What if it were possible to reform the public education system such that it was only concerned with teaching math science and literature and political history and sports. I don't think rounding up 3rd graders to march in political protests and teaching a lot of "political action and politically correct attitudes" contributes either to a better education or a better society. It is endemic in American public education and those educated outside of the system have been more than competitive intellectually. While others may have a different viewpoint about the political influence in the public schools I respectfully disagree. I have neither seen nor read any argument anywhere that has demonstrated the academic advantage of teaching political dissent at the elementary and middle school level. Perhaps a course in political history, political philosophy and political science at the high school level, by a non-activist or radical teacher, would make sense. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Newton" To: "'Microcontroller discussion list - Public.'" Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 1:27 PM Subject: RE: [OT] Using voucherstoimprovethequalityofschools(was:Educationreform) > My experience, in my area, in the schools that I and my older children > have > attended, is that school is basically a baby sitting service where > education > is the game they play and if the kids learned anything of use, it was at > the > price of the joy of learning it. > > If you "give up" on public education and think of that time as wasted, > then > your children's education depends entirely on what you and your family, > friends, and the kids themselves are able to teach. > > That is homeschooling. It doesn't have to be instead of regular school, it > should be in addition to regular school. My younger kids now attend a > school > a few hours a week where they take classes that require a group, such as > acting, cultures, and art. The rest of the time, they work at home from > computer based tutorials or from books and worksheets with assistance from > my wife (primarily) and I. > > My daughter has been asked (at the age of 13) to take the PSAT based on > her > amazingly high scores on the standardized tests. This is a program to help > bright young people to prepare for college, and college level tests, years > before they go. She will be able to take the test again after high school > and her scores this time will only help to make a reputation for her > school. > E.g. "our *middle school* students scored xxx on the PSAT". My son, who is > dyslexic, has progressed 3 full grade levels in reading this past year. We > expect him to be reading at grade level by the first of next year. In the > mean time, he explains to people how to make a flip flop and other > interesting things that I, with the assistance of the internet, have > taught > him. > > Public schools don't teach digital logic. Public schools, with few > exceptions, do not have facilities or programs for working with > exceptional > or bright students. And they have few facilities for helping students with > disabilities, while still teaching them in the areas where their abilities > are above normal. > > If my son was in public school, he would be forced to read "See Dick chase > Jane" and he would hate it. In home school, he is *motivated* to read > Digital Logic Circuits by Sol Libs because we found a simulator and let > him > hook things up: > http://techref.massmind.org/techref/logic/tutorial.htm > > If you realize that your children's education is YOUR responsibility, you > will do what you can to make up for the time they waste in public school, > even if you do not have the ability to use that time. Take the time you DO > have and put it to use teaching them to love learning about the subjects > they have an interest in. > > -- > James. > > -----Original Message----- > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf > Of > Vitaliy > Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 22:41 > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > Subject: Re: [OT] Using vouchers > toimprovethequalityofschools(was:Educationreform) > > James Newton wrote: >> Vitaliy, is homeschooling not possible for you? Or homeschooling in >> addition >> to the public waste of time... > > To be honest, I haven't really considered it. Do you mean staying at home > and teaching myself, or hiring a tutor? Neither one seems feasible at this > time. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist