What the hell are they teaching our children?

[animal66]

This week Mrs Animal and myself have decided to homeschool our children. After a couple of visits to their respective schools we decided that schools are useless and failing our children.

My eldest Robbie (Type 1 diabetic and likely autism) was so anxious about going to school that he was making any excuse to stay off, even staying up till 2-3 am and then claiming he was too tired. (we did send him in anyway, but he always got into trouble for falling asleep in class).
Billy (aspergers) Was being excluded because the school could not handle his condition, and did not understand him.
Isabella (autism) was getting into trouble, not as much as billy, but still enough to be of concern.
Harry (autism elective mute) has not been getting any help at all at school, because he doesn't talk, he was essentially just sitting there with a pencil in his hand, not being helped.

I am thoroughly disgusted with the way my children have been treated, and am considering legal action. My son billy is 10 and couldn't even name the months of the year or the seasons.

In the 2 days we have been homeschooling them, they are much calmer, and robbie has been going to bed at around 8pm and sleeping through till 6-7 am, totally unheard of previously.

Totally the best decision we have made.

 

[TheDude]

My sister is also autistic. I feel ya.

Public schools here were shit for her.

Luckily she could go to a special needs school, of which there are a couple really nice ones in my area. My parents had to fight for the better part of 2 years to get her in there with state/federal funding.

She now has a full-time job and her own place (including a roommate that hasn't kicked her our), which is astonishing to me. She's never gonna be able to drive or be completley independent. But it's a big step.

To be honest, I think you probably did make the best decision, at least for the time being. Kids who don't grow up with special needs people are fucking assholes to them. Absolutely the worst shit heads ever. Autistic and Aspy kids do really need social experience, but a lot of time, a regular school is just going to cause them extreme anxiety, depression, and emotional hurt.

Are there any special needs schools around??

 

[Infinity17]

so sad to hear this animal i agree with you tho everything today has to be politcal correct and teaching is seconary and it sad that kids get put in the middle

 

[TheDude]

Also, because of the stupid fucking No Child Left Behind act, schools basically focus only on getting certain demographics of kids to do well on these stupid, useless tests, which is the basis for how they get funding.

Star students also get a lot of attention, despite the fact that they don't need it and school is easy for them, as it is.

The special needs kids and kids who have social, emotional, or personal problems and don't do well in school... they just get completely left behind in most cases. They are taught that they aren't as worthwhile as the other people, which isn't true.

Most of the time, it's actually the kids who face a lot of adversity who are better people, and it's the kids for whom school and achievement has been easy who take shit for granted and shit on the rest of the world, and are truly ignorant. Plenty of 4.0 students going to ivy league schools who are just awful human beings

 

[theGenius]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but are teachers even trained to educate kids with aspergers and stuff like that? f.ex. myself i used to be a judotrainer at my local dojo training kids between 8-13, and since i have no experience at all with kids that have autism i wouldnt be sure that i´m successfull in trainig them even if i tried my best, since i have no clue how to appeal to them and make them understand.

so unless they are trained to teach kids like that it might rather be the sytem to blame and not the teachers. sorry if im off track here... just a thaught, never been active in areas like that.

 

[MikeK]

Really sorry to hear, Mark. Hope homeschooling will help.

Also, because of the stupid fucking No Child Left Behind act, schools basically focus only on getting certain demographics of kids to do well on these stupid, useless tests, which is the basis for how they get funding.

If that's the act I read about, it's probably one of the worst acts ever. Teachers pay attention neither to kids who study well enough to pass the test anyway nor to those who are going to fail. So only the kids who are on the edge are taught...how to pass the test. I'd probably srand up and applause if I hated America..

All those tests are crap. We used to have a system when university applicants would send their school marks for the last couple of years and pass a few exams at university. Now they said it's not fair because some teachers might like some particular pupils. So we have final school exams in a form of test. Guess what? Answers are leaked before the exam. every. damn. year. Not that everybody knows them but a few people always do.

 

[DamageINC]

Special Education teachers are supposed to be trained in dealing with special needs children. Regular classes wouldn't be the place for them. It would place too much of a burden on the teacher and the other kids.

I think public school is dog It's set up to teach 'normal' kids, and even then, not really. Their focus seems to be maintaining test scores etc. so they can get state/fed money. The things they teach today are totally outdated.

The way i see the school system in regards to special needs kids is kind of how the world looks at lefties. Since most people are right handed, the lefties get little consideration. We have to pay more for everything if it's been specially made to fit a left. It's just a numbers game, and sadly, those numbers translate to real kids. But that's not how the system views them, they are a statistic.

Just a week or two ago , there was a story about a school taking lunches right out of kids hands because they had debts on their lunch accounts. Don't even get me started on the horrid diet they feed em. The state of our school system is pathetic. Unless you have money, of course.

We spend bazillions persecuting low level 'drug dealers.' We spend a fraction of that educating our kids.

 

[animal66]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but are teachers even trained to educate kids with aspergers and stuff like that? f.ex. myself i used to be a judotrainer at my local dojo training kids between 8-13, and since i have no experience at all with kids that have autism i wouldnt be sure that i´m successfull in trainig them even if i tried my best, since i have no clue how to appeal to them and make them understand.

so unless they are trained to teach kids like that it might rather be the sytem to blame and not the teachers. sorry if im off track here... just a thaught, never been active in areas like that.

The teachers were given SOME training by the special educational needs co ordinator in the school, but they failed miserably. The assistant head even tried to tell me that my sons meltdowns were, in here words "learned behaviour". Pretty much trying to tell me that they get temper tantrums from me.

B.T.W. Haven't practised in 25 years or so, but i gained a 3rd dan black belt in judo [DOUBLEPOST=1392158402][/DOUBLEPOST]

I think public school is dog It's set up to teach 'normal' kids, and even then, not really. Their focus seems to be maintaining test scores etc. so they can get state/fed money. The things they teach today are totally outdated.

Totally agree, schools these days don't seem to actually educate the kids, in the U.K. they just seem to want to show a good face to the government inspecters, kids seem to come second.

 

[Storky]

On the contrary, my bro went to a private school cus my parents thought he would get a better education there (having aspergers too), he hated it there.. all the kids were really stuck up and only looked out for themselves and cared about money, the staff only cared about the "smartest" kids. So he ditched the private school and went to the state school i was going to and they were really good to him. They gave him loads of support and tried to understand it as much as they could.

I personally think it's the individual school that is at fault. Not all schools are like this. It sucks though bro. I feel ya

 

[DamageINC]

I agree.

I made a generalized statement. There are, of course, good schools with good educators that strive to do the right thing. I think in many cases the teachers/administrators are just as frustrated with the limitations, rules, guidelines etc. imposed on them by bureaucracies, but it's getting pretty ridiculous.

2nd graders are getting suspended because they make guns with their fingers. It's easy to get jaded by the media, , but it's still absurd this would EVER happen.

Schools are so mismanaged.

A friend of mine has to pay a bunch of money for supplies in different classes for her granddaughter. Art teacher sends home a long list of what she expects and the art supplies needed to attempt a passing grade. These supplies cost 60-70$. It's ridiculous that a parent should have to shell out hundreds of $ on top of the 1000s paid in school taxes. A school art class not being able to provide even the basic supplies is pretty sad.

 

[Cryogenic Flare]

Animal.
You want a school that truly cares for the students that go there? One where no one treats others with disabilities differently? My school. Paul VI Catholic high school in Fairfax, Va.
We have almost 30 "options" students as we call them. All of them have disabilities of different kinds and we still treat them as a normal friend. Now we may not be close to you but it would be worth it when they get to high school.
If you want to know more about our options programs go to http://paulvi.net/page.aspx?pid=333

 

[HIBred]

My sister home schooled all her boys for the earlier years, as a result when they finally went into to their respective schools,they ended up with better study habits and were considered more advanced than most of the kids. Hawaii schools have among the lowest ratings in the nation. Sadly ,as I have a bunch of friends who are teachers ,and from what I hear from them, the system is utterly flawed ,underfunded and treated more as an afterthought than the priority it should be.
Kudos again Mark,you're a great example of parenthood.

 

[miniCyb3r]

I was homeschooled from 2nd grade all the way to 12th grade.

 

[DamageINC]

One of my uncles Home schooled his children as well. They were light years ahead of students in their age groups and are all now onto College and doing very well.

The downside is, sometimes kids stay at home too much and lose the social aspect. These days however, that's probably a good thing. How many 10 year old's do you hear now dropping F bombs every other word. It's pretty disgusting.

 

[ponyboy]

School should be a place where you develop who you want to be in life and what you want your passion to be. Private school is just for people want to be more "better then others". In theory you can learn everything by yourself from a book, and you could be even smarter then the teacher, but in the end it won't get you as far cause it doesn't look as good on a worthless piece of paper.

School is now a place where you are force fed all the shit the teacher tells you. Its not about learning anymore its about who is the best.

Canada isn't good either.

 

[TheDude]

I think public school is dog It's set up to teach 'normal' kids, and even then, not really.

...

The way i see the school system in regards to special needs kids is kind of how the world looks at lefties.

....

We spend bazillions persecuting low level 'drug dealers.' We spend a fraction of that educating our kids.

True dat.

I disagree, storky. I think it is definitely a large part that the system is at fault, and that there is little to no community support that is effective in most regions. It's also a problem of bad parenting in a lot of cases. Parents just want to send their kid away to school and have to be responsible for less and less, it seems. (on the whole. There are great parents all over the place, too)

My sister was in a public school special education program. It sucked. Like I said, what reason do they have to fund those kinds of programs? None. Other than a moral imperative. They probably want LESS special needs kids.

 

[SteelHorse]

All of my nieces and nephews are homeschooled.

 

[TheDude]

I think the social aspect is VERY important for kids.

Kids need to grow up and learn about the different people in the world.

Otherwise they grow up and listen to rush limbaugh.

That is a problem.


I will say that a parent can impart much more wisdom onto a child, as the parent really pays attention to and puts all their effort into the child. Teachers can't. They have 15-30 children to give all their effort to.

It's a predicament.

I will say that I read everyone's posts all the way through, and I am very glad to see that everyone really cares about this.

 

[Nikon]

It may not be so much what they are teaching kids, but what they are NOT teaching them. I have met some kids who did not even know who Hitler and Stalin were (other than "they were some bad dudes right?"), why World War II happened, or even what the Holocaust was. That is just plain sad.

With the exception of 3 1/2 years of private education, I was homeschooled my whole life. You will want to look for a good private tutor once your children reach the more advanced mathematical levels. The nice thing about home schooling is that it allows the parents to teach their children what they believe they should learn, not what the state thinks they should learn.

Most homeschoolers are in no way socially impaired, at least from my experiences. I have seen and met plenty of kids from both private and public schools who are the socially impaired ones. Many homeschool kids that I know mix better with people of all age groups and are more open with kids who may have disabilities whereas the public/private school kids tend to be more cliquish.

Obviously private, public, and homeschooling all have their pros and cons to consider. Its sad to see that the public school system was failing your kids. Good luck with the homeschooling.

Oh and, don't trash talk home schoolers too much. During my senior year of high school, (private) my school's boys Varsity Basketball team was first place in our conference, but whenever we played a homeschool team, we got our butts handed to us! The same fate happened to our varsity soccer team.

 

[PrestoN]

Well all you need to know is public schools cater to average students and that's all. Disabilities are often overlooked other than in maybe one part of the day where they congregate the special ed students.

Personally I was screwed in the way that I was made so disinterested in school by them wasting 75% of my time I failed many classes.

So, if you don't have a disability, don't have trouble with learning the material but also don't pick it up right away, public school is the place for you!