The Book I Read
Conversation with my son today as we walked home after school:
Me: "Did you go to the library today?"
Him: "Yes, I found a Bailey School Kids book!"
Me: "Cool. You can read it tonight."
Him: "No, I already read it."
Me: "What? When?"
Him: "Today, during my free time."
Me: "Exactly how much free time do you have that you could read an 80-page chapter book in one afternoon?"
Him: "Lots."
Me: "And what is the teacher doing during all this free time?"
Him: "Making sure we're quiet."
Me: "Uh-huh, are you sure she's not doing her nails or taking a nap or something?"
Him: "No, she helps the kids who need help, and the rest of us have free time."
Other than recess, I'm not sure what advantages public school holds for my kids. He can have "free time" at home and probably learn more on his own than being limited by the resources of the classroom. We're still having the home-school debate with ourselves. This spring and summer will be decision-making time.
Me: "Did you go to the library today?"
Him: "Yes, I found a Bailey School Kids book!"
Me: "Cool. You can read it tonight."
Him: "No, I already read it."
Me: "What? When?"
Him: "Today, during my free time."
Me: "Exactly how much free time do you have that you could read an 80-page chapter book in one afternoon?"
Him: "Lots."
Me: "And what is the teacher doing during all this free time?"
Him: "Making sure we're quiet."
Me: "Uh-huh, are you sure she's not doing her nails or taking a nap or something?"
Him: "No, she helps the kids who need help, and the rest of us have free time."
Other than recess, I'm not sure what advantages public school holds for my kids. He can have "free time" at home and probably learn more on his own than being limited by the resources of the classroom. We're still having the home-school debate with ourselves. This spring and summer will be decision-making time.
Permalink posted by Phil at 1:29 AM
6 Comments:
I, for one, will be following your decision closely.
I find it odd that you could indict the public school system because of one teacher in one classroom in one school in the state that has one of the lowest teacher-pay rates in the country. I agree there are some incompetent teachers out there, but every profession has its incompetents. Would you denigrate medicine because of an incompetent doctor? Take it from me--if you become involved in your school, you will quickly learn which teachers your child should have, and you can get a first class education in almost any school.
I don't indict the public school system.
I just think I can do better.
Plus, it's not the teachers that worry me. It's the wasted time.
My son is just plain bored, and he's only in second grade.
I don't know Eric. Some schools just aren't all that good. The problems are more complex than a good or bad teacher. A lot depends on the students, the prevailing local culture and administrators.
But as someone who was shunted off to the corner on a regular basis because I was too far ahead, I am in total agreement with Phil. He should go for what works best for his kid.
...I love u'r blog! I wanted to give my public/homeschool school story. I have a 5th grade son in elementary school who has gone to our small private school here all his schooling yrs. He has been a grade above in math and science for many yrs now and lists at least on the A/B honor roll each quarter. He is energetic, althletic, and social. And is still excited about learning. When the tuiton costs became more then i could pay this year for private school, I looked into homeschool. Even though my son also participated in cub scouts, football, and youth group activities with his peers for socializing, homeschooling did not work for us. (I found that i am not displined enough, imagine that? lol ) But also that my son thrives on other peer input, involvement and good old competion. Here's the other part of the story. I went to enroll him in this public school district in November but after speaking with the teacher and principal at the school in our area (and I feel i was told honestly about the pros and cons), I was cautioned not to send my son to thier 5th grade class for the best education for him. I then applied for an 'out of area' enrollment to the school in the district closest to me in the other direction (that the first school also recommended) The principal expressed his disapproval to me on the phone over the reasons for thier referral ugh...(another story) and to this day (3 weeks, I believe now) I have not gotten a call back on my out of area submission. Not even a denial letter. I have since returned to working PT in order to re enroll my son in the same private school. He started again this month and tells me everyday about his science and math. And now they are even reading a novel he enjoys. The happiness in learning i see in him every day now is back and awesome! On the other side, my younger son is at grade level in most all subjects but may have a disability in reading or speech. He attends the same private school. He has made it to 3rd grade with no mention from the teachers or school, only my seeking tutoring and then finally getting him more assitance on my own. To find out if he does have a disability the private school can not help me. I had to contact the same public school district Special Education department. It's taken a a few months, but they are setting up assements in January. Seems like a go. Interesting contrast ???
Hey Phil - I've been lurking around your site for 6 months or so now, and have heard you wonder about your son's school a few times. We have an 11 year old boy who went to Sorenson for 2nd grade and Hayden Meadows for 3rd, 4th and about 6 weeks of 5th, and then we started homeschooling. About 3 weeks after that pullout, we took our kindergardener out of Hayden Meadows.
I've heard people say that making the decision is the hardest part, and that seems to be very true to me. It feels so scary and rebellious - but, you know, a lot of that fear comes from the fact that we've been taught to believe that there's only one way to learn, and it's just not true. This post of yours got me to finally comment because it reminded me of something my son said about school this year "school is so dumb, we don't even have enough time to read!" I guess he would like your son's class!
Oh, there's also a huge homeschool group here in CDA, with field trips and monthly skate plaza dates, etc. And of course, you probably know this, but there are tons of websites devoted to homeschooling, and you can find lots of "how do I make this decision?" articles, along with other articles that are very encouraging, written by people just like you who've been there. Oh yeah, one other thing that helped us decide to take the plunge was the day I jokingly asked my son "would you like to just quit school and homeschool?" (this was in response to him complaining about having to go) and he surprised me by saying "YES, duh!"
Anyway, trust yourself, you know this kid.
Stevie
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