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Kids these days are much more competent in some areas, less so in others. It's a natural evolution to meeting what the world around them requires. And work ethic? I see plenty of kids that are hard working & honest, just like it was when I was much younger. People don't have life, or even decades long careers like in the past, but that doesn't make it wrong.
If every generation was even half as bad as the previous generation complains, then humanity would have died out millennia ago.
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They should all have to learn Russian cursive
Member
Jeezit. QED.Originally Posted by Kev Williams
More work ethic? mmm, not so much. Every sole proprietor shop owner I know can't keep an employee for more than a few days or weeks because they want to pick their own days off, can't be bothered to come in before 11am, give wares away to their friends, steal from them or just plain quit because working eats into their free time. "Internet Sensation" seems to be the most coveted job title these days...
Just some of my life observations
Moderator
It's actually pretty beautiful to look at...
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Who cares about cursive? If cursive takes X hours / year, they can learn something else with that X hours / year and be better off.
Certain things are 'nice to have', others are 'need to have'. Cursive does not meet 'need.'
Moderator
Andrew, I don't disagree with you...and "need" has changed over time. "Back in the day", folks used actual handwriting a whole lot more and writing in cursive is more efficient because the pen stays on the paper most of the time compared to when printing in upper and lowercase block letters by hand. Typwriters came along. And then (dedicated) word processors. And then personal computers with applications like Wordperfect and Microsoft Word. (and as has been mentioned, more of us are using our voices to dictate textual material now) Actually writing things out by hand is "more of a hobby" at this point relative to the general population...keyboard skills are more important. So yea...time spend learning a process that isn't really used prevalently anymore can be better spent.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
You can certainly choose a course and see where it takes you. For some years ahead there will be stubborn dumbbells who won’t hire people
who can’t do what they need done. But you will outlive most of them. And I’ve seen some really nice “will work for food signs” done in
big PRINT.
Member
I only occasionally write a check when paying a bill. I normally carry enough cash to buy groceries and gasoline.
I also will buy lumber and supplies with cash. I have no credit cards.
Member
I think you need to give yourself a lot more credit than that. I know a lot of teachers...many of them are far from experts in their fields, and when I was at Ball State University (last two years of high school), elementary education was considered a degree of last resort, and BSU is known for their Teacher’s College!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking teachers, it’s just that teaching your own children in lieu of public or private schooling is not rocket science (unless you want to teach them that...). There are LOTS of homsechooling resources and support groups/cooperatives available today.
Last edited by Jason Roehl; 06-11-2021 at 5:20 AM.
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We only have 4 legged 'kids' so I don't pay a lot of attention but from what little I've read, home schooled kids do as well or better than their public schooled peers at college/university. A concern I'd have is the social aspects, are home schooled kids able to fit in to non-scholastic activities?
Contributor
We homeschooled both of our children. Our county, in which we live by choice, has/had the second worse record in the State. They both did just fine, in all sorts of "non-scholastic" activities. They were always chosen as leaders in any groups they were involved with, such as Boy Scouts, 4H, Tutoring at Community College, or US Pony Club. Long story, but they are 32, and 39 now, quite successful, and doing what they want to do.
Spending a large part of your time, in a room with 28 other children your age, is not the ideal environment for learning to deal with the rest of the world.
edited to add: I forgot about Music, and Theater. Being involved in Theater is one of the best things you can do for a child, and if you are lucky enough to have a good community theater, it's better than any theater program in a regular school.
Last edited by Tom M King; 06-11-2021 at 8:27 AM.
Contributor
In our district the public schools embraced the home schoolers. The district sought to dual enroll those students. It had a director whose primary job was to assist the home schooled.
The parents could have their kids participate in "specials" - art, music & physical ed; as well as the extra curricular activities. The district could count the students as enrolled and receive additional per pupil monies, albeit at a reduced rate. A win-win.
Probably not by the vast majority of the el ed majors. Of the hundreds of undergrads in the program I encountered all aspired to be educators, they did not consider it to be a profession of last resort.
Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.
Contributor
My family must be blessed. Many of my grandchildren are in their last years of high school or first year of college. Some of them have part time or summer jobs even though they still live with their parents.Kids today more competent? Yes, I'll agree...
More work ethic? mmm, not so much. Every sole proprietor shop owner I know can't keep an employee for more than a few days or weeks because they want to pick their own days off, can't be bothered to come in before 11am, give wares away to their friends, steal from them or just plain quit because working eats into their free time. "Internet Sensation" seems to be the most coveted job title these days...
Just some of my life observations
The youngest grandchildren are having a different school experience with their father being stationed in Korea with the U.S. Air Force.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Seems to me this is like complaining that the vast majority of people can't do math in hexadecimal. It's simply no longer relevant.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
Moderator
I agree with this. Friends and relatives of mine that are educators are extremely dedicated and motivated folks. Unfortunately, one of the things that caused a lot of otherwise really great folks to go in a different direction than their "first love" of teaching was, frankly, extraordinarily low starting income. The profession comes with a huge amount of responsibility and stress and for some, making a more livable income overrode their desire to teach. The education world is still trying to play catch-up with resources as a result. Teaching is one of the most important jobs on the planet, IMHO, and the compensation should match that level of responsibility.
I also think that "homeschooling" is a perfectly valid path for any family that can commit to it. That word "commit" is really important. And parents who are honest with themselves about their actual ability to teach is also important. Not everyone is well suited to the task. In those cases, it's best to seek a program that bridges the desire to homeschool with the necessary resources to do best for the student(s). Fortunately, in this time of technology, there are a lot more options for that.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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