The Singapore Forum

I'm also trying to find Race to Nowhere. Finally saw Waiting for Superman and thought they'd done a good job of it (with a few caveats) - it's become such a politically heated debate. I hope the ultimate goal of public education doesn't get dragged under by crappy politicking. But we're talking about the US. What isn't dragged under by crappy politicking?

Lili Von Shtupp wrote:But we're talking about the US. What isn't dragged under by crappy politicking?

Too true.

After watching "Waiting for Superman" I really was left wondering what the point of the teachers' unions really is. To not even allow the teachers' union members in the Washington D.C. school district to vote on whether or not they want to change the system to allow for merit-based pay tells me the union is more concerned with keeping all members paying dues over rewarding excellence in job performance. I just don't get it.

For all too long I cursed teachers unions as representing a very antiquated way of thinking... their power in most places has been almost totally stripped however instead of having a Ken Robertson style approach to education, you increasingly have old politicians recounting 'in my day stories', and telling us why we need to base everything on standardized testing, coupled with bean counters who strip away everything from schools that doesnt directly deal with subjects that can be easily bench marked. The net result is a system that doesnt work and is going to be worse long before any improvements are made.

Personally I have exposed my kids to lots of courses - some they loved, some they didnt. I want them to speak mandarin, I want them to play a musical instrument - outside of that, its up to them. The 6 year old loves to dance and paint so thats what she does. Fortunately she is smart enough and can do the other subjects quite well. (She uses my old Iphone 3gs and speaks to me on whatsapp - its a great teacher for making her want to write). The 4 year old loves dancing - for now that will do. I am trying to take my moms approach to give space to grow. Thats sometimes a challenge - especially for kiasu wife but the two appoaches seem good for now.

Fantastic thread, need to sit down and read it properly, then go buy the books and think alot.

MsA1 is off to school in just over ONE year and MsA2 the following year. My babies! I always thought I had lots of time up my sleeve to work out what sort of education I wanted for her, not just the school but how to encourage her best in all things. We do that to a certain extent but I definately need to up the ante on issues you have touched on here ASAP.

One of the reasons for heading back to Godzone was to give the kids a real lifestyle opportunity, to be able to run and play and be with animals and I suppose to have much of the childhood I had. We have achieved this so far and I know the girls are much more outgoing and adventurous than they were in Sinagpore, they stretch themselves in ways that suprise us all, including them! We are running a freerange farm - pigs, hens, sheep, calves (soon). Cleo runs our hens, collects eggs everyday, monitors the hens on eggs. Ava puts halters on the horses and leads them around, she really loves them. They both love to garden. Being brought up in a horsey/animal environment might not mean they want the same lifestyle as they get older and it is something I am happy to accept, I cant control how they want to live their lives moving forward but can give them the best base I can to move forward, including education.

PS Possum and I have been told we are mildly ADHD lol, I was ghastly at school, not surprised really.

homeschooling is the entry ticket to a life of mediocrity... you damn spamming maggot.