Providing Balance: America's Homeschoolers

[Anmar]

Pep
Sounds like you've studied Keynesian economics.  Where'd
you get all that schooling?  Princeton or Oxford?

You do realize that most of the conservative politicians are all fans of Keynes, right?

[redcliffsw]

They ought not be fans of Keynes but they play the Keynes game quite often.

[Diane Amberg]

Ok Varmit...you win. All public schools stink. All public school teachers stink. That's why no Kansas kids ever go on to college because their public school education wasn't good enough. You know one person who home schooled so you are an expert. I know about 30 so of course I know nothing. Study guides with answers, so kids can check their own work is always cheating (not) How dare that teacher not check with you first.Yes, I'm being sarcastic. If you have real concerns do something about it. Just because a teacher does something that you don't understand doesn't make it "wrong" just different. There are many, many ways to get education done. Why limit them?

[srkruzich]

Ok Varmit...you win. All public schools stink. All public school teachers stink. That's why no Kansas kids ever go on to college because their public school education wasn't good enough. You know one person who home schooled so you are an expert. I know about 30 so of course I know nothing. Study guides with answers, so kids can check their own work is always cheating (not) How dare that teacher not check with you first.Yes, I'm being sarcastic. If you have real concerns do something about it. Just because a teacher does something that you don't understand doesn't make it "wrong" just different. There are many, many ways to get education done. Why limit them?

I don't think giving answers to the test for kids to use accomplishes anything but the smartest thing i ever seen a teacher do was to have a copy of every test she gave mysteriously make its way to the students so they could look up the answers to the questions.  She  found that they actually learned the material if they had to work and look up the answers.   
The kids thought they were getting some great advantage too by getting a copy of the test and they thought the teacher didn't know it.

[Diane Amberg]

There is also a big difference between a study guide and a true evaluation. Studying for a multiple choice test is much different from studying for fill in the blank and essay tests. Sometimes I would give several different kind of quizzes and let each child choose the format he wanted. All tested the same information but in different ways. Now some of the tests are on the computer. I really never had that choice.
  If the teacher's goal is for Johnny to learn X and he does learn and remember about x and still retains and uses the information  about x many months and years later, how can any method the teacher used be "wrong?"

[Varmit]

Ok Varmit...you win. All public schools stink. All public school teachers stink. That's why no Kansas kids ever go on to college because their public school education wasn't good enough.

Okay, you want to go that route....Nationwide, over one million incoming college students require remedial courses just to catch up.  (according to PR Newswire "Strong American Schools Unveils New Research on the Cost of College Remediation for Unprepared U.S. Students and Taxpayer"  PR Newswire-U.S. Newswire Sept. 15, 2008)

  If the teacher's goal is for Johnny to learn X and he does learn and remember about x and still retains and uses the information  about x many months and years later, how can any method the teacher used be "wrong?"

...so much for Johnnys retention...When you consider that we now throw FOUR times the amount of money at public schools than we did forty years ago with a decrease in output I think that saying "...public school system stinks.." is a fair evaluation.
By the way, I never claimed to be an expert, you accused me of guessing as if I didn't have any experience or reference to the subject. 

Study guides with answers, so kids can check their own work is always cheating (not) How dare that teacher not check with you first.Yes, I'm being sarcastic. If you have real concerns do something about it. Just because a teacher does something that you don't understand doesn't make it "wrong" just different. There are many, many ways to get education done. Why limit them?

Not wrong, just diffent...Hmmm...I never had a geography teacher provide me with a study guide, yet somehow managed to get an "A" in the class.  Yet suprisingly a recent poll conducted by National Geographic showed that 63% of 18 to 24 year olds could not locate Iraq on a map, 70% didn't know where Iran and Isreal were, and 90% had no clue where Afghanistan was.  Granted they didn't live in the Middle East but 50% couldn't even locate New York State. 

If this is the outcome of "different" teaching styles then it would be safe to say that YES I do have concerns, mainly the "many, many ways" so-called teachers choose to NOT educate our children.

There is also a big difference between a study guide and a true evaluation.

You are absoloutely right. A true evaluation would not consist of lowering the standard so that schools could say that their performance has improved. 

[srkruzich]

You are absoloutely right. A true evaluation would not consist of lowering the standard so that schools could say that their performance has improved. 

I do agree that they have lowered the educational standards dramatically!  Even the GED that they give now is dumbed down.   I got 186 out of 200 on the GED when i took it and min score was 145 i think to pass.  I got 1050 on SAT and I can remember it being the test from hell.   

I took some other kind of test when i went back to school in 2006, ACT i think it was called and it was rediculously easy but out of 100 of us in the class only 15 got high enough on it to get into the school.  AND those were the folks that were in their 40's. 

And as far as tests are concerned,  How many of us can pass this 8th grade final exam??  I know i can't

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10.Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

[Diane Amberg]

Big whoop...I've seen that ancient old test before. So what. If an 8th grade class had been studying those things, by those names, they should have done just fine. ( I can just hear my class parents wondering why their kid was asked a question about a wagon box.)  The appropriate question is could you have passed it when you were in 8th grade? I rather doubt I could sit down right now and still pass my 8th grade Latin test either. What does that have to do with anything? Can you rattle off all the parts of the atomic chart? Neither can I, but I could have when I was actually taking Chemistry. So what is the point? Are you just looking for people to agree with you that there is nothing good in this country including education? To you want to be the one to tell a student who earned  a scholarship to KU that it's "worthless" because it it didn't meet your standards?  Sorry, it won't be me.  Sounds like a case of serious depression or at least sour grapes.

[srkruzich]

Big whoop...I've seen that ancient old test before. So what. If an 8th grade class had been studying those things, by those names, they should have done just fine. ( I can just hear my class parents wondering why their kid was asked a question about a wagon box.)  The appropriate question is could you have passed it when you were in 8th grade?

The point is that this was the graduation test, not just going from 8th grade to highschool.  YOu went to college after the 8th grade. The point is that The school system has dumbed down and we can see it every day.  Shoot just go into any mcdonalds and give the girl a 20 on a 10.31 order then after she punches in 20 dollars give her .31 cents so you can get a 10 dollar bill back. they will freak and call a manager.

There is a Very good reason that kids don't pass the standardized tests.  They aren't being taught.  IF they were, they wouldn't have to make the tests easier.

I rather doubt I could sit down right now and still pass my 8th grade Latin test either.

Well i never took latin. Picked most of the latin phrases i know from plants.

Can you rattle off all the parts of the atomic chart?

Hydrogen, helium, lithium, berillym, born, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen.... yes i can  

Neither can I, but I could have when I was actually taking Chemistry. So what is the point? Are you just looking for people to agree with you that there is nothing good in this country including education?

No theres a ton of good but Government schools are not a bastion of learning.  They are centers to make good citizens that vote the right way.

To you want to be the one to tell a student who earned  a scholarship to KU that it's "worthless" because it it didn't meet your standards?  Sorry, it won't be me.  Sounds like a case of serious depression or at least sour grapes.

Sorry but if a student earned a scholarship, he/she did so not by government schools but by taking the inititive to go above and beyond what they got in the government schools.  They excelled because they utilized critical thinking skills to obtain the knowlege and sometimes experience to aquire such a scholarship.  One thing the Government schools do NOT teach is individuality and critical thinking skills or how to aquire them. 

[greatguns]

Lucky me, I had both public schooling and homeschooling.  If the teacher at the public school was lacking in the teaching or just lacking in getting it through to me, my parents stepped it up a notch at the homeschooling  around the kitchen table. There was just something about when Dad decided you were going to buckle down and get it, YOU DID and pretty darn fast I.