Do you leave your child....?

Question

Do you leave your child's education up to the school system? Why or why not? Do you educate your child after school? What did your child know before kindergarten? Please be honest! Thank you in advance for the responses!

Answer 1

You cannot leave your childs educaton up to the school system alone. My child attends a great school district but when she is having trouble with something the teacher cannot ignore the other 15 kids in the class to help her. I stay in contact with her teacher on a weekly sometimes daily basis through e-mail so that I know exactly how she is doing and what she needs help in. We do homework together after school plus we do flashcards and other educational games. Yes it is hard and a lot of work but that is why I chose to be an at home mom! We need to start realizing that it is not other peoples jobs to raise our children, only we can raise them with the values we want them to have. Sorry if I am rambaling but my husband and I both had working mothers and feel very strongly that if they were at home we would have turned out better.

Answer 2

When my oldest son went to kindergarten, he could spell his name and write about 100 words and he was a great reader. He also was very good at math and was doing it at about a grade 2 level. My youngest wouldn't even learn the alphabet and couldn't read even though he had as much attention and exposure to books.

I am very opposed to scheduling every minute of a child's day. I'm a big believer in play and socialization so mainly, the school work my guys did was in school but my husband and I are voracious readers and course takers. I think our love of learning really rubbed off on our boys and they always chose to go to language classes "for fun" and go to computer or history camp.

I've had arguments with teachers who gave my boys too much homework because I don't think learning should turn into a bad thing and when my youngest son was diagnosed with a severe motor skills problem and the school wanted him to practice writing for an hour a night, I refused. 5 years later, he's in his first year of high school and he can work a keyboard faster than anyone I know. He's written a number of short stories and has a love of writing and language that I doubt he would have developed if I would have made him spend an hour a night getting the loops on his letters just right.
:-)

Answer 3

I think if you leave your child's education up to the school system, then you are failing your child as a parent. Yes, school is a wonderful avenue for learning but should not be the only resource a child has. My daughter knew everything on her pre-k screening (letters, numbers, counting) because we had always worked with her. From the time she could hold her head up, my family has read to her and taken her with us when we do things. To me, the things you learn from life experiences help to solidify the concepts learned in school.

Answer 4

My mother is a retired teacher and she has been my daughter's primary child care since day 1. Because my mom knew what the school system in our town was like, she started teaching her early. They bad part about it was that she basically had been through kindergarten before she got there and was a little bored in class. She knew all her letters and sounds, and how to sound out a word when she was reading. She knew numbers to 100 and could add and subtract numbers through 20. She also knew all of the colors and how to write their names.

Answer 5

hey hun....well i put my little girl in pre k...because she was really shy and i knew she needed the social experience to help her through kindergarten..she knew some of her ABC's and her numbers up to 25 before she ever went to school and could write her name when she finished pre k! talk about surprised! I was lol...now that she's in kindergarten we usually read 3 books a day cause she just absolutely loves em' and we do what little home work she has...sadly i have to say i don't agree with leaving her education entirely up to the school because when i went to school the majority ruled and if you were one of the few that didn't understand what the teacher was talking about you pretty much got left in the dust....and by helping your kid learn at home you spending more quality time with them and learn new things together :)....love daisy

Answer 6

my oldest hasn't been to kindergarden yet (shes only 4 - starts next year) but she already knows her ABC's, she can count to 50 (has a little trouble going from like 29 to 30, 39 to 40...etc) knows more colors than I do, she knows more spanish than I do (thank you Dora and Sesame Street) and she wants to learn how to read, so we are working with her on that. She is also learning simple math, and earning and saving skills (we have a simple allowance set up for her). We are also going to be sending her to a Parochial school near us because it is better than the public schools (kids learn at their own pace rather than at the same sped as everyone else - for instance, there are some kids in the 7th grade that are doing 9th grade work) The classes are much smaller than public schools (11 kids in kindergarden and first grade combined) and everyone goes to our church as well, so we know all the teachers and the principal.

Answer 7

my father taught me to read and made every day a learning experience. he taught me to wonder, to explore, to study. bought me a good little microscope when i was about 6. both parents read to me pretty much every day.
school, i believe, is more for socialization. it teaches people how to follow rules, obey authority, complete tasks, and get along with older and younger people. if a person doesn't have an interest in learning given to them by their parents before they get to school, they will not really gain knowledge.
even now i ask my daughters (4 of them, grown) what do you think of this? what if... that? and they are all thoughtful and successful young ladies. 3 of them each had at least a couple years of home school, one went all the way through public school and is now starting college.

Answer 8

my lil boy is 4 he knows numbers can count to 50 spell his name and can say his abcs he can read certain lil story books i have taught him hell im not leaving it up to a perfect stranger to educate my son ive seen some of tthe kids ingrade school im raising my lil brother and i taught him to read spell at an early ageand hes in 5th grade and hes got a reading level of an 8th grader were some kids can barely read no parents should start teaching at home and help with home work it shouldnt be all on the teacher

Answer 9

As a parent you should be involved with your child's education.
Some parents today think it is the schools job to do all the work, There is homework and assignments that parents need to assist their child in. You also need to assure that your child understands the work given to him.
You show intrest and give them good study habits, your child will see this and will try harder.

Answer 10

I teach my two boys at home. My 7 year old is reading, and my 11 year old is ahead of public school, because I actually take the time to make sure my boys understand, and have their lessons down. It's a team effort in our family. My husband, and my 18 year old daughter help teach them too. It works so well for us.