Jeffrey Cook55 said:That book you're thinking of was called a dictionary. 😁By the way, phonetic pronunciation is usually taught using special symbols, often introduced in the second or third year of study. It’s a big stretch to expect them to dive into that during first grade. Honestly, I think the teacher's approach here is a bit off. Have you had a chance to talk to her about it yet?
Btw, remember what our English textbooks were like back in the 4th grade? "I have a red bike. You have a blue bike." "Catch the ball, Sandy! Catch! Catch! Catch!" 😂
It’s all just one big, exhausting mess. You have these veteran teachers who think they can run the show exactly how they please, regardless of what actually works, and frankly, they just stomp all over anyone who disagrees. And the worst part? It isn’t even isolated to my kid’s classroom anymore—it’s become this widespread, systemic epidemic that’s infecting schools all across the country, which is honestly nothing short of infuriating. Every single conversation we have with my parents eventually devolves into a relentless interrogation about my English proficiency, and frankly, she remains as stubborn as a mule on this subject. To be honest, I’ve always viewed this whole program as nothing more than a glorified way for people to actually get close to one another.
It honestly drives me up the wall when my daughter mentions she doesn't like the drawings in her required reading, only to have the teacher snap at her because "it's an illustration." And we're talking about first grade here! I try my best to foster some actual independence in her; I don't just hover over her shoulder the second she opens a book. Once she's finished, I’ll either grill her with a few questions or skim through her work and circle the parts that need fixing so she can actually think for herself. I only step in if she's truly hitting a wall. I read the books myself—heaven help me, they haven't changed since the 1970s, let's be real🙂—so it's hardly a mystery why kids today find reading such a chore. I have these absolutely gorgeous, wonderful books at home that might actually inspire a love of reading in some people, but apparently not our lot. Instead, it's all this nonsense like Anderson or those dusty old philosophical tracts about being and nothingness... honestly, they can take that outdated curriculum and go jump in a lake.
It honestly drives me insane seeing how they handle English in the lower elementary grades. If I had my way, I’d personally hunt down whoever designed those curriculum books and give them a piece of my mind. They are still just trying to master reading and writing American English, and then suddenly—boom—they're expected to juggle English at the same time. If this were being taught through some interactive game, fine, I could get behind that. But with my little girl? Every time English class rolls around, she’s dealing with full-blown stomach aches and nausea from the sheer stress of it all. I even heard about this ridiculous situation in a first-grade classroom where the teacher asked the kids to write out numbers as words in their notebooks. She says "five," and of course, all they hear is "five" pronounced with that weird phonetic twist. Suddenly, half the class is in tears because they haven't learned the letter "f" yet.🙂 I mean, seriously, is this actually considered normal?? And look, I don't blame the teachers entirely; they're stuck following a brainless curriculum, but man, I feel like tearing up those stupid textbooks and those even stupider educational CDs—you know the ones, all that repetitive, mindless "yum yum, cola" nonsense. Who on earth was the moron who actually made money off such idiocy?🙂 There used to be an actual system in place back in the day. Now, I'm not a native English speaker myself—my German is pretty terrible, to be honest😁—but I remember when we used a dedicated notebook specifically for tracking how words were spelled, how they were actually pronounced, and what they meant. That doesn't exist anymore... In German, you don't really run into massive hurdles with reading, which I always appreciated. But with English? You see "I" and you have to guess if it sounds like "eye." It's exhausting. I've decided that my child and I are going to build our own custom study notebook from scratch, because if we follow this current mess, things are not going to end well.
I’ve shared plenty of my thoughts on the education system, but there is one thing I absolutely have to get off my chest.. Gosh, I watch them every single day, and let me tell you, they simply aren't cut out to grind away until they hit 65. They’re losing their minds, they’re running on empty—and honestly, if it were up to me, I’d push them into retirement much sooner, purely for the sake of our children’s well-being. It’s the exact same story with daycare workers; you’ve got a lady who's 63 trying to keep up with toddlers, and you can only imagine how much energy she actually has left to chase kids around. Don't get me wrong, I’m not trying to diminish any other professions here. In fact, I'd say it's actually better for those people to retire early too—but if they insist on dragging out their careers long past their prime, then fine, go ahead. But ultimately, the consequences of that exhaustion will land squarely on the shoulders of our children.
Mom, if I can offer some advice—just sit down and have a calm, level-headed conversation with the teacher. Every mother instinctively trusts her kid first; it’s just what we do. But you really need to hear the other side of the story, and I'm sure you'll handle sorting that out. Personally, whenever I run into something (though I don't have many issues), I just deal with it directly through the homeroom teacher. I'll quickly apologize for going off on a tangent here: Since we touched on school trips, listen to me—people, please insist that before any bus leaves for a trip to another city, the highway patrol absolutely inspects the vehicle. Hardly anyone bothers to do it, but it is incredibly important. Not too long ago, a group of students (I wouldn't want to be at that school right now) was sent on a trip to Santa Barbara in a bus where the rear window had been replaced with plastic sheeting instead of actual glass, and nobody did a single thing about it. The police should inspect the bus, check the last service records, ensure the vehicle meets all legal safety standards, verify all necessary licenses, and even perform a breathalyzer test on the driver before they ever pull out of the driveway. It’s not being difficult; it's being safe—please keep that in mind. Sorry again for the detour.
Thanks, rustydrifter10🙂 That was absolutely gut-wrenching to read, honestly; I feel like posts like that ought to be scrubbed from the internet entirely. Life is unpredictable, and you truly never know what kind of impossible situations you might find yourself in, so I’d say it’s nearly impossible to sit in judgment of anyone else. There is no such thing as a perfect parent—none of us have ever achieved it. You’re going to mess up sometimes; sometimes you realize it immediately, and other times, you don't. Parenting is an uphill battle for all of us because kids today just aren't like they were when we were growing up. I still remember back in my day, we wouldn't dare utter a single word out of turn to our teachers; there was actual respect in the classroom. Nowadays, that seems to be a dying breed. Teaching is an incredibly thankless profession in this day and age, especially with so many frustrated parents who simply cannot stomach the fact that their child is just average. I see it happening every single day. And sadly, I even hear parents using derogatory names for students during recess, thinking they're being quiet enough so the kids won't overhear. If only we could all just be perfect...
My little girl just turned eight, and she’s at that stage where she insists on sitting on the toilet while I’m in the shower, just rambling away about absolutely everything under the sun. Honestly, it’s never bothered me; I only really shoo her out when I actually need some privacy for a bathroom break. 🤣 Because of this, she’s seen me dealing with my period and has noticed I’m breastfeeding. 😁. We’ve actually been talking about menstruation and all that stuff since well before she hit this age. Just the other day, she started getting really curious, peppering me with questions about anatomy and how babies are actually made. She even asked if I could draw some diagrams for her. So, I grabbed a pencil and got to work, sketching out female anatomy and the whole process of conception—she was genuinely fascinated by it all. At one point, she even asked why I take those birth control pills. And look, I just gave her a straight answer. I’m honestly relieved she feels comfortable enough to ask; growing up in America back in my day, these things were strictly taboo, and I couldn't have asked my own mother a single question about it. Our kids are lucky because most parents today aren't as stuck in those old-fashioned, restrictive ways. Even though she's only eight, she's incredibly mature, and she's already starting to see some early signs of puberty, like fine hair growth. She definitely inherited my genetic predisposition for hitting puberty early. Sometimes I catch a faint scent of sweat from her armpits—not right when she's standing next to me, but more noticeable on her shirt later on. It’s nothing alarming, but it makes me wonder; I don't think it's time for deodorant yet. When did you all start using it, and is there anything truly gentle out there? In my opinion, most of the stuff on the shelves today is just way too aggressive. For now, we’re sticking to plain soap and water, but I’m trying to plan ahead.
wiredwalker14 said:I’m new here, so I figured I’d jump straight into this topic 🙂 Basically, my son is in 6th grade, and lately—it's been a total disaster!!! I mean, I remember going through puberty myself, but I honestly have no idea how to handle his... Anything I say to him is wrong; if I even try to have a serious conversation, he just breaks down into tears immediately... and he’s always been a bit stubborn, but now he’s just 🙂 Yesterday at the PTA meeting, the teacher said she doesn't know what to do with them anymore—grades are slipping, and their behavior is becoming impossible... The thing is, he’s actually an excellent student—really bright, and his grades are perfectly fine—but I’m terrified he's going to start following the crowd. Is there any way to fix this, or do I just have to wait for it all to pass? And then there's still the next stage of puberty waiting for us!!! 🙂
Just wait for it to pass.😉 We've all been through the trenches ourselves. I dealt with the exact same thing in my house—his father (since I'm not his biological mom) was the primary influence, and he had this way of being both incredibly tough and deeply gentle, which led to hours upon hours of talking things out. Back then, we truly felt like we were going to lose our minds from time to time.😁 But, as they say, this too shall pass. In our case, our little guy hit puberty extremely early, so we were riding those waves during 5th and 6th grade, a little bit in 7th, and by 8th grade, he finally turned a corner. You absolutely have to maintain control, though; you'll find yourself losing your cool and snapping at them like you're the one going through a mid-life crisis, but the main thing is just surviving until it ends. Patience is the only way through.😁
I’ll go on record right now saying it’s a much easier gig than people give it credit for. If anyone actually cares to verify my claim, just grab a calendar and do the math on their days off—both the single days and the long stretches. You've got 30 days of vacation, plus winter break, plus spring break, and let's not even get started on summer vacation, where nobody actually shows up based on some official HR decree; they just drift back in for the first semester session.
Now, if you want to argue that kids these days have absolutely zero discipline, fine, I'm with you there. And if you think every generation is sliding further down the gutter, yeah, I agree with that too. There’s just no respect left in the world—not from the parents and certainly not from the kids—it’s all gone downhill. That being said, we shouldn't be underestimating anyone's profession or title. A bus driver carries the responsibility for their passengers just as much as a Teacher carries the weight for their students. At the end of the day, nobody forced anyone into these careers; the choice was entirely up to the individual. And look, if there are massive flaws in the system—well, they're flawed, plain and simple.
wiredwalker14 said:Of course they get a commission—whether it's for workbooks, Scholastic materials, or any other publisher... I actually know of a case at my school where a Teacher organizing a summer camp trip let her preschooler grandson go for free, and she told us herself. Besides, I used to work at a publishing house, so I'm not just guessing. What a teacher decides to do with that commission is entirely up to them. Whether they buy extra supplies for a student whose family is struggling or keep it for themselves... that's their call. But I also know that publishers always provide an extra copy or two, specifically to help out the kids who might not have the funds.
Back when there was actually some real competition in the market, they used to give away massive amounts of freebies. Don't even get me started on the laptops for school that would mysteriously vanish from teachers' homes... and of course, everyone conveniently "forgot" about them. Honestly, if you ask me, the whole entire situation is just nauseating. I've personally seen kids lending each other money during field trips; it happens all the time. My kid came back from Central Park after some silly mishap and lent a friend this much, then that student lent her this much in return. It's just small change, and I don't make a big deal out of it, but still. What else can I say?? At the school my child attends, they actually charge the students for photocopies of tests. They run the copies in the faculty lounge, and a single sheet costs $0.67. Look, it's not like I'm being stingy over a couple of bucks—I'll happily drop four dollars if it's needed—but please, don't treat me like an idiot. First and foremost, they aren't allowed to charge children for this stuff; they already receive funding for school materials (just like the funds provided for things like hand towels and soap)—the whole thing is completely illegal. Parents always end up being the ones getting squeezed. And then, to top it all off, I get a newsletter stating that my little girl needs to bring in $0.67, and it literally gives me hives. Since when does it cost $0.67 to photocopy one single sheet of paper?? I should probably just stop talking about this before I lose it...🙂
Do Teachers decide everything themselves? I honestly find this whole situation completely baffling. In my case, the worksheets don't exactly cost me extra out of pocket $57 because the final bill just ends up being lower overall. The teachers collect the cash and then hand it over to the accounting department, but they keep a little cut for themselves. Isn't that basically just stealing from parents???
It’s actually a relief to see a few Teachers in this group. So, I’m looking for some straight talk here—give it to me straight. When those workbooks and activity packets are being ordered for the kids at the start of the school year, do you guys get a kickback from the publishers? To be blunt—in a situation like ours where we’re paying for all the materials, if we’re looking at $57supplies for 27 students, the Teacher ends up pocketing roughly $167.
And please, don't even try to tell me otherwise; I work in a school, so I know exactly how the gears turn. Specifically, in my school, that extra cash is supposedly funneled toward the kids whose parents can't afford the supplies, acting as a sort of unofficial fund. Is that how you all handle it?? Is it the same setup as when kids sign up for various magazine subscriptions?? I’m dying to hear what you have to say about this...