  Yet she learned.  This may not always translate to great grades on paper, but in the end, if you let your child do more independent learning, you will end up with one smart kid.



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Homeschooling kids are AWESOME but...

 OK... I love my homeschooling peeps, but I think sometimes we go a little overboard.  Here's why:

I am an elections official, and precinct manager.  I was assigned to a precinct late and had to find a staff quick. After going through everyone who previously worked the district, I put out a call to homeschoolers.  Seemed like a good idea.

I realize it was 'my bad' that I neglected to say what ages I needed election workers to be, but I just kind of assumed that anyone who had ever voted would know that young adults, adults, and elderly would describe the mix of people running the polls.

So the return emails I got were like:  "My freshman and sophomore high schoolers want to work."  or "My 8 and 10 year olds would love to work, are there shifts?"

(Actually, shifts would be an excellent idea, but there are laws with reasons behind them that prevents that.)  But... are you thinking that your 8 year old can walk up to a voter who is using his cell phone when he knows it is not allowed but doesn't care because rules apply to everyone but him and tell him in no uncertain terns to turn off their cell phone?  Or, can your 10 year old smile at a 60 year old who doesn't want to fill out the same form he has filled out for the last 40 year because it is a stupid form, and say, "sorry, you can't vote without it".  Or can your 12 year old stop a car that is circling in the parking lot bearing campaign signs and chase them off?  I doubt it.


In all fairness, these parents just get a little excited when they see such an awesome opportunity for exposure, because that's what we do, expose our kids to learning opportunities. But voting is serious government business and while homeschooling kids are awesome, they are still kids.  Having anyone under 16 work an election would equate to child abuse for them, and babysitting for me.

No thank you.

By the way, I will have 3 homeschoolers working for the election.  My 17 year old son and nephew, and a 16 year old girl. 


Read: 

Oh yeah, that's why I homeschool

Things You Should Know Before You Vote

How to Create a Homeschool Portfolio 

Creating a Homeschool Portfolio when No Records Have Been Kept