A parent of one of my students works IT for a private Christian school. He has access to all the kids' work -- it's almost all done digitally. He claims that the kids there are all cheating on everything and he has his child in our school because there are no devices. His child isn't a great student, but it's his contention that being at our site will be an enormous advantage because our students actually have done the work and, so, may have actually learned something.
This is terrifying! I went through magnet public schools for my k-12, there was none of this that you described. It genuinely scares me that the majority of students are going to be so ignorant and illiterate, but they will still have the right to vote!!!!
Oops. The above was meant to be a reply to you. Don't fret.
You can do what needs to be done at home. The great news about grading for equity is that work doesn't matter anymore since grades can be gamed.
Get an older set of encyclopedias and, if possible, the 10-book set Great Ideas Program, the 10-book set Gateway to the Great Books and maybe even all of the Great Books themselves. The Harvard Classics are very. similar, so that's another way to get access. The Great Ideas program will walk you through it all. There are plenty of used sets on eBay for around $60,. which is better than anything you're going to get in a public school.
If your kids can hack it all, he'll have a better foundational education than 99% of college grads.
Thanks, I will look up that Great Ideas Program. I homeschool my kids, none have stepped foot inside a public school, but it can drag on you as the primary teaching parent, to do all the side work needed to maintain the flow.
We usually go to the library once every 2 weeks and fill a bag with books. I read to them as well as the oldest reads to the youngest as part of their free play. I use the HOLD system pretty frequently when I want specific titles. I do let them free range in the library, which can lead to questions of "why is that not a good book?" But I would rather teach them as to why a book isn't particularly good to read versus curating everything.
Eventually they will see or hear something I don't like, but rather than being militant on shutting it down, I ask them to explain to me why those topics aren't promoted in our house.
You can help them. Read the first couple of chapters of the Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. Following the principles they lay out and the outline they've provided for. your grandkids' ages, take those little whippersnappers to the library once a month and let htem fill a laundry basket with books.
Your kids might not be fully into classical education, but this approach is non-denominational and will make your grandkids wunderkinds in the typical public school classroom. And YOU will do your family a UNIVERSE of good. No requirements, just, Grandma LOVES learning and reading and let's sit on the living room floor, have a snack, and see what we can find out in these books. They'll remember that their whole lives and maybe bring it into play for their own children.
If your library has a HOLD system, you can get so many books. If you have a little bit of money, you can buy used books on eBay for almost nothing.
How did I miss that connection as a humanities teacher?!
I guess that I've only let kids write in class timed essays for so long I didn't give Chat GPT a second thought. Unless all teachers adopt that approach, no essays will ever be written by young adults again -- except for the exceptional children who understand writing clarifies and refines understanding. So like... 3 kids.
Yes. That's why I have my students write in class essays. To get around ChatGPT or other AI software. I usually get wailing and gnashing of teeth at the start of the school year but then they finally get used to the in class essays.
If you have a solid approach to writing instruction, their writing improves enormously over a year. I had kids explode in growth in logic and understanding over two years.
A parent of one of my students works IT for a private Christian school. He has access to all the kids' work -- it's almost all done digitally. He claims that the kids there are all cheating on everything and he has his child in our school because there are no devices. His child isn't a great student, but it's his contention that being at our site will be an enormous advantage because our students actually have done the work and, so, may have actually learned something.
Even at a private Christian school! This style of non learning is quite invasive!
Great suggestion! Thank you!
This is terrifying! I went through magnet public schools for my k-12, there was none of this that you described. It genuinely scares me that the majority of students are going to be so ignorant and illiterate, but they will still have the right to vote!!!!
Oops. The above was meant to be a reply to you. Don't fret.
You can do what needs to be done at home. The great news about grading for equity is that work doesn't matter anymore since grades can be gamed.
Get an older set of encyclopedias and, if possible, the 10-book set Great Ideas Program, the 10-book set Gateway to the Great Books and maybe even all of the Great Books themselves. The Harvard Classics are very. similar, so that's another way to get access. The Great Ideas program will walk you through it all. There are plenty of used sets on eBay for around $60,. which is better than anything you're going to get in a public school.
If your kids can hack it all, he'll have a better foundational education than 99% of college grads.
Thanks, I will look up that Great Ideas Program. I homeschool my kids, none have stepped foot inside a public school, but it can drag on you as the primary teaching parent, to do all the side work needed to maintain the flow.
We usually go to the library once every 2 weeks and fill a bag with books. I read to them as well as the oldest reads to the youngest as part of their free play. I use the HOLD system pretty frequently when I want specific titles. I do let them free range in the library, which can lead to questions of "why is that not a good book?" But I would rather teach them as to why a book isn't particularly good to read versus curating everything.
Eventually they will see or hear something I don't like, but rather than being militant on shutting it down, I ask them to explain to me why those topics aren't promoted in our house.
Thank you for letting us know. This is hidden for most parents and grandparents. It won't change until it is fully exposed.
You can help them. Read the first couple of chapters of the Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. Following the principles they lay out and the outline they've provided for. your grandkids' ages, take those little whippersnappers to the library once a month and let htem fill a laundry basket with books.
Your kids might not be fully into classical education, but this approach is non-denominational and will make your grandkids wunderkinds in the typical public school classroom. And YOU will do your family a UNIVERSE of good. No requirements, just, Grandma LOVES learning and reading and let's sit on the living room floor, have a snack, and see what we can find out in these books. They'll remember that their whole lives and maybe bring it into play for their own children.
If your library has a HOLD system, you can get so many books. If you have a little bit of money, you can buy used books on eBay for almost nothing.
Great article. You can now add ChatGPT to the list along with Chegg and PhotoMath.
How did I miss that connection as a humanities teacher?!
I guess that I've only let kids write in class timed essays for so long I didn't give Chat GPT a second thought. Unless all teachers adopt that approach, no essays will ever be written by young adults again -- except for the exceptional children who understand writing clarifies and refines understanding. So like... 3 kids.
Yes. That's why I have my students write in class essays. To get around ChatGPT or other AI software. I usually get wailing and gnashing of teeth at the start of the school year but then they finally get used to the in class essays.
If you have a solid approach to writing instruction, their writing improves enormously over a year. I had kids explode in growth in logic and understanding over two years.