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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Making calculus a graduation requirement and not guaranteeing a high school diploma would fix a ton of our issues
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I agree about not guaranteeing a HS diploma - we should force more kids to repeat grades as they do in France, for example.

But I am not convinced every HS grad needs calc. How about starting with the knowledge to pay taxes and killer arithmetic and algebra skills?[/quote]
Why do people always put the responsibility of taxes on the school? That’s a parenting issue (and a reading skills issue, it is incredibly easy to file unless you’re obscenely wealthy or own a business). I do not think schools should be a ”Parental Failure 101” drop off. Also, at our local high school there are two personal finance classes, and the instructors emphasize that students say they want “life skills” until it comes time to actually do the work and learn. Many kids do not care. [/quote]
+1, I guarantee you the students will not listen to Financial planning lectures.[/quote]

DP.  My kids did.  They learned a lot from those classes, in addition to my spouse and I teaching them about personal finances.[/quote]

You need to understand how many kids out there have parents who don't care about their kids' education. They send them to school and that's the end of their involvement. Many aren't even getting them to school (and that's an entirely different issue!). They aren't teaching their kids anything. That's the role of schools. I have many, many students with MIA parents. They could be incarcerated, dead, generally disinterested in their kids, living with relatives, addicted to drugs/alcohol, etc. Even the ones who aren't in these categories don't see themselves as educational role models for their kids as many never finished school. If nobody at home ever asks to see your report cards or asks about what you are learning at school, even the best student won't care about school by MS. [/quote]

I agree, but [b]not sure what this has to do with anything.[/b]  All the more reason to offer these classes at school.[/quote]

When your parents don't care, very few kids will care about school and learning. They are lost by MS. They don't give a crap about a financial literacy class. They often read far below grade level and don't hand in work. They don't attend school regularly because who would if your parents don't care and don't make you go.

[/quote]

So are you saying that because of these particular kids, classes like financial literacy shouldn't be offered?  I'm sorry, but no.  We don't pull everything down to meet the lowest possible standard.  And I would also argue that a lot of the kids you describe find school to be a lifeline, without which they would NEVER be exposed to any educational concepts at all.  Again - all the more reason to offer these classes at school.[/quote]

I never said they shouldn't be offered but it won't do them any good. They are not in class, sleeping through class, on their phones/laptops, etc. My DH teaches these students and they mostly are done with school by MS. By HS, they are years behind in reading and math. Many of them have missed 50+ days of school beginning in kindergarten. It's no wonder why they are so far behind. I teach them in kindergarten and you can often see the trajectory at age 5/6. The LEAST number of days of school my kindergarteners have missed is 14 (I have 24 students). Nearly half of them were considered chronically absent (missing 18 or more days of school) by the end of the 1st quarter. [/quote]

What is it, exactly, that you would like to see happen?[/quote]

Here is a good start:

1) Free, quality childcare from infancy for all kids whose parents work and make below certain income limits. Sliding scale after that limit.
2) Qualify food for kids in daycare-high school. The "food" the students current get is mostly total crap.
3) A much better home and parenting situation. Something similar to the resources in the Harlem Children's Zone in NYC. 
4) Paid sick leave for everyone. 
5) Paid parental leave for everyone. 
6) Free and required annual checkups for all kids (not just them getting shots at shot clinics). We are seeing a lot of issues in our 5 yr olds that should've been caught before this (vision, hearing problems, autism, speech issues, etc). If early intervention is key, early detection is needed. 
[/quote]

PP, I’m the second 20:43 poster again. First, thank you for all you do for our kids. You sound like an incredibly caring and competent teacher. Second, I agree with everything you have proposed. Wish we could make this happen - it is not too late to start! I am not familiar with the Harlem Children’s Zone but look forward to checking it out. In MoCo, we have the “Parent Encouragement Program” that teaches positive parenting skills, which are obviously a precursor to school-readiness. Some participants are highly educated, “helicopter” type parents seeking information on child development, whereas others are remanded by the Courts to attend the classes, particularly for cases involving extreme anger. I wish this program was national - it is a fantastic way to approach the long road of parenting. [/quote]

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