When did school become so much work for parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually don't think a lot of the bullshit projects do add to the educational experience. Kids in China, Romania, elsewhere grow up to be theoretical mathematicians, physicists -- all without dressing up like their favorite historical figure, acting out a math facts song, having a pep rally for the SOL's. This stuff is an outgrowth of weird, trendy fads in education in this country and parents with too much time on their hands.
And I have older kids and I absolutely do NOT wish I had been at every party, every field trip, etc. My kids are at top-rated private colleges because I was able to earn the money to send them there. THat's what I value -- not someone acting out a play, gluing more things on construction paper, etc.
Part of the reason I didn't make volunteering a priority is because there truly is no correlation between bullshit projects and how your kids do on the standardized tests and how highly the school is rating. Greatschools.net is actually correlated with household income -- Schools where parents are wealthy, can afford tutors and extra-curriculars, where learning disabilities get diagnosed and treated, where everybody gets fed before they go to school, where kids have the stability of knowing they're not going to end up homeless tend to end up with high test scores. THe bullshit projects don't cause the high ratings or the test scores, and neither does the parental involvement. THe parental resources cause these things, and there also happen to be a lot of bullshit projects.

Kids in ihre countries succeed in schools partly because there is no such bullshit as trying to equalize the schools by mixing together poor performing and well performing kids. Here schools need a lot more resources to cater to so many different needs.

I'm Asian-American. I am so grateful to have grown up in this great nation called America. I had a well rounded childhood and was able to attend wonderful ivy league universities without having to study 16 hours per day. I am so happy that my children find joy in doing this fun creative projects with our family instead of just studying all the time. My relatives recently visited us from Korea and my nieces and nephews attend MULTIPLE after school study programs after being in school all day. I'm thankful that my children don't endure that and felt guilty that I thought an hour of homework for an elementary aged child was too much.