How important is school in educating your child ??

[AngelaD]

I am fast coming to the conclusion that "school" is somewhere I send my girls to see their friends and give me time to plan their education which then takes place in our home.
From what I can see and hear on here school is an disaster for so many children and they learn at home.

School is vital/crucial for my boys. They are 6 and 8 now, and have learned so much at school that they wouldn't have learned at home: Learning to cope in large groups, to conform (to an extent), to participate in group activities - such as music, sport and drama, to work together in teams. They have fantastic resources at school which they have access to, and superb teachers. They also have amazing learning opportunities through assemblies, visiting theatre groups, etc., which you couldn't possibly do at home. They've also studied topics I wouldn't have dreamed of covering at home. In addition they've had (at different times) specialists teaching them all sorts of different subjects, including: IT, music, dance, drama, Italian, French, poetry ... I could go on and on!

Children are like sponges and will learn all the time, and mine are certainly no different. They have learned an immense amount at home this weekend. But I value their school learning immensely.

Before they started school I naively thought I could educate them at home, if necessary... I was completely wrong.
Sure, I could have taught them literacy and numeracy, but I could not have begun to replicate the benefits they have had from school.

Well, I think this is an interesting question: what is school for? I don't know the answer, I suspect mainly to turn out workers of the future. So I guess it depends on your beliefs about society and conforming and where education fits with that. Am rapidly coming to the conclusion that if I really thought about it I'd be a Steiner devotee. I think the state of schools in the UK is shocking though (she said, sounding like her mother).

well that depends on the child and the education - i think sometimes we have to remember not all kisd can be university material. i would also not undervalue the socialisation aspect. knowing how to interact with other people is a skill. knowing what school is like for all its good and bad points is useful for when your kids have children. and for your kids to talk about as adults.

i am forever having conversations with my children about some geogaphy teacher who could hit you at the back of the class with a piece of chalk, or the maths teacher that taught us by playing darts, or the german teaher that stood on your feet ( fat fcker) if you gave cheek - so he could say it was an accident if he was pulled - but he did it on purpose.

i even hada conversation with my 12yo dd about creepy teachers. and my experiences with "accidental" breast brushing, and down your blouse looking.

also talk about my teacher crush...mr critchley. he was loverly.

and also about the nice looking teachers at her school.

theres so much more to school than formal education. it serves me even now. i left school with GCSEs in fck all ( art!) and made it all up later. i hated every second of secondary school - i would rather jump into a food slicer than do it again. but the memories and experiences serve me now. in communication with my daughter and in knowing what secondary school is like, to try and ensure that my daughter gets the best possible experience out of secondary school - lessons my mother taught me when i was confronted with bullies " walk away with your head held high, you are better than that"

lessons i teach my daughter, tell the teacher, and knock em out if they hit you.

my mother bought my school stuff off the market.
a constant source of ridicule were my hi-tec trainers.

my daughter wont be in that position.

the sleep overs and parties she goes to, the best friends she has, the "oh my gaawwwwwwwwwd what can i buy my bestest, bestest friend in all the world mum?"

there so so so very much information other than formal learning

DS1 hates us to try to teach him anything (I think it's a pride thing). And at home he just wants to play. Def. he is learning all sorts of things at school, and having experiences, that I can't provide for him at home.

I think school can be vital for many children. It exposes them to a range of subjects and teaching styles that would be difficult to replicate at home.

It aslo gives them a range of experoiences that would be impossible to enerate at home. Home isn't going to have a van der Graff generator, radioactive samples, alkali metals that burst into flames when they touch water, many homes will not have microscopes with a whole range of slides for them to explore, newton metres, 'frictionless' tracks with light gates, the chance to separate DNA from wheatgerm.

And that is just in scince.

and for some poor little buggers it is often the closest they get to a 'normal' childhood, away from abusive, drunken or stoned parents.

Right that's it - I officially want to do science now. It was wasted on me as a child, I want my time over again.

I can tell you a website tht show you how to extract DNA if you like!?

That you can do at home as long as you can get some rubbing alcohol, warm water, wheatgerm and washing up liquid!

50 years ago they got the nobel prize, now we can do it in the kitchen. Better than magic, its SCIENCE!

I want to do it - send me the website and I will figure out how to get wheatgerm.

FOr me school is only part of their education albeit a large part. There is so much more for them to do and as has been said they are like sponges.

I try to give them loads of experiences and learning opportuntities like days in the country, museums visits, Youth Theatre, NT kids clubs. I see myself as an important educator in their live as well as others like cub leaders and dance teachers.

bobby go to

wheatgerm has tobe untoasted for it to work properly but it does work at home, I've done it!

Angela,

School to my youngest is just some where he has to go, to watch other children who he regards as strange as they have nothing in commomn with him. They get up and watch "Dick and Dom" he gets up and watches "BBC News 24". The older ones benefit slightly more.