Ok i have five minutes. Well actually i don't, but nevermind.
I am irritated with lots of things within the school/nursery/ parent category. So what i am going to do, is some links, some quotes and my own slightly ranting, slight angry, slightly biased views. It's not for any particular reason, except my annoyance, specially with whats going on with government and homeschoolers right now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/aug/15/media.politicsIT annoys me, that parents saw under cover films of nurseries, then still choose to send their children to one. I quote from the last paragraph in the article.
"When it comes to giving your most treasured possession to someone, you have to have total faith in the place. "Is that not just the most stupid thing a mother could say? If it is your most treasured 'possession' how could you possibly send it to a nursery all hours under the sun, where it possible will be abused in all manor of ways. You know we are real skint, i am happy to admit it, and heck alot of my homeschool friends are, but we sure CAN manage to be at home will our children, so claiming you have to go to work just isn't valid.Your 'most treasured possession' didn't ask to be brought into your life. It's not meant to adapt to you. (childcare makes me more angry than anything, can you tell??)
"Earlier this summer, there was furious argument over research suggesting that children under two may be more likely to develop aggressive and antisocial behaviour if they are cared for in nurseries. This further fuelled parents' worries." (from mid page)
Well we all know this one, does it really have to bring furious response. Viv was in school a year, and i saw it. Every parent with school children out there, will tell you of the 'things' they pick up in school, and how sweet little Jimmy now argues with them and says terrible things. And still perfectly sane parents send their kids to these places so they can do non needed work!!
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/nightmare-at-the-nursery-abuse-images-lsquowere-taken-at-play-clubrsquo-14333349.htmlThen we have this. I think all I need to say is
OH MY FUCKING GOD (and yes it does warrant the F word. Actually it warrants it more than once, but i will save your ears (or eyes as the case may be))
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1559757/Four-in-10-primary-school-leavers-fail-three-Rs.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1559291/Fifth-of-primary-school-pupils-fail-at-3Rs.html (the comments by readers at the end of this one is quite good
"It pays to be fick." classic)
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23407445-details/Four+in+ten+students+fail+to+master+three+Rs/article.doOK this is a issue that I come back to again and again. I do not think there are words to describe how irritated I am about this. I could mumble on for ages. When Viv had her year at school (5-6, i start this blog just as she does her last days at school) She had what I thought where reading difficulties. Which I now know to mean, she couldn't learn with the way schools teach, and from statistics it would seem she is far from the only kid. I spoke to the school while she was there (with her little biff, chip and kipper reading crap) I asked what it is exactly they are doing about her reading, and why they are not teaching her phonics so she can learn to read and decode words. I was told by the teacher, thay they have them remember high use words like the, and, if chip, biff (yeah cause chip and biff are good names and well needed to be memorized by my kids!) then they tell them the alphabet, and look at books with pictures plus words, and hopefully with time they will pick it up. I lie not. I pretty much stood there with my mouth open, unable to reply. I was gob smacked.
Some picked out Quotes ;
"Nick Gibb, the Conservative shadow schools minister, called for a new drive to make sure seven-year-olds learned times tables by heart and all pupils read using the traditional phonics method." True true, except, it's not being done, oh and you know some 7 years olds are not ready for this yet.
"Phonics - seen as a "back to basics" method of reading, in which children learn the sounds of letters and how to blend them to form words - will be introduced in all schools." will be introduced??? UUUUrrrmmm ... will be introduced? So why is how to read, needing to be introduced into schools? Surely a place where children go to learn to read, is already teaching how to read? OR am i stupid for thinking this.
"However, teachers attacked the "target-driven culture" behind the exams." Yes teachers, cause our 11 year olds should be reading like 7 year olds!!! Yes thats right teachers I blaim you too!!!!!!!!!! You go into the profession, don't bum around like idiots with our children, get a clue, not be a sheep.
"A fifth of children set to start secondary school in September are unable to read, write or add up properly." I need do nothing but put that in bold.
"Over the coming year we will be focusing our efforts on reading and maths in primary schools and personalised learning in secondary schools so no-one falls behind." so where exactly was the effort going before??
"Almost one in ten boys still start secondary school with the reading age of an average seven-year-old." not very effective then is it.
And then there is the testing. Government has been talking resent years, of the targets being too high, and lowing them. So instead of teaching the kids effectively, they are going to make it more acceptable to be stupid? But don't even get me started on the tests. The kids hate it, and it does nothing!! I looked at the 11+ the other day, my husband and I did some mock test, and I want to know when knowledge needed, turned into quiz book stuff!! I'll go further, there was lots of questions about decoding, stuff i thought was meant for those quiz books you buy from news agents! Perhaps this is what they have been focusing in schools?
I watched quite intentively channel 4's programs on this last year, with my husband. We especially enjoyed 'last change kids'. If you can get to see this, do watch.
And now we have all this new government crap thrown at us.
Sarah makes some great points. Clean up your own mess before you start accusing us of having mess! But i have to say not only should they do their own jobs in sorting out schools, they should also sort out their own jobs already in home school. They say they have no idea about homeschoolers and how they want to vet us. Well if they were doing their job, they would indeed already have this information. I have been homeschooling for 9 years now, i now have 2 children of school age at home, and one who starts in sept, and I have NEVER been contacted. Surely if my children had already been seen yearly, like they are meant to, it would be known whats happening with them, and then no need to start writing huge lengthy reports on how they should be doing this and don't know what we are up to.
Ok i've been here longer than 5 minutes!!
