chardin wrote:
<snip>You've heard the phrase "put your money where your mouth is"? Why not put your month where your money went. If you were willing to do the necessary sacrifices to do what you thought best for your child don't you think other parents can do likewise? You still paid the school taxes I take it? Does that seem fair or just to you? Your own pocketbook agrees with me, why not the rest of you?
As for Dick and Jack books, why I know them quite well. Those were
the very ones we used (I am very old, you see). When my son was 5, I
placed him in a Christian school and they taught him phonics. He
went through the 2nd grade using that system, and he has always been
very advanced in his reading.
Girls generally do better with the written word. Not a good comparison.My daughter started kindergarten at a public school where she was
taught "look-see" as I was. She started off much slower but she soon
caught up and I think she and her brother are nearly the same. She
is well advanced--far above grade level. So, in my very limited
experience, I can't tell a real difference.
Why worry if the Jones are getting a better deal? You want your kid to learn and the market would provide. Consider cameras for example. Look at the bewildering amounts of choices. From the very expensive to the very cheap but they all take pictures! The open market would do the same for education. (Universities were a good example but government subsidies are slowly turning them into blandness now)Schools have a lot of room for improvement, I'm just not sure
completely abolishing them would be the answer. I used to favor the
voucher system, but on more careful consideration, I don't think it
would work. Children who had a voucher would, nonetheless, be priced
out of better schools, because the schools would charge the voucher
amount, plus other fees--fees which would price children from lower
economic families out.
Why are they poor at reading and writing? Is this the schoolYou unwittingly make my point for me! My English out of public schools was terrible! Even in college I got a "D" in the subject. It was not until latter in life realizing it's importance that I made the effort, privately, to improve! (Plus I got a good spell checker for these posts!)
system's fault? One woman I know swore that the school we went to
had teachers who did not care and taught her nothing. She was in the
same room as my younger sister, yet my sister could read above her
grade level for years, an excellent reader. They had most of the
same teachers throughout grade school. One thing is for certain, I
think public education did an excellent job in teaching you the
basics and probably much, much more--judging by your interactions
with me.
II'm not an example. Did you see any of the beliefs I talk about here taught in the public schools? I learned them somewhere else. Somewhere else in spite of the schools indoctrination. For a site on meme's allot of folks here don't realize it seems just how badly infected by public schools they have become!
agree that we need to have teachers who are committed--not just in it
for the job. We need students who want to learn. Yet, I cannot see
just disposing of the whole system, which, overall, I think still
works. You are an example, and many of the young people I see are
examples.
I know that you must be a big fan of Milton Friedman's but,Milton Friedman! I didn't learn about him in the public schools I can assure you! Very astute of you to see his influence. I read his book at the suggestion of my Dad while in high school. The drivel that I was being taught as economics in school melted away in a few short pages of that man's book's !
unfortunately, everything isn't black and white as Friedman presents.
I just don't want to go back to the days when people have to make
their marks with an "X" because they can't sign their names. Chardin