Don't cry when the kids growing up don't want your old car!!!

[flyinlow]

We tried to raise our sons correctly. Teach them right from wrong, dress them warmly and sent them to school. So when two of them chose the wrong path it was heart braking.  They own....Chevy's.  Number one son has an El Camino. Number two son has a Z28. ( I suspect this was my wife's genes)  Then there was son number three. Always helps me with my Charger, worked hard , saved his money and last year bought a '70 Charger RT.

Will they want my Charger? Probably, but I do plan on wearing it out some more before they get it.

[Ghoste]

So potentially you have two prodigal sons.  You need two more Chargers for the day they come to their senses.

[Mike DC]

I couldn't agree more... people these days rely too much on technology.  My niece is 9 and the school system is thinking of removing cursive writing from the curriculum and introducing tablets.  I understand that you have to move with technology, hell, i'm in IT, but to take away cursive writing?  Another thing, I've finally got her better at her multiplication, but her teacher said they use calculators! We won't even talk about 11 year olds requiring a smart phone.  Society has definitely become hyper-PC to the point where its affecting social growth and raising kids that are unwilling/unable to take risks/a chance/speak their mind.

I would be in favor of getting rid of cursive writing and using calculators.  It's a different world than it was a few generations ago.  

Its not about whether or not cursive & longhand math are useful - they are.  But so is learning how to work a slide rule or how to wash clothes on a manual washboard.  It takes a pretty serious amount of time/effort at important ages to be really good at cursive and longhand math.  It's 2013.  I just don't think those skills should be as much of a priority as they once were.    

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The education system wants to deal with the shifting demands of modern life by perpetually piling on more stuff for the kids to learn, without ever really trimming anything back.  Then the system complains that they don't have kids in school for enough hours & days of the year.  This cycle needs to stop.  

[ws23rt]

I couldn't agree more... people these days rely too much on technology.  My niece is 9 and the school system is thinking of removing cursive writing from the curriculum and introducing tablets.  I understand that you have to move with technology, hell, i'm in IT, but to take away cursive writing?  Another thing, I've finally got her better at her multiplication, but her teacher said they use calculators! We won't even talk about 11 year olds requiring a smart phone.  Society has definitely become hyper-PC to the point where its affecting social growth and raising kids that are unwilling/unable to take risks/a chance/speak their mind.

I would be in favor of getting rid of cursive writing and using calculators.  It's a different world than it was a few generations ago.  

Its not about whether or not cursive & longhand math are useful - they are.  But so is learning how to work a slide rule or how to wash clothes on a manual washboard.  It takes a pretty serious amount of time/effort at important ages to be really good at cursive and longhand math.  It's 2013.  I just don't think those skills should be as much of a priority as they once were.    

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The education system wants to deal with the shifting demands of modern life by perpetually piling on more stuff for the kids to learn, without ever really trimming anything back.  Then the system complains that they don't have kids in school for enough hours & days of the year.  This cycle needs to stop.  

Great point.  The education system should be constantly adjusting to our changing world. (after all isn't that what it's for?)

I recall just getting the hang of using a slide rule but never got a chance to use it in the work place.  And since then I have needed a calculator because in what I do a mistake in the math in not acceptable. A math test score of 95% was a good score in class but what it really meant was 5% was wrong.  I still do much of the math in my head but check with the calculator for the paycheck.

[RoscoePColtrain]

I see where you are coming from, but I feel its important for kids to know their multiplication by memory (X1-12, not 1-20 like in India).  I asked a few of my younger cousins simple questions like when we're out for lunch; how much is 15% of the bill?  Now I wasn't looking for the exact decimal amount, but an approximation (its good to be in the know,... coz knowing it half the battle ).

I agree that education must evolve with changing times, but the foundations should be there, keeps a kid sharp.

[Mike DC]

  
Exposure to multiplication tables are fine.  I'm not advocating NOT teaching any of this stuff.  (well, maybe long division could go.)  

I just think these things are overweighted in today's world.  Some exposure would be good.  But kids don't just get "exposure", they get flunked for failing to be better at this stuff than most grown adults are.  

When I was in some of the higher grades of math classes they still didn't let us use calculators.  They called that "keeping in practice".  I think it was unnecessarily wasting the finite amount of time & effort that kids can give any single subject.

[RECHRGD]

I remember years ago taking a test for a state electrical contractor license.  Half of the people were taking the test using the, then new, trade specific calculators to figure out voltage drop and such.  When the state caught on, they required people to show their calculations.  I wonder if they still do though.

[Ghoste]

Not teach basics?  What happens when batteries die?  I've already had to instruct teens how to make change in stores when the computerized couldn't tell them.

[bull]

But kids don't just get "exposure", they get flunked for failing to be better at this stuff than most grown adults are.  

Kids don't get flunked in any of the public schools my kids have been associated with. These days it's participation trophies all around and the lazy trouble-makers are rewarded as much or more than the kids that work hard.

[nvrbdn]

kids around here that dont want to achieve are sent to disney world....... oops, i mean "alternative school'. where as long as they show up and  dont cause trouble and put the least amount of effort into it recieve very good grades and graduate.they even have foosball tables and ping pong tables. break times through the day to use this stuff.

[Mike DC]

  
Whether the ENTIRE school experience is too easy is a different debate.  I'm just talking about how various subjects are weighted in importance.


In my opinion the school experience today isn't necessarily too easy, it's just not requiring the learning.  That isn't the same thing.  Lots of kids can come out of an economics course with an A-grade and they still couldn't actually explain to you why printing more money won't make everyone richer.  But they sure did a lot of homework all semester to keep them busy.  Meanwhile another kid might understand what was being taught but still get a 30% in the class because their bad homework grade far outweighed the testing grade.  This isn't making kids learn the subject so much as grading them on playing ball with the system.   

[ws23rt]

 
Whether the ENTIRE school experience is too easy is a different debate.  I'm just talking about how various subjects are weighted in importance.


In my opinion the school experience today isn't necessarily too easy, it's just not requiring the learning.  That isn't the same thing.  Lots of kids can come out of an economics course with an A-grade and they still couldn't actually explain to you why printing more money won't make everyone richer.  But they sure did a lot of homework all semester to keep them busy.  Meanwhile another kid might understand what was being taught but still get a 30% in the class because their bad homework grade far outweighed the testing grade.  This isn't making kids learn the subject so much as grading them on playing ball with the system.   

[JB400]

Unfortunately, I think it's going to get to the point to where the parents are going to have to teach their kids what they need to know, if it's not at that point already.  My schools were just starting a 5 star program from the state when I was in.  The program determined the progress of the schools in the state standardized test.  Better the school progress, the more state/ fed money that was given to further progress the school.

While I was a senior, I had a discussion with one of my freshman teachers.  She was complaining she was having to reteach her students what they should have learned in 8th grade.  What happened in 3 years since I was in Middle School, I have no idea.  But, 10 years later, I had a relative that graduated school and he can't give you change for a dollar. 

[Old Moparz]

Kids in public schools do actually fail & get left back just like they they did years ago. My daughter is in the public school system here. She's in 9th grade & in her Geometry class is an older kid who is a senior that should have graduated, but didn't. Maybe the percentage of kids who should technically fail but get pushed through the system is higher than it should be, but there are still a number that don't. Others simply drop out instead of "failing" school. Which is another topic, the drop out rate that in some districts has increased over the years.

 
Whether the ENTIRE school experience is too easy is a different debate.  I'm just talking about how various subjects are weighted in importance.


In my opinion the school experience today isn't necessarily too easy, it's just not requiring the learning.  That isn't the same thing.  Lots of kids can come out of an economics course with an A-grade and they still couldn't actually explain to you why printing more money won't make everyone richer.  But they sure did a lot of homework all semester to keep them busy.  Meanwhile another kid might understand what was being taught but still get a 30% in the class because their bad homework grade far outweighed the testing grade.  This isn't making kids learn the subject so much as grading them on playing ball with the system.   

Good point.   

My Dad took Latin when he was a kid & thankfully that was stopped being taught decades ago. I can't think of why the hell that was dragged on so much longer than necessary except for the lame excuse of, "It was always taught so it still needs to be taught." Antiquated mentality should never be part of a system that needs to advance.

When I was in high school I took mechanical drawing & went on to major in architecture at college. Back then, CAD was new & just starting to be used by the larger companies. Most of the drafting was done by hand & I did that for years. In the early 90's it was starting to become a huge part of of the trade & I did it for a while until the company I was at was sold, consolidated & we were all let go. High schools now teach CAD so hand drafting went the same route as teaching Latin.