June 10, 2009 5:24 PM
What movies are your kids watching in school these days?
For two weeks, my high school kids seem to have been doing little else than watching movies.
Every morning I hear: "Can we stay home? All we're doing is watching movies."
When I ask why I'm told that they've finished all their work and just hanging out until exams next week.
So far, Maddy's all seem educational: Great Expectations, Dinosaurs, Mount Vesuvius.
But over in the next county, my grandson reports having seen Romeo and Juliet - understandable, I guess, though the Zeferelli version is probably a little racy for some parents' taste - but he also saw Twilight. I'm wondering by what stretch of the imagination a teacher could justify Twilight as educational.
Anyway - if you have kids in public school, you might want to ask what they're doing these days. I've been pretty lenient about taking time off, considering that there's not a lot going on.
Posted in Public schools | Permalink
Comments
Ah, the politics of public school...
The ISD gets paid per child per day...that is why absences are so greatly discouraged, why snow days are always made up, why parents taking kids out of school for vacations is frowned upon...
So yes, lots of awkward time (when what the children are going to be graded on has been taught and is "finished" but the kids have to be there so that everybody gets paid) ends up being whiled away with fluff projects or movies...
Posted by: Keri | June 10, 2009 9:08 PM
Oh the movies.... My 6 th grader sees movies every Friday in some classes, my 4 th grader sees them almost 2 or 3 times a week and they are not educational . On top of the morning meeting and the no bully program and etc. I hear the teachers scrambling to try to teach because there isn't much time for it once they have all the specials of the week...My 4th grader who just brought home her report card where she is getting mostly c's and d's and cannot read above a 2 nd grade level of course scored a proficient on her MEAP test .My 6 th graders English teacher really pushed them to all read Twilight just short of making it required reading, My daughter and the neighbor kid both said it was junk, the rest of the kids just adore it.One of her friends came to school with a "stupid lamb" T shirt on . Maybe I should read this so I am not just guessing what this means........What the heck is going on in school? just got to ranting didn't I?
Posted by: karen | June 11, 2009 6:01 AM
To Keri's post:
Is the state money (per child, per day) another reason why a local school board might frown upon home schooling? I hope with this administration and ideas that are floating around right now that I can even have that as an option when it comes time for my kids to enter...
I just found out I'm pregnant (too early to tell most my family yet- I have a friend who lost her 1st child in the 3rd month after telling everyone, don't want that repeated) and I'm wondering what I should do to educate my children. If Catholic school (we have several excellent ones, including our parish school) is too expensive for us, would it be wiser for me to start teaching myself how to teach on the side right now?
Any one have any recommendations for what a God fearing woman who wants to raise holy children in this day and age should do??
Thanks so much for the blog Barbara! I love the news stories:).
Posted by: Sarah | June 11, 2009 7:46 AM
We're not in public school for the time being and it sounds like that could be a good thing. So far we've been able to afford Catholic school and these particular schools don't show many movies. One of them requires parental consent to even show Disney movies. There's not time for that nonsense. Twilight? Good grief!
Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | June 11, 2009 8:00 AM
This summer is my ten year high school reunion, and I recall well the last week of school every year watching movies (Twister in 12th grade Chemistry) and doing almost no work. The more experience you have with modern public education the harder it is to ignore the fact that, even with the best teachers, the system itself is inefficient and flawed.
Sarah, I know that I've been told by homeschooling foes that I am hurting the public schools by depriving them of much needed funds when my children don't attend. This is supposed to show that I can't "opt out" of the system without hurting other families who don't have the "luxury" of homeschooling. By homeschooling my kids, I am "stealing" from the schools. (Even though I still have to pay the taxes that fund the schools AND pay for my homeschooling materials out of my own pocket.) Then, the other day, I read some anti-homeschooling rant that claimed the schools DON'T get funding "per pupil," and somehow twisted THAT into a reason why homeschooling hurts the system. I wish I could remember how that supposedly worked.
Posted by: Michelle Potter | June 11, 2009 5:34 PM
