3 ms·

I wholeheartedly agree, and came out so disillusioned with the public education system that I'm struggling to decide what the right answer will be for my childr

I wholeheartedly agree, and came out so disillusioned with the public education system that I'm struggling to decide what the right answer will be for my children. I understand that many kids are not this way, but I was the type that read physics textbooks while in elementary school. We had a mentorship program that paired kids with someone from two grades above (e.g. 1st graders with 3rd graders). My reading level was always higher than my mentors' and it made me furious (and probably insufferable). I feel like my entire time in school was spent getting it out of the way so I could study things that genuinely interested me. I would love for my children to not feel that same constraint, but instead feel free to go deeper at their own pace. I'd recommend this talk by Sir Ken Robinson on this topic generally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

bamboozled 6y ago
Have you considered this is a problem that's pretty specific to you and what while your experience might suck. It also sucks for kids who can't read well, period. I think while schooling is far from ideal, most kids aren't reading physics books in elementary school. Many kids are struggling to cope on several different fronts.
- TomMarius 6y ago
  Have you considered that the psychological effects on said children are not ignorable even if there is only a small minority of them?
  - bamboozled 6y ago
    Sure, I'm saying that it goes both ways.
    - TomMarius 6y ago
      I think everyone in this discussion recognizes that and in no way has tried to suggest anything different. Here we are talking about the unusual children and their (different from most others AND each other) needs.
koenneker 6y ago
Have you looked into Montessori schools[1]? I had the great pleasure of visiting a school based on that model and it allowed a lot of flexibility for students. In my instance there were 4+ hours of "Free-work" blocks everyday, where we could work on whatever we wanted, we just had to make sure we finished certain (personalised) workloads by the end of the week. Pacing and what we wanted to do with our time if we finished early was up to us as a student and we could work on more advanced topics. Students were also encouraged to ask older members of the mixed age class if we got stuck, which made most students quite good at explaining topics to each other while giving older or more advanced students something to do if they didn't want to advance further in their own studies. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education
- jkhdigital 6y ago
  Sudbury schools are even better. Unfortunately there are very few such schools in the world so you just have to get lucky and live near one, or start your own.
jkhdigital 6y ago
Do you have children yet? My son is 6 so I am right in the middle of this process. My wife does not share my point of view (different culture, different educational attainment) which makes it even more difficult. If I could clone myself I would just homeschool, but that’s not possible so it increasingly feels like I have no choice but to be an accomplice in the crime of sucking the creativity and curiosity out of my son by sending him to public schools.
- achenatx 6y ago
  home schooling comes in many forms. Some are groups of people that get together and rotate duties. Some are groups that hire specialist teachers. There are charter schools, magnet schools, and academically focused private schools. Ultimately though if your child is too gifted you will need private tutors. You dont need the tutors all day and you can supplement with other more cost effective methods as above. My city even has a school for girls that are preparing to compete in non academic subjects and that want to practice for half the day. Academics are only half day and then they do whatever their passion is for the rest of the day.

bamboozled 6y ago

Have you considered this is a problem that's pretty specific to you and what while your experience might suck. It also sucks for kids who can't read well, period. I think while schooling is far from ideal, most kids aren't reading physics books in elementary school. Many kids are struggling to cope on several different fronts.

TomMarius 6y ago
Have you considered that the psychological effects on said children are not ignorable even if there is only a small minority of them?
- bamboozled 6y ago
  Sure, I'm saying that it goes both ways.
  - TomMarius 6y ago
    I think everyone in this discussion recognizes that and in no way has tried to suggest anything different. Here we are talking about the unusual children and their (different from most others AND each other) needs.

koenneker 6y ago

Have you looked into Montessori schools[1]? I had the great pleasure of visiting a school based on that model and it allowed a lot of flexibility for students. In my instance there were 4+ hours of "Free-work" blocks everyday, where we could work on whatever we wanted, we just had to make sure we finished certain (personalised) workloads by the end of the week. Pacing and what we wanted to do with our time if we finished early was up to us as a student and we could work on more advanced topics. Students were also encouraged to ask older members of the mixed age class if we got stuck, which made most students quite good at explaining topics to each other while giving older or more advanced students something to do if they didn't want to advance further in their own studies. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education

jkhdigital 6y ago
Sudbury schools are even better. Unfortunately there are very few such schools in the world so you just have to get lucky and live near one, or start your own.

jkhdigital 6y ago

Do you have children yet? My son is 6 so I am right in the middle of this process. My wife does not share my point of view (different culture, different educational attainment) which makes it even more difficult. If I could clone myself I would just homeschool, but that’s not possible so it increasingly feels like I have no choice but to be an accomplice in the crime of sucking the creativity and curiosity out of my son by sending him to public schools.

achenatx 6y ago
home schooling comes in many forms. Some are groups of people that get together and rotate duties. Some are groups that hire specialist teachers. There are charter schools, magnet schools, and academically focused private schools. Ultimately though if your child is too gifted you will need private tutors. You dont need the tutors all day and you can supplement with other more cost effective methods as above. My city even has a school for girls that are preparing to compete in non academic subjects and that want to practice for half the day. Academics are only half day and then they do whatever their passion is for the rest of the day.