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Religion classes in school - Megathread in Students & Teens · Oct 21, 2015

nightfall said:I wouldn't touch hiring a second religion teacher with a ten-foot pole because I honestly have no clue how the logistics work. From what I gather, you need a certain number of teaching hours to justify a position, and I doubt anyone would actually agree to hire two separate teachers if one full-time person could just cover all those periods in the schedule instead of splitting it between two part-timers.

As far as I know, both the priests and the religion instructors are paid by the government, so the state handles their salaries and benefits.
That said, I’m not entirely sure who actually manages the hiring process—whether it’s the school district or the church itself.

When it comes to scheduling, I don't really get how they manage to make it work for every subject, except maybe for religion where it seems impossible.
They probably just have people traveling between different schools, kind of like how an art or music teacher might bounce around.

It’s not just a matter of "stick religion class in the first period and fill in the rest." There are a lot of moving parts that all have to fit together perfectly. Maybe someone else can explain the nuances better.

I totally get that putting a master schedule together is a massive headache.

But look, since the Church has basically embedded itself into our public school system—pushing for a subject that isn't even scientifically grounded to be taught on equal footing with things like English, math, or biology—it’s pretty wild. They’ve made sure this religious instruction doesn't happen in the churches that have the facilities available 😁 , but rather in freaking public schools. It's all to make sure these devout kids don't have to go to church in the afternoon to learn about the faith they care so much about ( 🙄 🙄 🙄 ). So, if they're going to insist on that, there should at least be a shred of respect left for the rest of us, ensuring our kids aren't stuck wandering the damn hallways.

Everyone acts like they're super Catholic, claiming kids only go to church so they don't get a bad grade, but they would NEVER actually show up to church in the afternoon. Yet somehow, my kid is the one who ends up being punished?
How else am I supposed to describe it besides, again, total brainwashing?

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Oct 15, 2015

Brenda Doyle5 said:I didn't realize there was a distinction... honestly.
What’s the difference between after-school care and full-day care?
....I can't even remember which term my coworker actually used...

With the full-day option, you usually have two teachers handling things, and the schedule runs from about 8 AM to 4 PM. It’s pretty fluid—they might swap a lesson for an hour of playtime, or maybe do two hours of math followed by two hours of arts and crafts 😁 or whatever.

For the after-school program, kids stay with their regular classroom teacher at first, but once those core 4 or 5 hours of school wrap up, the kids staying late basically go into supervised care. Usually, they get grouped together with kids from other classes, and they're looked after by whichever teacher is on duty for that day or week.
Parents can swing by to pick up their little ones as early as 2 PM or 3 PM, and ideally, while the kids are hanging out in that supervised period, they could knock out some homework and have the teacher take a quick look at it—though, let's be real, that doesn't always happen in practice.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Oct 15, 2015

Nykas, I’m a little lost here—is my kid in an after-school program or just staying for that extended afternoon session?

Honestly, the way the teacher handled this was just a total mess; but what I’m trying to figure out is if one of those two teachers assigned to the full-day program isn't actually doing anything with them during their shift, or if the teacher watching them after school just completely ignores homework time?

School closures/delays? in Students & Teens · Oct 8, 2015

Susan James said:Like what?
The main thing is observing how they take in instructions and follow directions for a task.
It’s about what they’ll be expected to handle daily, both in the classroom and during extracurricular activities.🤷

The assignments themselves aren't meant to be impossible; the assumption is that any average kid should be able to tackle them.
Beyond just getting the answers right, we look at things like social engagement (starting with some basic small talk, obviously), their emotional responses, focus, attention span, whether they can actually sit still, and how they react when they make a mistake.

It’s really nothing to worry about. A delay in starting school is only considered if there are significant deviations from the norm.
If those gaps aren't glaringly obvious, then delaying enrollment isn't the right call.

(We also gather input from parents regarding what the child has learned so far and how they observe their social interactions with others.)

Honestly, I just misread the whole thing at first. I totally misinterpreted it as being about whether a kid should listen to some complete stranger, which made me think, "Well, duh, obviously most kids aren't going to listen to some random person on the street."
Once Summer posted her follow-up, it clicked for me that everyone else had taken it the same way—it was just one of those silly assumptions you make when you aren't looking closely enough. 😁

Anyway, I don't know, I guess all that context makes it enough. To be fair, I’ve had my own issues with this specific kid since forever, so maybe it’s not even really about them starting school or anything. 😁

And yeah, I'm signing off on what northerncobra27 said.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Oct 8, 2015

Podvežica, Seattle, soldier.

Personally, I’ve always been more in favor of a full-day schedule rather than those after-school programs. If it turns out he actually has to stay for the extended hours, my plan is to just organize things so he can head straight home the second he's done. I'd much rather him get some actual rest at our place instead of just idling away his time there until 4:00 PM, especially since we'll still have to sit down later and go over all his homework anyway.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Oct 8, 2015

So, I just got some inside info on what after-school programs actually look like at our local school district here in 😁

It’s not all day, every day, but it happens more often than you'd think. My husband went to pick up our little guy the other day, and the teacher wasn't even in the classroom.
And get this—they don't even bother checking the homework, so kids end up spending their whole afternoon correcting stuff that was graded wrong in the first place.

We also found out that basically everyone who has the option is pulling their kids out and enrolling them in schools in the surrounding suburbs instead.

And yeah... 🙂

School closures/delays? in Students & Teens · Oct 8, 2015

Susan James said:It's actually pretty straightforward
They use standardized tests and age-appropriate tasks that any kid his age should be able to handle.
On top of that, they look at how he reacts emotionally and note the fact that he's willing to follow directions from a complete stranger.
That’s really all you need to gauge whether he's ready to start first grade or not.
If things don't go well, then you just seek out a second opinion or talk to the preschool's specialist team.

I'm curious about one thing, though—isn't that basically how all kids act when they're first starting out?

School closures/delays? in Students & Teens · Oct 7, 2015

Brian Barnes5 said:But hold on, if we're saying every single parent gets the final say without any guidance... 😵 well, you know how some parents can be.

Things work totally differently at my kid's daycare here in the States. The school psychologist is actually part of the daily routine, so they truly know every single child by name and face. They're constantly encouraging us to set up one-on-one sit-downs with the teachers and the specialists for pretty much any little concern we have, and honestly, people actually take advantage of that.
I trust them with everything, and the teachers do too.

I honestly don't even know if our daycare even employs a psychologist🤷
and I already posted about my issues regarding individualized attention in that other thread about childcare centers.

My neighbor was actually seeking out a psychologist's opinion because she was second-guessing whether her little guy was ready for kindergarten. She just had this gut feeling he wasn't quite there yet—since his birthday is right at the end of March—so she went looking for a pro.
The kid spent maybe an hour with this specialist, just listening to him and doing whatever he suggested, and then the psychologist basically gave a thumbs up saying the boy is perfectly ready for school.
I genuinely can't wrap my head around how anyone is supposed to reach a meaningful conclusion after spending a measly hour with a child.
It made me think of Frupy and how much she dislikes those school specialist teams. 😁

School closures/delays? in Students & Teens · Oct 7, 2015

Brian Barnes5 said:Quote:>
JetBlue says:
My little guy was born late January, so he's technically due to start kindergarten this fall, but honestly, school just isn't his vibe right now—he’s acting way younger than his age. We go over his preschool worksheets at home and he actually does a great job, but he just can't be bothered, you know? Like, he knows his letters, but the idea of actually learning to write them or read is just such a drag for him... goodness, it's exhausting! He can barely tell me what they did at daycare without being super vague, so I'm sitting here wondering 🤦 how on earth he's going to tackle actual homework once things get tough. Plus, when he's tired, oh man... it's a whole thing. He's just so playful and distracted, and I'm feeling totally lost on what to do next. Is it even possible to request a redshirt year? I really feel like he isn't ready yet, and is it actually too late to hold him back if he's already 7 years and 7 months old?
Personally, I don't think we should be obsessing over the exact number of years or months a kid has been on this planet...
It’s kind of like how some five-year-olds act like little adults while some eight-year-olds are still running around like toddlers.

The real kicker is that even though the preschool teachers and specialists give their input, the final call on whether a kid gets to start school early or needs an extra year is made by someone in a district office who hasn't even met the child.
And it's just as brutal that you don't even hear the decision until mid-July. What are you supposed to tell your kid then? Are they going or staying home? Why? It's a mess. 👎

Based on what some other parents in our local preschool group have been saying, getting a deferral this year has been an uphill battle, almost impossible, even when everyone turned in all the paperwork and professional evaluations recommending the delay.

And honestly, even those recommendations from the preschool staff aren't always the most rock-solid metric you can rely on.
The teachers tend to follow along based on how much energy they have that day, and then you've got the psychologist or pedagogue who basically only shows up when summoned—meaning they see the kid for maybe an hour and suddenly think they've reached some ultimate, infallible professional verdict.

I really feel like at the end of the day, every parent just needs to trust their gut, make the call for their own kid, and be done with it.

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Jul 8, 2015

urbantinker8 said:but a curriculum remains a curriculum, regardless.
instead of some weird plural like "curricula" being replaced by something elsea, the standard American version "curriculums" has become the norm.
though, I guess you can't really call the singular "curricul" either.😉

I honestly don't see why a kid would need to draw their family four separate times for four different subjects in elementary school.
it's pretty clear the textbooks aren't exactly coordinated.
but I suppose that’s where the teacher comes in, to think about whether they should give the kids the exact same assignment for both English and science.
and they're especially there to decide if they really want to spend four years having kids color things in aimlessly.

I imagine anyone who is reasonably sane and has even a little bit of experience would probably try to be a bit more creative when assigning homework.

In American English, when we're talking about the official lesson plans and educational programs authorized and approved by the Department of Education, we see a mix of terms like curriculum, curricula, or even more traditional descriptions like "course of study." Out of those options, "curriculum" is the most common way we've adapted the Latin root. While some people might get technical about the Latin "-um" ending, in standard American usage, we typically stick to "curriculum" for the singular and "curricula" for the plural, though "curriculums" has become pretty common in everyday speech too. If you want to be strictly formal according to certain linguistic standards, there are specific ways to handle these loanwords, but for most of us, "curriculum" is the go-to term for what the Department of Education sets out.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Apr 23, 2015

northerntiger9 said:I’m hanging around here because we’re looking at extended school days in a few years... and that last post—along with my boss's reaction—reminded me of an encounter back in college. The department secretary was totally baffled, putting her phone down in confusion because some woman kept calling incessantly, demanding to know when "parental leave" would start. Or at least asking for "information for parents." It’s not like that’s even a thing 😬
.
Oh man, I can already see myself becoming that person 😢. And I really don't want to. I need to find a way to rein in the control freak living inside me. But honestly, hearing the talk going around gives me the chills—total panic mode. First grade, after-school programs, plus another 45 minutes of homework every single day, followed by endless work all weekend just to scrape together enough points to fix bad grades 😲. Hello? It's FIRST GRADE!! It should be about playing, enjoying life, and spending free time with parents at the local park eating ice cream. Or building mud forts and picking noses.

I’ve got maybe two more years of living in this pink cloud before reality hits. And who knows, maybe they'll actually pass that education reform they keep talking about by then 😬

Either parents are totally overreacting—probably just so they have some excuse ready to go down the road—or we're looking at a kid with special needs.

I live right below this girl who's in sixth grade; she’s pretty much an average student, never had any bad grades, was an honor roll kid, and will likely be a straight-A student for now, but then once she hits seventh grade, she’s going to hit a wall with science and math (which happens to everyone who struggles with abstract thinking), and then she’ll end up heading off to a vocational school.

So yeah, it’s basically the same old story.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Apr 23, 2015

urbantinker8 said:I won't be calling you NASA 😁 but, while I get that parents might not feel a need to dive deep into, say, elementary science or social studies, when it comes to a first grader, you just have to show some interest, whether you actually want to or not.

I mean, what kind of message are you sending if the kid sees that you couldn't care less about their shoes, let alone the curriculum, or whether they actually understood the lesson or even what they did at school that day?🤷

Since you already drew a comparison between school and preschool... it's the exact same thing when it comes to showing "interest."
I've always felt that uninterested or unhappy parents—the ones who view preschool as nothing more than a necessary evil or just a place to "drop off" kids without seeing any actual value in it—tend to raise uninterested and unhappy children who end up crying every single morning before heading to school.
And maybe even longer than that.😳

I know I’m totally out of my depth here, like a deer in headlights, 😁 but I think her point was just that it’s perfectly fine for a kid to tell you what’s on their mind or ask whatever questions they have, plus you still show up to those PTA meetings to stay in the loop, rather than feeling like you need to obsess over every single tiny lesson just to keep up with the whole curriculum.

It’s just like back in daycare; if the kid tells you about something that really stressed them out or something they thought was super cool, that’s enough, right? You shouldn't feel pressured to know every single minute detail of what they did all day.

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Apr 23, 2015

silentraven6 said:Checking homework... I’m just not really following the logic here.

I mean, sure, if a kid doesn't know an answer, they should show it. But checking it just to correct it on the spot?

Isn't a teacher's actual job to grade the work? Isn't the whole point of learning to make mistakes, then getting constructive feedback from the instructor who assigned the task in the first place?

And honestly, I don't see the sense in leaving their backpack behind either. Our kid will be bringing their bag home with them; let them pack what they need every morning. It gives them that mindset that they're actually heading to school, not just going on some field trip.

And let's not even get started on the fact that, given how incredibly low literacy levels have become among Americans lately, there's honestly no way more than 5% of parents could even correct homework that requires actual writing.
When it comes to math, things are slightly better—I think most people can handle basic addition and subtraction—but the majority, say, don't really know how to divide without reaching for a calculator, right?

So yeah... I don't really know what to make of any of this. In principle, I agree that a kid starting school needs some supervision at first, especially if they're, I don't know, let's call them "irresponsible" types.

But I'm curious to hear from parents with school-aged kids—how many of you just stop hovering after the first grade? Because everyone uses that same old excuse: "Oh, they're just little first-graders, they're so small and sweet and need help navigating this cruel world."
In reality, though, the parents I know are still keeping tabs on their kids even through high school.
Just recently, my wife was complaining about spending her entire weekend studying alongside the kids. Our daughter is a freshman in prep school (meaning she finished middle school as an honors student), and she tells me, "Thank goodness Dad still remembers his chemistry and physics."
Now, I tend to love making generalizations, so I pretty much consider all those parents idiots.
Since they're politically active too, I see them as a perfect example of why this country is the mess it is.

edit: we're drifting off-topic here; I think this whole thing should stay under "grades for first graders." Or maybe it's "studying with kids," since we seem to veer into off-topic territory about that every five minutes. 😁

Extended stays - what are your experiences? in Students & Teens · Apr 23, 2015

Raymond Jones8 said:What’s the actual deal with parents helping with homework? Is it even their job?
And like, does it make you a bad parent if you just don't have the mental energy to tackle math problems after a brutal workday and a million other responsibilities? Maybe it's just too much.

In my house, "helping" was basically just asking, "Did you finish your work?" and me saying, "Yeah!" and then we'd move on. That was pretty much it. I think that's how it worked back when I was in fifth grade, at least.
Back then, I'd go to after-school care for those first four years of elementary school. I’d get home around 4 PM—my parents would pick me up from work—then lunch, and then just... chilling for the rest of the day. If I remember right, I didn't even carry a backpack home most weeks. We all had our own little cubbies in the classroom, so if you needed a book, you just grabbed it there.

I feel like we’ve already covered this ground—yeah, sure, help with the homework, help them study, basically spoon-feed them through school just to inflate their grades beyond their actual ability. Because clearly, that’s the foolproof way to guarantee a successful life later on, right? You know, when they’re 29 years old, sitting there unemployed with a degree from some overpriced private college, just waiting for their parents to pull some strings and land them a cushy government job in some mid-sized city, maybe something like an "Assistant Director of Sustainable Urban Development Initiatives" or whatever trendy buzzword is floating around the local council these days. That's how the script goes, isn't it? 😁

On top of all that, you really can't tell what's going on anymore; the curriculum today is lightyears more intense than anything we had to deal with back in the day. And look, I get it, kids nowadays are sharper than ever—like little geniuses—but if you try to connect those two facts, the math just doesn't add up. 🙂

Postpartum health issues and breastfeeding struggles in Women's Health · Apr 18, 2015

I'm putting my two cents in alongside northerntiger9 and Amanda Moore61. It sounds like you might be running low on energy, so you should definitely get your iron levels checked out—it can be super sneaky 😁 because I used to have really high numbers and never thought twice about it, only to suddenly start feeling completely wiped out. I don't mean just being tired, but more like that heavy, desperate lack of willpower and this cloud of low mood hanging over me, even though I've never really been someone prone to depression; turns out, it was actually the early stages of anemia setting in.

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Mar 21, 2015

nimblelynx7 said:You just insulted everyone in trade schools and anyone without a degree. What, are universities and prep schools only for the elite now? Nobody smart finishes college just because they're smart; they do it because they're persistent. Why are these A's being forced? Because schools use grades for admissions, not actual knowledge. This works for the teachers too, because otherwise, more than half of them would be fired for incompetence.

Because school is for the students; parents finished their job a long time ago.

No, it’s that solar eclipse today. It's all the eclipse's fault.

Check this thread: PISA test results and the Shanghai leaf.
Every two years we slide further down the rankings. At this rate, we’ll be crawling under the feet of the Chinese soon. Our universities drop on the list every single year—though that's only because their metrics are garbage, not because our quality has dipped.

All this spitting on incompetent Americans. They don't even have 400,000 unemployed. It won't matter anyway, because they're just ignorant and uneducated, unlike us Americans.

Look, first off, since this is an online forum, I have to generalize things a bit to make a point.

Secondly, I don’t see how it’s insulting to point out that a lot of parents today are basically forcing their kids into high-end prep schools even when those kids clearly aren't grasping the basics in middle school. You need that foundation because high school is a massive step up, and then there's the whole mountain of college ahead of them.

That doesn't mean kids in vocational programs aren't just as bright or capable as anyone else; plenty of them choose that path for perfectly valid reasons.

And by the way, I’m not saying one career is better than another. It’s actually the parents who look down on trades that are doing the insulting—they're the ones pushing the "elite" academic track regardless of whether it actually makes sense for the kid.

If I’m judging anyone, it’s the kids who breeze through school with their parents essentially doing all the heavy lifting, only to end up with some generic business degree that’s basically useless in the real world once you realize they haven't actually learned anything of value.

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Mar 20, 2015

Adam Evans62 said:Look, it’s obvious you don't have a kid who fits the standard mold. She’s in that top 10-15% bracket—the highly intelligent kids you barely have to push at all. Plus, she’s clearly responsible and actually motivated. With most other kids—the 70-80% majority—you have to grind at home almost every single day if you want them to be straight-A students. That’s just how it works. If you don't care about that, fine by me, but they'll just end up being average students with those grades.
And honestly, kudos to her for loving books and already finishing HP. It just proves she’s lightyears ahead of her peers. Your whole argument about how working with a teacher isn't necessary if you aren't doing daily drills at home completely falls apart here, because we aren't talking about an average kid. You don't have an average kid. 😉

I actually have a bit of a family saga to share here.

This mom I knew basically turned her kid into a personal construction project just because she couldn't handle the idea that her child wasn't naturally wired for intense academic grinding.

Back in the day—we're talking about thirty years ago—she was right there with him every night helping through elementary school. Then she kept up the same pressure all through high school. This woman was a total overachiever herself throughout her entire education, but her son? He took after his dad, who was a great guy, handsome, and hardworking, but definitely didn't have the temperament for a PhD life.

She eventually decided exactly which university he had to attend, but once he hit college, she couldn't hover over his shoulder anymore. After ten, maybe even twelve, years of pure misery, a mountain of lies, hair loss, and teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown, the son finally stood up and told her, "This isn't my life."

And get this, the story doesn't end there—he ended up enrolling in some part-time program for something else entirely, so the "project" is still ongoing even though the guy is forty-one now ☕.

Honestly, I just don't wrap my head around the logic of forcing a kid down a path that clearly doesn't fit them.
Because let's be real: if you're wealthy and powerful, it doesn't matter what the kid's grades look like; you can just slide them into a business school, and even if they can't finish, you can just buy them a management or PR degree and hand them a cushy corporate job that was essentially reserved for them since before they were born.

But if you aren't part of that elite crowd, what's the point of all that struggle? Where does it actually lead? To being a college student in your 40s?

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Mar 20, 2015

Richard Perez3 said:Listen, for the stuff mentioned above, there wasn't some big school system—it was just us.

But where schools actually exist, who the hell am I supposed to be for them?

Plus, if the public school curriculum is designed so that any average kid can pass, yet your average kid is already struggling... I mean, how are they even teaching this "average" curriculum if the average parent has to work a full-time job just so their average kid can get through an average program?

Look, like we've already gone over this a million times, they *can* pass, they just end up with mediocre grades.

That’s really what parents get worked up about—if you look at the forums, it’s never about the kid getting an F; it’s about them getting a C or a B. 😱

And then, of course, we have this collective obsession with diagnosing everything as ADHD. Suddenly, every precious little one is just "restless" or a "tiny explorer" (who, let's be real, doesn't actually know the basics of anything 😬), and apparently, sitting down to read or study is just too boring for them, so we all have to just accept it. It’s not a lack of discipline or a parenting fail; no, they're just "spirited" 😍
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frozenrider15 said:How many parents can actually afford to take their child to the theater, a museum, or the zoo on a regular basis? Even if those things are at the top of their priority list. Of course, there are also those who simply don't prioritize it, so they don't go, even if they have the cash. Sure, we like to maintain this polite little illusion that all parents are signed up for library cards, frequenting museums, borrowing encyclopedias, and going on nature hikes... but that isn't the reality for most modern parents. You have a mountain of nine-year-olds with smartphones and tablets, yet they haven't set foot in the National Science Foundation museum. A handful might know their way around Manhattan, but everyone knows where the Mall of America is 😁.

And then we act surprised when kids don't even recognize terms like street, road, lane, or sidewalk until they hit first grade. Times have changed.

So what does that make them, low income or not? 😁

Sure, there’s definitely a segment of the population that is living paycheck to paycheck.

But for everyone else, it’s perfectly valid to say, "I hate books, museums, and science; it’s all boring, I’d rather just head to the mall and buy a bunch of cheap junk."

But if that's your vibe, why on earth do you care if your kid becomes a straight-A student, goes to a top-tier university, and becomes a PhD?

You know why—it’s pure vanity. They just want to show off. They buy the latest iPhone to flex on the neighbors, and they push their kids to get perfect grades just so they can brag to the folks next door that their little genius is so bright.

Susan Nguyen54 said:By summer, first grade feels like this massive life pivot for them. In June, they’re still basically in preschool, just playing around and singing songs. Then suddenly, by September, they have to grow up overnight. They're expected to sit at desks, stay quiet, and actually listen to the teacher.

At our local elementary school, the first graders are out on the big playground during recess with all the older kids—which is something I’d honestly ban. It's such a huge jump for them because they’re still little. Just a few months ago, they had daycare teachers watching their every move, so they aren't used to being thrown into a crowd like that without constant supervision. It leaves them feeling a bit overwhelmed or even intimidated. While they're trying to adjust to that, the schoolwork starts piling up too. I stepped in to help my daughter quite a bit during her first year.
If she hit a tough math problem, I never used phrases like, "Okay, you need to add these two numbers and then subtract that one."
Instead, I'd say, "You guys already did this in class and it wasn't hard, you know how to do it... just read it again." Then I'd just wait by her side while she worked through it until she figured it out herself. As time went on, she got way more independent. By the second half of second grade, I'd check her homework, and if there was a mistake, I’d just make a note of it so she could fix it herself. Before a big test, I'll give her some practice problems or a mock quiz to see how she's doing. She studies (I don't get those people who claim kids in grades K-4 shouldn't have to study and should just absorb everything in class). Sure, they pick up a lot during school hours, but they really need to review at home, especially for science. Once she thinks she knows it, she comes to me, and I'll tell her if she's ready or if she needs to keep going.

Going back to the whole "studying with your child" thing:

A kid needs to learn how to learn. Not be taught how to memorize a specific answer or how to recite facts like a robot.

So, here’s how I think you actually handle things when working through schoolwork with a kid:
- fighting that urge to rush—you have to read it carefully, then read it again, tackle the problem, and double-check everything before moving on.
- once the kid repeats a sentence back to you, don't just let them move on—explain what it actually means. You aren't some recording device; use your own words to make sure it clicks.

That’s the real way to sit down with a child. It shouldn't be about racing to the finish line just so you can check a box; it’s about truly grasping the material. Read for comprehension, and if something doesn't make sense, go ask the teacher, ask a parent, or look it up online.
If a word is unfamiliar, stop and ask what it means instead of just repeating it blindly without a clue.

Honestly, ever since I became a parent, I've realized why so many people walk around thinking their kids are geniuses just because they can parrot off phrases they picked up somewhere without having the slightest idea what they're actually saying. It’s such a common trap to fall into.😁

edit: sweetheart 07, I was quoting you because I actually think the way you work with your kid is great, and I didn't want you thinking I was trying to say your methods were wrong.😁

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Mar 20, 2015

urbantinker8 said:Aside from math, computer science, and physics—where the results have been pretty solid—I can’t really recall us making much of an impact in other international competitions over the last twenty years or so.🤔

I suppose someone might have to correct me there, though.🙂😬

That’s just great, because I was literally just scrolling through Facebook the other day reading about how we failed to qualify for an international coding competition for the first time ever, and the mentor's take on it was basically, "Well, it took us twenty years to completely wreck the math programs in our schools, and hey, mission accomplished."

Grading Freshmen in Students & Teens · Mar 20, 2015

feralgardener33 said:A hundred-page reading assignment for a first grader?! And parents are just expected to do the heavy lifting for them?!
Then you have people claiming kids today don't have it as hard as we did, arguing that they're "less burdened" because parts of the curriculum get cut every year (if that's the case, what on earth were we dealing with back then?)
Let me be clear: during my first four years of elementary school, I didn't do a single thing at home. Nothing. Zero. All my homework and studying happened strictly within the school walls since I was in an after-school program. Do you teachers actually grasp how little time a parent truly has with their child once school starts? If a kid is expected to spend every waking hour on academics, all other activities just fall by the wayside. It’s not right.
And what you just wrote honestly shocked me. Are you suggesting that only the "super intelligent" types—those with some supposedly advanced way of thinking—deserve straight A's? That they just got lucky at birth or happen to have highly educated parents, while everyone else is predestined to struggle with C's and B's regardless of how much effort or heart they put into their work? That's just awful.

Not quite, though. It’s more that a gifted kid will breeze through the standard elementary school curriculum without breaking a sweat, whereas if a kid struggles a bit more, the parents end up having to step in and do all the heavy lifting themselves.

The real headache comes when a kid who isn't naturally hitting those high marks also happens to have parents who aren't particularly academic themselves; they end up blaming the entire American school system instead of looking at the situation at home.

I mean, come on, we're talking about elementary school here. Anything anyone without special needs can handle—it's really just a question of what kind of grade they walk away with.

Do people complain about crazy intense coaches or how demanding a drill is if their kid just doesn't have the natural talent for soccer? I’m asking for real, because honestly, I feel like I can't make sense of anything in this crazy country anymore.