Kumon “saved” our eldest as well.  However that is just the tip of the iceberg.  I suppose one has to ask…why are we, as parents having to pay twice for our kid’s schooling?  Once through our tax dollars, and again through Kumon?  We were lucky.  We used some of our grocery money to pay for her tutoring.  But what happens to those kids whose families do not have the same opportunity?  2 tier public education is thriving in this country.  It’s already common acceptance by the education establishment - our educrats and policy makers, unions and all others involved, that parents will do whatever it takes for their children to achieve the best education possible.  This takes the accountability and responsibility off their shoulders and allows them to continue down this path of silliness called public education, in whatever fashion they want.  Do not be fooled.  It is not for a lack of school funding or resources that schools cannot function properly.  If there were more appropriate systems in place, a peer review process to ensure teachers were using effective instruction practices in the classroom (similar to that used in other professions), demanding that reading, writing and arithmetic be taught rather than social justice issues, our system might have a chance of working properly.  Unless drastic changes occur, parents will have no other choice but to continue to support their kids’ learning outside of school hours.

“Even if your children are straight-E students, what have they actually learned?

Exactly.

Even our best students have learned little, their knowledge is brittle and full of holes because it has not really been mastered.
Even our best students give up very easily when things get harder simply because they almost never had to practice persevering in working hard. Why? They never had to, if they couldn’t do something there were always excuses “the child is not ready yet” or “this is not your thing”.

That’s why grade 9 is a shock to many.
My impression is that most high schools try to help student fill the gaps from elementary.
They are not succeding with most kids because realistically, how can you make up in 1 year what you have missed during the last 3 or 4 years?

The second shock for the students who want to continue beyond high school is grade 11.
My son is in grade 11 and finally I think he is working at close to his maximum capacity.
Because admission to college or university is based on high shool grades there is tremendous pressure on teachers to grade easy.

What does an 85% or higher for grade 12 academic credit course represent if 1 of every 4 or 1 of every 3 students fail first year of university?

TIME Article May Be The Trigger To Break The EDUCATION LOGJAM !

We are just getting a little sniff of the STORM coming up.  The Nov 3 issue of TIME has not hit the stands yet. But, already the massive and powerful teacher unions in the US are starting petitions and boycotts against the magazine because of its upcoming cover story — Rotten Apples – It’s Nearly Impossible to Fire A Bad Teacher.

Teacher unions in Canada are also getting nervous — and social media is abuzz on the topic. 

I would suggest that long suffering parents and others frustrated by the public education establishment and its many abuses start cluing in to some of the controversies.  This may just be the best gift the public will ever have to shatter the myths and defenses of a system grown sour and harmful to the life chances of so many young students.

Here are some of the SYSTEM’s excuses and counter measures:

- Due process is necessary to protect teachers.

- Poverty, race, non-English speaking minorities are the reason for poor results.

- Underfunding is the problem.

- Weak-kneed principals are the problem:  a bad teacher can be fired easily.

- Drop your subscription to TIME; refuse TIME in your library; sign the petition. [Kill the messenger!]

Here is the opportunity for parents and others to ASK QUESTIONS:

- How have teacher unions grown to be so powerful and obstreperous?

- How have governments failed and allowed wholesale abuses to proliferate?

- Why are parents reduced to fund-raising for schools instead of insisting on accountability?

- How come curriculum is dumbed-down with social promotions and retreat from the basics with no commitment to even ensure learning to read is a priority?

- How come “social justice” and collaborative competency and other social-emotional efforts are replacing the 3Rs?  Are the public schools really radicalizing students to feel so oppressed that they need to go out and “change the world”?

- Why is the school system incapable of change?

http://time.com/3533556/the-war-on-teacher-tenure/?pcd=hp-magmod  Is one in four a rotten apple?

http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9270  Apology demanded by teacher union because teachers are blamed for problems in schools.

Here is a challenge:  Use these three terms in a meaningful sentence relating to this school issue: Vergara, Berliner, Scott Walker.

Predictable Reaction To A Father’s Lament

Once a parent complaint gets some traction, the whole system, feeling attacked, goes into gear to defend, divert and demonize. 

Defensiveness is an admission of vulnerability with much truth to the substance of the criticism.

Then it’s divide and conquer; the truth of the matter is diverted to other issues such as underfunding, poverty, etc.  — away from the concern about reading, math, or whatever is on target.

Then the parent is seen as being a “helicopter parent” (bad) or a neglectful parent by not staying in close communication with the teacher — in either case the parent is bad-bad for blaming the school, and furthermore spreading it out to the public..

I suspect this complaining parent, by daring to expose in clear, understandable terms and on FACEBOOK, (Oh so public!) the nature of the shortcoming of THE SYSTEM — I suspect he was SWARMED!  Where did all these people come from?  They all sound like teachers and they keep saying:  “If you just spent one day in my class . . . “

Maybe the next step is to go REALLY PUBLIC — sue the school in small claims court for the Kumon fees paid, with some friends with placards outside in support, and with the MEDIA duly notified.

In BC we experienced the SWARMING when a parent dared to go Facebook when Report Cards were withheld during teacher union “job action” strike a few years back.  They sure know “crowd-sourcing”!

Thanks for the heads up Tunya.
I didn’t know anything about the Time article until Doug’s comment on Oct. 24.
“Huge campaign on right now to tell teachers not to subscribe to Time or stock it in school libraries”
I was left speechless when I first read this Doug.
So the unions dictate what our children can read in school libraries??
The campaign is to “tell” teachers what they can and cannot read??
Perhaps most alarming is that you have no problem telling the world that this is the case.
What’s it like, being able to speak your mind with no fear of reprisal?
Parents would love to know!
Nancy W

When I started home tutoring my youngest in math, I contacted the big tutoring firms for advice in 2006. I was informed that the good tutoring firms will teach and test beyond the grade level/age of student. The reason being, is that the tutor will not have to reteach the math concepts in the future.

It made sense to me, since I wanted to teach the whole concept and not just the small piece of the concept being studied in grade 6. I tested my child up to a grade 10 level. I never had to reteach a concept. When I taught factoring, it was the whole concept but I did not do this until she was in grade 7. It assured me that she should not have any problems in senior high school math. And she did not have any problems.

As Wagner has concluded, “Or you can do nothing and hope for the best. Understand, however, that the meat grinder that is public education will push your children through to high school graduation regardless of whether or not they have learned anything.”  If I did do nothing, my child would have been sitting in basic math, cutting and pasting strips of papers to understand fractions. The K to 12 meat grinder does horrible damage to student’s future.

That said, here is a new help math website making its rounds by social media, getting fantastic raves by parents. If one cannot afford a math tutor, perhaps this can be the cheaper alternative for parents with kids aged 6 to 12.  A review - http://www.theeducatorsspinonit.com/2013/11/tabtor-math-personalized-online.html
And here, the website - https://www.tabtor.com/

I find the articles and the postings very interesting. While I agree that teachers play an important role in schools, I am also of the opinion that students, too, have to play their part. Kumon type of math exercices (I say Kumon because it was mentioned before) can be done in school or as a homework without extra cost. However, I understand that such type of drills are not favoured. The teachers might give little or no homework, but with the Internet, all children can do extra exercises for free. Moreover, in schools, usually, there are homework clubs, tutoring (free). I remember, when I was a student (grade school and beyond) I had homework during the vacations (10 problems and exercises per day plus all the readings for the next school year) and all my extracurricular activities were outside the school time, training and competitions. Also, starting with grade 5, I had a different teacher for each subject. I do not want to say that a teacher qualified in language arts cannot teach something else, however I think that math teachers should teach math, physics teachers - physics and so on…In North America, in elementary schools, a teacher teaches everything…

Catherine your comments here are accurate, but I’d like to just say that we had no choice but to enrol our eldest in Kumon because she refused my attempts at helping her, and would not take direction from me when I used resources from the internet.  After 2 frustrating years of trying to help her, all the while seeing her self esteem plummet, I asked her what SHE wanted, and she said Kumon.  She required an instructor to teach her the arithmetic fundamentals, and the school wasn’t providing that for her.  The one on one instruction that Kumon provided during her weekly sessions, as well as giving the kids their own starting point, was a key to her success.  She thrived in this environment and in a few short months, with daily homework, her confidence and her skillset thrived. 

As a parent I do not believe it is our responsibility to “teach” our kids; that is what we are paying our teachers to do.  I have no problem providing support and “helping” with what they are learning in the classroom, but I should not be held responsible for how and what my kids are learning.  The archaic and convoluted strategies being used in the classroom, though, are very confusing for kids, which is why so many are now enrolled with private tutors or learning centres.  Many parents are not equipped to teach their kids math, and it should not fall on their shoulders to ensure they know the fundamentals.  This is where the disconnect occurs, and yet is now a common acceptance by many of our schools and their districts that parents will fill the learning gap by taking their kids to private tutors/learning centres. More glaringly, I am very concerned about what happens to those kids whose families do not have the same opportunity as my child did?  When arithmetic is the one of the cornerstones of our education system, we should DEMAND that ALL of our children learn this fundamental skill through effective classroom instruction. Unless parents demand this from their public administrators, teacher unions and education ministries, parents will continue to shoulder the burden of additional cost to educate their children, and more and more kids will fall through the cracks. 

In terms of having qualified teachers teaching qualified subjects, unfortunately elementary teachers are pretty much asked to teach every and all subjects. It puts them in an unenviable position, forcing them to teach subjects they have no formal training in.  It will be a very tough sell to try and change this system, but if the curriculum guidelines were tightened and streamlined, with learning objectives clarified and accountability tied into outcomes, that might help the process improve.

Catherine, your primary and high school education definitely did not take place in Canada.

*However, I understand that such type of drills are not favoured.
>>Not only that, but the students would not be able to do these type of drills on their own because the students are taught at school in a very different way.

* Moreover, in schools, usually, there are homework clubs, tutoring (free).
>>The atmosphere in a lot of elementary schools is such that to study is considered not cool. Being good at something effortlessly is acceptable, but being good because you study makes you into a geek, a teacher’s pet, a nerd, and so on ..
The homework clubs may be offered but very few if any students attend. The good students don’t want to be seen trying hard, the mediocre students may attend, the students with real problems have given up a long time ago since they pass to the next grade anyway.

* I remember, when I was a student (grade school and beyond) I had homework during the vacations (10 problems and exercises per day plus all the readings for the next school year)
>>Yes, I had the same thing. The teachers actually checked them in September.
I’ve never heard of this ever happening here.
Maybe it does but it’s a very rare occurence.

* and all my extracurricular activities were outside the school time, training and competitions.
>>Yes, same for me; school time was sacred. Here some are outside some are during school time, don’t know exactly why.

* Also, starting with grade 5, I had a different teacher for each subject. I do not want to say that a teacher qualified in language arts cannot teach something else, however I think that math teachers should teach math, physics teachers - physics and so on…
>> Yes, common sense one would think to have people teach what they know very well and what they love.
All my teachers starting in grade 5 had a bachelor in the subject they were teaching: bachelor of math, bachelor of chemistry or physics, bachelor of arts for the maternal language and foreign languages, bachelor in phys ed ...
So they knew what they were talking about and they liked the subject. In addition the curriculum expections were very clear and the textbooks mandatory.
In the week of, let’s say October 27th all the grade 5s in all the schools were learning
- lesson 7and lesson 8, page 23-28 in math
- lesson 5, pages 22-25 in geography
- lesson 7and lesson 8, pages in English ...
and so on ...
The number of hours per week allocated to each subject were clear and could not be changed by the teachers or the schoo. Every week, every class, every student: 6 math classes, 6 maternal language, 2 geography, 3 english, 3 phys ed, 2 history, 2 chemistry, ...