Let's Talk Education - Be Prepared for Unpopular Information

I have been observing different forms of education a lot and doing research over the last few years. I'll tell you my own experiences:

At age 6, my mom wanted me to be home schooled but my dad insisted that his children would not be 'weirdos' and enrolled me in the local public school. We lived in a tiny town. Almost all (if not ALL) the school teachers and school faculty were LDS (strong Christians). Everybody knew everybody. My dad was the seminary teacher for the high school which was on the same campus I attended. You could see the playground from our neighbor's backyard. Basically, it was the ideal situation. 


So I started first grade and enjoyed it. Shortly after attending school, my parents say I developed an attitude and that I didn't want to be around my family and little sisters as much anymore, but that I wanted to be around my friends. My dad visited our classroom which had pictures of the students' heros on the wall and half of them were scripture characters. The teacher and all the kids were LDS. But what he witnessed on the playground was appalling. 


There is a "pecking order" that exists in public schools and he said the kids were so mean and cruel to each other, or to the weaker or less popular kids. So they pulled me out, home schooled me, and said within a few days I was back to my normal self and the attitude was gone (not that I never got in trouble, haha... I received my fair share of spankings).


So, WHY my change in behavior in the "PERFECT" and "ideal" school situation where my parents closely knew the teachers and faculty? Where it was an "innocent" small-town environment? Where nearly every single person was an active Christian with high morals? 

BECAUSE OF THE SYSTEM. 

NOTE: I believe many teachers are wonderful, intelligent, kind, caring and WONDERFUL people who genuinely want to make a difference and do good. I believe parents feel they are doing what's best for their children, and in very few cases, public school IS what's best for some children from abusive homes, sadly. But the SYSTEM is corrupt. The people at the top of the system are corrupt.


Let's take a quick look at Horace Mann or more so John Dewey, who furthered Mann's philosophy and is considered "The Father of Education". His basic belief was to create the "commonchild" which means to separate or remove a child from his/her God and family. I don't want my children to be stripped of their values.

This was a comment on an American Thinker article:


"Government (public) education is unconstitutional. It DEMANDS that a citizen buy education services they may or may not ever use and must pay for all of thier lives whether they have children or not and whether or not they ageree with the schools philosophy and moral structure. By its socialist nature it must cater to the lowest commmon denominator and is by definition inferior to self selected education. If you want to see what happens when anything is made public just visit your nearest public restroom." - (Haha! I love the last sentence! So funny and so true...)

I've always felt that the way schools test your intelligence is totally askew (for lack of a better word)... I mean there are SO many different children with completely different ways of learning, remembering, applying information, etc. To take a standardized test and then judge a person's entire intelligence and academic capabilities is so inaccurate and limiting! 

I didn't get the best grades in high school (yes, I was home schooled but I went to public high school all four years) and was therefore labeled as an "average" student who would "somewhat" go on and do well in the world. Because one student had a letter "A" on their transcript, they were viewed in a completely different light than me who had A's, B's, and a couple C's (heaven forbid). However, I don't feel like I'm any less special or "dumber" than the person with lots of letter A's... 

MY POINT is that I don't feel public schools truly allow children to find their passion and then feed and nurture a desire to learn.

One interesting point that Brittany, my younger sister, brought up several months ago is that in school, the government doesn't want you to ask questions. THINK ABOUT IT - they GIVE you the questions they want asked and then give you the answers. They don't WANT you to ask questions and then go seek the answers yourself - they don't want people asking questions. They don't want people questioning anything. They want us to go with their flow and not ask questions. 

According to some studies and observations, generally speaking, public schools (compared to Thomas Jefferson education who has studied this and developed an opposite-effect learning system) kill one's desire to learn. How many kids do you know (other than brand new kindergartners or first-graders) wake up every day just REARIN' and excited to go sit through every single class they have and be academically stimulated?

About a year ago, I tutored 5 and 6-year-olds when we lived in Utah. The 5-year-olds (kindergartners) were still very sweet and innocent... but the 6-year-olds, the first-graders, were already affected by the pecking order and "survival of the fittest" theme that poisons the kids. They picked on sweet little Michelle who was quiet and shy and called her stupid and dumb just because she portrayed "weakness" to them. Michelle, of course, withdrew and became even MORE shy. The first-graders would do everything they could for attention and would bully the kids who weren't as loud or mis-behaving as they were.

OF COURSE their family situations take part in that: Are they disciplined at home? Do they have loving parents? Do they eat a lot of junk which causes worse behavior and hyperactivity? Even on the playground I noticed all the older kids as well. The fourth-grade boys were vulgar, crude, and even worse bullies. Kids do better when they are able to stay close to their moms and families who LOVE them, longer than four or five years.


The NEA - National Education Association - funds and supports groups like the GLSEN - Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.


DID YOU KNOW that in 1878, President John Taylor warned the people about sending their children to public schools? He did; but that counsel was generally ignored... I wonder why? Read what he said here. 

These are just a FEW of my many thoughts, findings, and opinions on Public Education: Government-controlled institutions producing what they want: blind sheep. 

Statistics

HSLDA

NHERI

ProgressiveU (Just someone else's opinion)

The Benefits of Homeschooling