Teachers have always preferred academically gifted students
who do neat work, read a book a week, behave in class and quietly absorb
everything in the curriculum. That makes teaching easy and teachers appreciate
that. They can stick with the “one size fits all” curriculum and not worry
about having to explain how to do Common Core math.
When K-12 teachers have a class with all gifted students,
that’s the best deal they can get. But invariably, they will have some students
who are not as academically gifted and they will fall behind. Teachers have
procedures for getting these students on track, but that requires that the
student are motivated to become gifted students. It’s a decision the students
need to make for themselves and they somehow need to convince themselves that
they are capable, it will be fun and it is necessary to ensure that they will
be able to function as adults. Many of these “ungifted” students are smart and
could become “gifted” if they wanted to, but they prefer to be distracted with
things they prefer to do, like play with their friends.
The current K-12 curriculum includes frequent projects that
requires the student to give a verbal book report with home-made visual
aids. It also involves the ability to
read and understand painstakingly complex instructions. It also involves Common
Core math. This usually gets the parents
involved to help with projects, figuring out what the instructions say, figuring
out how to do Common Core math, checking all homework and ensuring that
deadlines are met.
In schools with few gifted students, teachers have to adapt
to battlefield conditions. These are schools with high “drop-out” rates and
lots of summer school sessions. The processes they use in schools with mostly
gifted students don’t work. Projects, instructions and homework need to be
simplified. The “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t work, but is usually
required by State Law.
The goal of education is to produce adults who can
function. Students will need to know how to read and understand what they read.
Students will need to know how to manage their money. Students will need to
develop the ability to learn whatever trade or vocation they choose to make a
living that allows them to be economically self-sufficient. If they are lucky,
they will choose jobs they will do well and enjoy doing.
The advantage for Homeschooling is that the parent is the
teacher and the schoolhouse is at home and this saves a lot of time. K-12
school from 8am to 3pm consumes 7 hours a day.
Homeschoolers can complete the same material in 3 hours and have time to
choose what they actually want to learn to do. It doesn’t take long for
homeschoolers to test 1 or 2 grades ahead of their age group. Once they are
ahead, they are motivated to stay ahead. The Homeschool curriculum includes the
same reading, writing, math and science required by State law, but students are
“tutored”, not classroom taught and the Homeschooling parent selects to
curriculum material. Students can
actually see the curriculum and ask questions at will rather than being a
silent member of the easily distracted “audience”. Regular school trains
students to become unquestioning sponges.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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