Demand TEXTBOOKS!

Where are your child's text books?

 

After 5 years my son is in the 4th grade and has not yet been assigned a text book that he is allowed to take home and study. Nor has he been assigned any homework that asks him to employ it.

 

Our children are sent home with a bunch of photocopied pages (normally 2-4 pages) and asked to fill out the form and turn it in? This is called homework.

 

None of the homework is an apparent follow up on any class work not that can be proven easily that is. It’s just more or less random testing styles photo copies of workbook pages. The instructions simply ask them to read a paragraph or more then answer questions. The teachers all but tell the students where to find the answers in the text.

 

Sounds great or even normal except our children are not being taught to think independently. They are not taught the formulas that help them to see something and draw their own conclusions nor do they discuss how or why they come to said conclusions. Instead students are being taught to memorize with complete phrases tricks like “skimming” in absence of reading comprehension.  Readers who love reading are developed through discussion and understanding goes beyond simple recognition of words but rather a deeper appreciation of the story. Our students are being read to, and then asked to copy verbatim recomposed reports to hang on the walls of the school.

 

Every report is the same with the difference of the individual handwriting of each child. We ask that you look closely at not only your child’s work but compare it to the others and you will see that it is a carbon copy. A simply exorcise that teaches them little if anything.

 

Speaking of which, has no one notice that our children are no longer taught to write in cursive? When asked we are told that the budget won’t allow it. Can someone explain why there isn’t enough money in the budget for the basics of education and no real noise has been made? This has the demeaning mentality of a welfare office or any other institutionalizing program. Little intellect is expected, required, desired, or developed from our children and little is given. Soon after the elementary the level education drops substantially and the dropout rate increases. Our children soon realize that they cannot keep up based on the limited range of education they were taught.

 

The absence of the social studies a science program of substance, or at the very least, the simple teaching of penmanship places the quality of education of our children below the minimum standards. Elementary schools are meant to provide a standard of foundational education that propels the student forward to build on more complicated formulas of learning. However with so many of the basics being ignored or completely left out too much of the focus is placed on English and math course forgoing a more well rounded and/or balanced education.

 

Who checks your child’s work? My son's class checks its own homework. The teacher gives them each, someone Else's homework, then calls out the answers to be checked by the students (sort of an honor system) she then tallies the scores and passes the homework back. They have no idea what problems your child may or not be having because they never check the work. How is this possible?

 

Every year we are asked to buy a book bag (backpack) and a notebook but NEVER has either been used for its intended purpose. We bought book bags for our children to carry books not notes. Ask your teacher to send home textbooks.

 

We as parents have to demand that the schools start employing text books and if we are asked to BUY book bags and notebooks we must insist that the schools take the initiative and responsibility to fill the notebooks with WORK and the book bags with TEXTBOOKS!

 

Stop letting them tell us they are worried about lost or destruction, because it’s insulting. We are not peasants this is not free WE ARE taxpaying citizens who demand a GREAT education for our children.

 

Nothing less will due.