I was reading today about what wonderful plans this administration has for the public education in our nation (lengthening the school day, all year schooling, etc.). I happened upon a wonderful blog by an articulate homeschooling mom who referenced the author/teacher John Taylor Gatto and his current book; The Underground History of American Education.

That led me to find his book able to be read on line as well as several Youtube videos with him being interviewed. My journey then took me to the video below which is an interview with Charlotte Iserbyt, Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the Reagen Administration. She is the author of The Deliberate Dumbing Down of the America, which can also be read online. I wanted to share with you this information to impress upon all of our hearts the importance of covering our children with prayer and being the most important godly influence in their lives. Jesus bless, Kaz

Here is the blog:
http://yedies.blogspot.com/2009/03/john-taylor-gatto-open-source-learning.html

Here is Mr. Gatto's book:
The Underground History of American Education
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm

Here is Charlotte Iserbyt's book and video:
Charlotte Iserbyt - Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/pages/pdf_downloads.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtYy2I0M&feature=related

Although I can't view the video and don't have the time to read the articles/books, I will say what I have experienced. I agree that we are "dumbing down" America. As a former public school teacher, I couldn't believe how little my students knew when they reached me. As a teacher of 9th grade English, I was having to cover parts of speech for 6 weeks to even get to what I wanted to be able to teach! I'm sorry, but parts of speech is something that my 1st grader was starting to learn this past year and my 3rd grader knows.

Although I can't view the video and don't have the time to read the articles/books, I will say what I have experienced. I agree that we are "dumbing down" America. As a former public school teacher, I couldn't believe how little my students knew when they reached me. As a teacher of 9th grade English, I was having to cover parts of speech for 6 weeks to even get to what I wanted to be able to teach! I'm sorry, but parts of speech is something that my 1st grader was starting to learn this past year and my 3rd grader knows.

Darcy - that's very telling. I haven't read the books either only have had time to listen to a few interviews and read the woman's blog. I wonder why homeschooling is even allowed. I suppose the ratio of hs to ps isn't a threat...yet.

Shouldn't be this hard, huh? I do believe we battle not against flesh and blood. Need to put on the armor and stand strong in the Lord.

You have 7 girls!!!! Rock on - what a great time! :clapping:

Jesus bless,
Kaz

Here's the article about extending the school day and number of months:

U.S. Schools Chief Says Kids Need More Class Time
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/04/07/260838coduncanmoreschooldays_ap.html

Well, since my kids are not in public school, but are homeschooled, I will just give my opinion....I agree that American kids are having a hard time competing with other countries when it comes to education. American kids have been "dumbed down", and more and more behaviors are tolerated in the public school system than used to be. Will longer school days/weeks/months help? I'm not sure, but I know a lot of kids get bored during the summer months and would probably benefit from going to school more. Don't they say that the first six weeks of a new school year is spent reviewing what they learned the last six weeks of the previous year? I remember being bored during the summer and my older girls were always bored too. They couldn't wait to get back to school!! I wouldn't want my kids going to school 6 days a week, but going year round would not bother me much. They get time off every 8 weeks or so, I believe. Like I said, this is JMO. :)

I'm not sure, but I know a lot of kids get bored during the summer months and would probably benefit from going to school more. Don't they say that the first six weeks of a new school year is spent reviewing what they learned the last six weeks of the previous year? I remember being bored during the summer and my older girls were always bored too. They couldn't wait to get back to school!! I wouldn't want my kids going to school 6 days a week, but going year round would not bother me much. They get time off every 8 weeks or so, I believe. Like I said, this is JMO. :)

Yes, the first 6 weeks (at least) are spent reviewing (reteaching) what they learned the previous year. I agree that year round schooling is more beneficial to the students, but I think there needs to be a change for kids to be able to move forward when they are academically ready and not after a "year".

Yes, the first 6 weeks (at least) are spent reviewing (reteaching) what they learned the previous year. I agree that year round schooling is more beneficial to the students, but I think there needs to be a change for kids to be able to move forward when they are academically ready and not after a "year".

I totally agree with you Darcy!! I remember a kid in my elementary school who was really a loner and he barely knew how to read and write. They kept passing him along because the teachers didn't want to "deal" with him. :( I sometimes wonder whatever became of him. We moved to a different state, so I lost track of him.

I had two students (brothers) who I ended up having for four years in Freshmen English. After I failed them the second time, I went to talk to the middle school. They told me that they were tired of their behavior so they passed them so they didn't have to deal with them anymore. Needless to say, I was a little upset. In my mind, they did those boys a great disservice!

Gatto has an even newer book out called Weapons of Mass Instruction- rather provocative title, eh? Gatto was in our town speaking a few years ago, and "antagonized" a few of the public school teachers in the audience. They were quite put off by his remarks. Yet he taught in NY public schools for years, was named Teacher of the Year several times, and earned other honors! He knew what he was talking about!

I have also heard rumors of mandatory 4-year old kindergarten. Some districts in our state are just starting to offer that as an option. Many moms I've talked with say it's just "babysitting" - an opportunity for working parents to get "free" daycare.

In fact, our state offers full day kindergarten, as an option, but the push is to get ALL children in ALL day. They hype it by saying things like "Don't let your child fall behind his peers."

Ironically, at present, kindergarten is not mandatory in our state at all! Students "between the ages of 6 and 18" are required to be schooled. But hardly anybody knows that, and the fear factor is used again - if you don't enroll your child in Kindergarten, they will be WAY behind their peers by age 6. All that will end soon, as our newly elected school superintendant (NEA puppet) is pushing for required all day 5-year old Kindergarten. They just want to mold and shape them sooner. Unfortunately, the molding and shaping tools concentrate too much on self-esteem and making kids "feel good," and less on academics and hard work.

...and "scary." What a reminder that the goal in public education is to "challenge" the children to think differently than what they are taught at home. And the fellow she mentioned that could change a child's love for God and country into an atheist... there are too many of those kinds of teachers out there.

Now our "commander-in-chief" has stated the America is not a Christian nation. I'm sure that's going to "hiccup" all throught our nation's public education system as these teachers repeat that declaration in their classrooms. :(

Now our "commander-in-chief" has stated the America is not a Christian nation. I'm sure that's going to "hiccup" all throught our nation's public education system as these teachers repeat that declaration in their classrooms. :( :mad: We really need to pray! :praying:

Now our "commander-in-chief" has stated the America is not a Christian nation. I'm sure that's going to "hiccup" all throught our nation's public education system as these teachers repeat that declaration in their classrooms. :(

I agree Luv4kids....our country needs all of our prayers now!!

:praying::praying::praying:

I agree! pray!

Sorry to say I have not read every post here but this thread intrigues me and I'll add a few opinions of my own:

I can recall here in Ohio that when the first Ohio Graduation test was given the 'passing' score was a 40%:yikes:

That alarms me. The question is where are we falling short?

In my opinion after teaching for 30 years, we are not enabling children to really learn (facts, rules, procedures, whatever) but instead are teaching them to 'get by' by teaching to standardized testing that is inadequate and irrelevant.

Check a series of math texts and you will find the same topics being taught each year....alg I, geometry, alg II, precalculus.

We bombard students with a bunch of topics presented superficially rather than limiting our curriculum and teaching the depth of the topic.

American education needs revamping.....more time in the school day and/or year is needed ,I feel. There are so many distractions in the school day, and having 3 months off isn't working anymore (if it ever did). BUT more time to do the same old thing over a longer period will not result in the improvement we need.

American education needs revamping.....more time in the school day and/or year is needed ,I feel. There are so many distractions in the school day, and having 3 months off isn't working anymore (if it ever did). BUT more time to do the same old thing over a longer period will not result in the improvement we need.

So you are suggesting the system have our children for more than 7-8 hours 5 days a week???? My neighbor kids get on the bus at 8 a.m. and don't get home until 3:45 p.m. Then they have after school activities. They're never home, never with siblings or family, as it is!!

In Japan, there are privately owned and managed "after-schools" where parents can enroll (and pay for) their children to get extra help as needed. They are competitive (i.e., if they don't produce, they lose enrollment and thus lose money), highly effective, and optional (as opposed to forced). That is what we need in the U.S. - certainly not more of the educational mediocrity the government is providing.

Begging your pardon, but the family, not the school, is the foundational unit of our society. We need to strengthen and support families first. Not through government intervention, but through churches, faith-based organizations (think of Focus on the Family, for example), and private educational options (homeschooling, private schools).

The system is flawed, by its very nature. I know there are some very good, conscientious teachers (even Christian) in that system, but they can do only so much. We would have to do a complete overhaul of the system, but teachers' unions and the federal government would never allow that much parental control.

IMO, the answer is to choose other options over government schooling . . . while you still can. If our current administration has its way, soon we will have no choice at all.

I think there are many factors here. As all students have different needs, one set arrangement of time, courses, expectations, or whatever can never be what is best for all.

Our students' school day here is less than 7 hours, and some get 'early release' at the end of the day as juniors/seniors if they have their credits up to date. Granted there are those students to whom the school is the only stable factor in their lives and the more time they are out of school the more opportunity there is for them to make bad choices in the use of their time.

Others however, especially advanced students, cannot fit all the college prep courses they need into a daily schedule because of conflicts in scheduling (for example: AP Calculus is only offered opposite Orchestra). These students are punished by the system.

There has to be a way to accommodate the needs and desires of all students. As I said before, restricting the curriculum to a narrower range and going more deeply into each makes more sense to me. That might make it feasible to actually shorten the school day for a certain population.

I still feel that our school year based on the old agrarian schedule (to let kids work on the farms in the summers) is woefully outdated. My ideal school year would be divided into quarters with a couple weeks vacation time between each.

Too much of our current school year is taken up by reviewing the first 6-weeks to recall last year's material, and then recapping the last couple weeks in the hopes the students will retain more over the long summer. Repition in courses is necessary because retention is weak.

The bottom line is that those in government have very little clue as to what is actually happening in our nation's classrooms. Changing lengths of school years and/or school days by themselves is not the answer. Perhaps reorganizing the school day instead of lengthening it would be a better answer. All I know is that our system needs an overhaul. And if we rely on our own 'worldly wisdom' to attempt a solution, it will surely fail.

1 Corinthians 3:19 "The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight."

I agree that your education system needs to be completely changed

I'm new to the site, but thought I'd chime in here. This is a topic that is passionate for me. So passionate that I chose homeschooling. I cannot fathom sending my children off for 8 hours a day when so much of that day is wasted (poor teachers have to deal with 30+ children in the classroom-all of different abilities and behavioral needs-for very little pay, where are our tax $$ going?)!
By the time children get home in the evening there are all the (as pp mentioned) extra-curricular activities and then homework. Where is the family time? I'm not saying everyone should homeschool (for me it was a calling-and God had to start early so I would have time to come to grips with it ;) ) but I certainly don't think the school should have more time with them...the time they have should be used more wisely. Isn't it quality, not quantity?

I don't think that year round school would be harmful per se, but I believe that all the schools in one district should be on the same schedule. I know of families in another state that have kids off at different times! How hard that must be to schedule family vacations and such! :whatwacko:

One more thing: I've heard, but don't have any articles to back it up, that in Asia (Japan I think) they have a higher depression/suicide rate among children! Is this related to their heavy school schedule? As I said, I've heard that...if anyone knows how to find that information I'd love to read it! :)