Old School vs. New School

I took my kids into town with me today (like we seem to be doing everyday lately it seems.) Of course, someone had to ask about the fact that the kids were not in school. Then since Walmart’s lines were absolutely so long we had plenty of time to chat with each other.

She was from an older generation. We got to talking about how different schools were when she was growing up verses now for our kids. She stressed that when she went to school she actually learned things to the point that when she went to college she was actually prepared to learn and didn’t have to study quite so hard.

However, her kids were nowhere close to prepared for what lay ahead for them in college. They ended up struggling in college and having to study almost nonstop. In many ways, they were behind the eight ball. She commented how her grand kids are not learning anything in today’s school systems.

She also shared with us stories about how her son who was defending someone else in his class got expelled from school because he had to get mean to get his point across. Yet, he did nothing really wrong until he was pushed to the limit. She stressed that when she went to school the guilty parties were the only ones who suffered and teachers were allowed to discipline kids.

It was similar to the same stories I had. I can remember when the teacher’s hand got wrapped up. It was around my Junior or Senior year of high school that the whole self-esteem issue came about. People started caring more about protecting a child’s so called precious “self-esteem” than about them actually being prepared for the real world and life as we all know it.

I have similar stories myself with my own kids in the public and even private schools in our areas. Our kids complained about not learning anything in their schools due to all the distractions. My boys jumped in and talked about how mean the kids were in school to them.

It all boiled down to the fact that this woman was very supportive of our decision to homeschool our kids because she knew it was a far better route for them in our society today. She also commented that she could tell that I made sure to keep them inline. (She must not have seen how hyper they were earlier in the store in certain sections!) However, it does make a difference that our kids are with us all the time.

What makes it bad is far more people are in agreement with that position than not. I seen a huge number of families changing their kids over to homeschooling with each passing year. There are a lot more shootings that seem to be taking place in our kids, the bullying is getting worse, and our level of kids actually learning things has drastically decreased.

I’m not saying my kids are learning at the level I want them too all the time, but I am saying that we know what areas they need improved on because we see their hard core scores daily. We know when they are just having a bad day and when they just flat out don’t know something.

I believe in the olden days teachers could tell that in an actual classroom. Kids were in a school to learn not play. No one gave a rats behind whether or not they were harming a child’s self-esteem because they knew their job was teach a child what they needed to know to survive in the real world. They weren’t worried about making things entertaining because guess what in a real job, life isn’t always fun and games.

I’m not all hardcore homeschooling. If I had a school system close to me that would actually show that they cared about their kids LEARNING things and keeping the kids in line using discipline techniques that could work even on gentle approaches then I’d be all for sending my kids to it.

What are your thoughts on the topic? 

 

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Crystal

I'm Crystal. I'm married to Dale, and mother to Johnny.Some might say that my life is perfect because I get to do all the cliché wife things like cooking, cleaning, and decorating - but there's more! I also have many hobbies including needlework (crochet), sewing, and reading. My son's education is important, so we homeschool him together.

11 comments on “Old School vs. New School”

  1. I agree with you 100%. My son is in his first year of college and he said he was not prepared at all. It was different than what he expected and luckily, he figured this out during his first semester. He is more excited about continuing now that he has an idea on what to expect. I find it sad that most of the curriculum is to teach the Benchmark testing and this new Common Core crap that doesn’t make a bit of sense. My daughter, at 15 years old, couldn’t tell time on an analog clock (with Roman numerals) until sixth grade when I taught her. That is something I learned in school – how to read Roman numerals, too! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • It’s rather annoying to say the least. My son is learning Roman Numerals now in first grade. I’m like you can’t stand the fact that kids aren’t taught how to tell time on a real watch until they are to old to really appreciate it.

  2. Love this article. I homeschooled my daughter until she went to college. She was better prepared for college than most. She graduated Cum Sum Laude and loved every minute of learning. I am not sure that would have happened in public school. I remember getting asked about my daughter’s health when we would stand in line at Walmart or any other store. I would look at people strangely and then they would say, “Well, she must be sick, she is not in school!” We got many opinions, most not asked for, about her education and I got really sick of hearing about how she would not be able to function in society! Good luck to you and your family on this wonderful journey. Stopping by from #SITSBlogging!

    Reply
    • I’m glad to hear that you could relate to this post and shared your story as well!! I love hearing about other successful homeschooling ventures.

    • Trust me there are some days that patience is the last thing I possess. Luckily, I have a husband close by to reign them in on those days.

    • Homeschooling is actually something I feel anyone can do. Especially with the amount of homework our kids are being sent home with. For the amount of time you spend on helping them with it, they would be done with an entire day’s worth of school work.

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