US Students Lag in Science, Math

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

word j alba ain't not plastic.. only a flip flopper

i keep shaking the monitor but i don't see them flip flopping.

[mawilson 2,133]

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. students are lagging behind their peers in other countries in science and math, test results out Tuesday show.

That's odd. Thought we had more Asians than other countries.

[mawilson 2,133]

n/0= infinity

Well, sort of. Except "infinity" is not a real number, so the real answer is:

the set of real numbers is not closed with respect to the operation of division.

(A set and an operation are closed if the inputs and the outputs of the

operation are from the same set.)

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I am always sorry to say this but...

as the former spouse of a elementary ed teacher, brother of an elementary ed teacher, nephew of a high school teacher and son of an air force instructor and as someone who is presently an instructor for the military.....

The problem with our education is.......drumroll please...........parents.

Lack of discipline at home translates into no discipline at school results in no teaching time in the classroom which means that the parents do the teaching at home via homework and the teachers parent at school via discipline.

Did you get that?

Now on the other hand, I just got back from two weeks with my fiance and her daughter. I spent more time with her daughter sort of helping her with homework than I could imagine. And her mother doesn't cut her any slack on her work. I can guarantee you that she is not a discipline problem at school and because of that, she is actually learning at school.

If you are a parent, you need to bite your tongue and let the teachers teach. If you don't like it,homeschool. And good luck there.

You are now returned to your regulare programming.

J Alba = no plastic

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework. I don't remember my parents spending that kind of time with my brothers and I on our homework and by the time I was in 7th grade, the Math I was doing was beyond what my Dad could recall.

The fact is that the school curriculum has changed. When most parents work these days combined with the high divorce rate....single parents...split households, I think it's unrealistic to send kids home with an hours worth of homework everynight if it requires parental involvement, especially for elementary school children. I would agree that ideally, parents should be involved with their kid's homework, but beyond maybe 15-30 minutes a night just doesn't work for most families, IMHO.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Mister Fancypants

[mawilson 2,133]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

[Jenn! 918]

I am always sorry to say this but...

as the former spouse of a elementary ed teacher, brother of an elementary ed teacher, nephew of a high school teacher and son of an air force instructor and as someone who is presently an instructor for the military.....

The problem with our education is.......drumroll please...........parents.

Lack of discipline at home translates into no discipline at school results in no teaching time in the classroom which means that the parents do the teaching at home via homework and the teachers parent at school via discipline.

Did you get that?

Now on the other hand, I just got back from two weeks with my fiance and her daughter. I spent more time with her daughter sort of helping her with homework than I could imagine. And her mother doesn't cut her any slack on her work. I can guarantee you that she is not a discipline problem at school and because of that, she is actually learning at school.

If you are a parent, you need to bite your tongue and let the teachers teach. If you don't like it,homeschool. And good luck there.

You are now returned to your regulare programming.

J Alba = no plastic

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework. I don't remember my parents spending that kind of time with my brothers and I on our homework and by the time I was in 7th grade, the Math I was doing was beyond what my Dad could recall.

The fact is that the school curriculum has changed. When most parents work these days combined with the high divorce rate....single parents...split households, I think it's unrealistic to send kids home with an hours worth of homework everynight if it requires parental involvement, especially for elementary school children. I would agree that ideally, parents should be involved with their kid's homework, but beyond maybe 15-30 minutes a night just doesn't work for most families, IMHO.

I think parents shouldn't be involved with homework. It's the kid's work, not the parents'. But all too often, I think for those kids who do have a lot of parental involvement in their school work, that often means that mommy is actually doing most of the assignment.

Parents need to set the rules and make sure that the child is responsible for himself and doing his work on his own. My mother *never* actually sat down and did homework with me, but it would be unacceptable in my house if I had not completed my homework every night on my own.

It's the curriculum that needs an overhaul, IMO.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

I said one hour to spend helping them with homework. Parental involvement with children at nightime goes beyond just helping with homework....things like bathing them, feeding them, etc.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I am always sorry to say this but...

as the former spouse of a elementary ed teacher, brother of an elementary ed teacher, nephew of a high school teacher and son of an air force instructor and as someone who is presently an instructor for the military.....

The problem with our education is.......drumroll please...........parents.

Lack of discipline at home translates into no discipline at school results in no teaching time in the classroom which means that the parents do the teaching at home via homework and the teachers parent at school via discipline.

Did you get that?

Now on the other hand, I just got back from two weeks with my fiance and her daughter. I spent more time with her daughter sort of helping her with homework than I could imagine. And her mother doesn't cut her any slack on her work. I can guarantee you that she is not a discipline problem at school and because of that, she is actually learning at school.

If you are a parent, you need to bite your tongue and let the teachers teach. If you don't like it,homeschool. And good luck there.

You are now returned to your regulare programming.

J Alba = no plastic

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework. I don't remember my parents spending that kind of time with my brothers and I on our homework and by the time I was in 7th grade, the Math I was doing was beyond what my Dad could recall.

The fact is that the school curriculum has changed. When most parents work these days combined with the high divorce rate....single parents...split households, I think it's unrealistic to send kids home with an hours worth of homework everynight if it requires parental involvement, especially for elementary school children. I would agree that ideally, parents should be involved with their kid's homework, but beyond maybe 15-30 minutes a night just doesn't work for most families, IMHO.

I think parents shouldn't be involved with homework. It's the kid's work, not the parents'. But all too often, I think for those kids who do have a lot of parental involvement in their school work, that often means that mommy is actually doing most of the assignment.

Parents need to set the rules and make sure that the child is responsible for himself and doing his work on his own. My mother *never* actually sat down and did homework with me, but it would be unacceptable in my house if I had not completed my homework every night on my own.

It's the curriculum that needs an overhaul, IMO.

Same with my parents. Yes. I'm not sure why the curriculum has evolved into what it is today. For example, Job (who is 6) has a journal??? The other night I just had him write in his journal, his vocabulary words, 5 times each, to practice his penmanship and to familiarize him with the words, but his mom says he's suppose to write a paragraph! It ends up where his mother and I are spelling out each word for him rather than something he can do at some level of proficiency. I don't think it's teaching him anything.

[Caladan 19]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

I think the problem isn't the time to spend with the kids, but that the school does a half-assed job of teaching and then sends the kids home to learn it from their parents. It's like all those science projects where you can tell the kids that won had mom or dad do it for them, except it's daily homework. And if the kid doesn't learn, it just must be because his parents aren't any good.

[Krikit 1,164]

I (successfully) brought up two children (who attended different schools) and homework was the bane of my existence. I was a widow who worked full time and attended college some evenings and weekends. So not only was I doing my own homework (and cooking and cleaning and and) when I got home, I was also helping my children with theirs. My children were also enrolled in programs outside of school, so we needed to schedule time for those activies too. I was never so happy as when school holidays came around. I dreaded when it was time for them to go back. The expectations and number and type of assignments sent home were outrageously unreasonable. I would say that an hour was the minimum a child in the very primary grades needed to budget on a weeknight. Anything from Grade 4 on needed 2-4 hours.... longer on weekends. This left absolutely no time for the poor kids (and Mom) to relax and be kids, and to spend quality family time together. It was a nightmare I would never want to relive.

Oh.... and I have to agree that some parents (not all) have no concept on how to raise a child to become a successful adult. Just my .02 cents.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

I think the problem isn't the time to spend with the kids, but that the school does a half-assed job of teaching and then sends the kids home to learn it from their parents. It's like all those science projects where you can tell the kids that won had mom or dad do it for them, except it's daily homework. And if the kid doesn't learn, it just must be because his parents aren't any good.

[Nessa 23]

yay a popcorn thread

[Caladan 19]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

I think the problem isn't the time to spend with the kids, but that the school does a half-assed job of teaching and then sends the kids home to learn it from their parents. It's like all those science projects where you can tell the kids that won had mom or dad do it for them, except it's daily homework. And if the kid doesn't learn, it just must be because his parents aren't any good.

Cute. But if the curriculum says that the kids are in school seven hours a day and need to do four hours of homework in first grade, that's bad curriculum design. Probably not be the fault of the teacher, who has to put up with a lot of external regulation. But if we were getting better results thirty years ago with less homework, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's just possible that the newest requirements aren't actually reasonable.

I'm not sure why we expect parents to be school teachers. We should expect them to make sure their kid does the homework, and have a quiet place to do it, but that's not at all what homework looks like.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Not every parent has an hour to spend with their child every night helping them with homework.

If you don't have one hour to spend with your child, maybe you should reconsider having children?

I think the problem isn't the time to spend with the kids, but that the school does a half-assed job of teaching and then sends the kids home to learn it from their parents. It's like all those science projects where you can tell the kids that won had mom or dad do it for them, except it's daily homework. And if the kid doesn't learn, it just must be because his parents aren't any good.

Cute. But if the curriculum says that the kids are in school seven hours a day and need to do four hours of homework in first grade, that's bad curriculum design. Probably not be the fault of the teacher, who has to put up with a lot of external regulation. But if we were getting better results thirty years ago with less homework, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's just possible that the newest requirements aren't actually reasonable.

I'm not sure why we expect parents to be school teachers. We should expect them to make sure their kid does the homework, and have a quiet place to do it, but that's not at all what homework looks like.

nor should we expect teachers to be parents, but it happens. i'm just waiting for karencee and other teachers to find this thread.

[Peikko 1,575]

Too much of a teacher's time is spent dealing with the bureaucracy created by the 'powers that be'. Too few teachers know enough about maths to teach it properly. Too often maths is made boring for kids because of the lack of skill of the teacher. It'll only get worse.