Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Waiting for Superman

Waiting for Superman is a film documentary about children in schools waiting for someone good to educate them. Often it is a dream that is never fulfilled (at least in the way people expect).

I read a book in the 1980s that might be useful in this context. It is called "Dumbing Us Down". The basic idea is that public schools mostly because of the tenure system of public Schools Teachers unions are no longer actually about a child's education. Instead it is about tenure and job security for teachers but not really education. Unfortunately, it is impossible to have job security for teachers and actually EDUCATE all the children properly as they should be. I wish this were not true but people who believe it is are interfering with the education of all public school children unfortunately. And anyone who says differently to you is lying or at the very least twisting the truth.

So, things being the way they are if you want to be educated or if you want your children to be educated either you have to pay for a really good tutor or a private school education, OR you have to educate yourself or your children or both.

Unfortunately, if you are serious about this, this is the only sure way.

The other extremely important concept within "Dumbing Us Down" is that ANYONE will learn to read and write when they are ready. If they aren't ready ever then they never will. Unless a person wants to learn they don't. Period.

So, unless as a parent you instill a playful attitude that learning is fun it won't be. If learning is not the most fun thing a person can do, then likely that person's life might be kind of awful and the  person might just be one of Jay Leno's Jaywalking allstars.

However, in the end ANYONE will learn to read, write and cipher when they are ready to given half a chance. Public schools worldwide have less than nothing to do with this fact.

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