Scratches head - what do they do in school?

[Colleger]

DS had a Latin lesson today. He's had four before the holidays but done nothing for nine weeks. Teacher said this Year 7 boy will manage A'level in three years with one hour tutorial and ten minutes of work five days a week.

Well done your DS

They do loads in school. Not just academic work.

But what grade at A-level? Some Latin A-levels are quite tough, though most can get a B via learning set texts by heart.

My own dcs did not much academic work at all in 'real' school, so busy were they with the Xmas Play, the DVD stuck in to keep them quiet, the endless assemblies. Teaches bureaucratic timewasting, and also rudeness/inattentiveness, IMHO. All schools cater well to the average child, though.

It wasn't a boast. She said any average child could do it from scratch in three years. She is a Cambridge Classics graduate and we have no intention of him learning set texts by heart. :)

The Christmas plays and the assemblies are what makes school different to HE, surely?

Not sure what you mean about the DVDs and the timewasting and the rudeness, though.

Ok, further rant - you asked! Both dcs seemed to spend one lesson a week plus watching a DVD of slight or no relevance to academicals.

Timewasting - constant redrawing of institutional boundaries, rule-reading, circle time and the like, badly run lessons especially in RS, and also disorganisation, waiting around, cake sales, folkdancing, school orchestra when no-one turned up.

Rudeness - boredom leads kids of talk not very sotto voce while head drones on about the school cormorant. Not listening becomes a habit.

NB My children both went to real school while at Nativity Play age, and ds is at an FE college now. And I think 22k a year for plays and assemblies may not represent v. good value for money.

I think home ed can be skewed.

as one to one teaching
some teach a little 7days a week or little all year round.

also at secondry especially they have so many subjects to cover

maths
english
sciences
pe
home ec
history
geography
music
re
languages
health education/community studies.
art
computer studies

That list of course narrows down year when pick options

but i guess if studies less than that number

doing a levele warly would be an option.

commuting also plays a part.

well done collager thats really good.
can be such a useful subject in some professions and even read it helps kids with their english.

It is helping me with English!

I suppose my question was more based on sixth form. I know tutor has said three years with such a small amount of work at Year 7 level but do sixth formers not get 4+ hours in a subject and homework and it takes two years? At sixth form level they also don't have the amount of time wasting as the younger years, the kids (in theory) are smarter because of age and the class sizes can be tiny. :/

Your post is very one-sided, sieg.

Both dcs seemed to spend one lesson a week plus watching a DVD of slight or no relevance to academicals. Television can be an excellent way for some children to learn, particularly for visual learners; every child is different and that's why not every lesson is learning through play/reading a book/listening to a teacher. What did the school say when your said you didn't think the DVDs were relevant to their education?

Timewasting - constant redrawing of institutional boundaries, rule-reading, surely the rules have to be repeated for a young child to understand them? Authority is a part of life, and a formal learning enviroment teachers young children that. circle time and the like, how is talking about children's problems time-wasting. Some children may not have anyone else to tell their problems to. badly run lessons especially in RS, and also disorganisation, waiting around, these are all your own personal opinions, but I assume you were helping in class or something to witness them - so what did the staff do about it? cake sales, folkdancing, school orchestra when no-one turned up. Extra-curricular activities. Again, I have no idea how this is time-wasting. Are you not of the opinion that we're all constantly learning - even if, as you say, no-one turned up?

Rudeness - boredom leads kids of talk not very sotto voce while head drones on about the school cormorant. Not listening becomes a habit. Like it or not, boredom is a part of life - school teaches children to cope with it, because unfortunately we can't always do what we like. Not sure how that links to rudeness though - surely that's just a personal trait - some people are rude, some aren't.

NB My children both went to real school while at Nativity Play age, and ds is at an FE college now. And I think 22k a year for plays and assemblies may not represent v. good value for money. Do you really think all they got out of their school days is plays and assemblies? See above!

Yes.

While I agree that part of life is boredom and dealing with bureaucrats etc, I'm a bit stunned that you agree in principle that real school is about coping with these negatives. Why should we begin early on something intrinsically unappealing? Whatnot put them into poorly paid labour, too? That'll larn them.

As for tv, what teachers I know say is yippee, a break for me. What I'd your child isn't visual and Doesn't need therapy? In that case these Activities ARE a Waste. Since I daily see people with dreadful grammar, poor maths skills, and almost no foreign languages, I think priorities are askew somewhere. As for the particularity of homeschooling, that is its virtue.