Are we failing our future?

I have been contemplating this question for a while now.  Based on the things I have read, conversations I have had with teachers I work with (local community college), and what I have witnessed first hand with my own children in our local public school my answer is a resounding yes.  

Teachers have their hands tied by test scores and spend the bulk of their time teaching to the test.  School boards have adopted terrible curricula and teach it as gospel.  Many parents are apathetic at best and adamant that their kid can do no wrong.  Larger class sizes and the inclusion of everyone in the regular classroom setting results in teachers who have to deal with disruptive behaviors and end up teaching to the lowest group of kids.  It results in middle of the road kids being forgotten and students who excel being forced to help those that are having trouble rather than allowing them to work to their potential.  

Many kids get pushed along to the next grade even if they are not ready to go there, because failing is not an option.  They end up graduating High School with little more than an elementary grasp on the basics and move on to college only to be forced to spend money on remedial classes that offer no credits towards a degree.  They are paying big bucks to learn the things they should have over the course of the previous 12 years.  For example we have several sections of ENGL 001 that are all full.  In this class they are reading The Giver, which is a 6th grade reading level book, and many don't have the skills to comprehend it.

The bar has been set so low that most kids don't have a challenge to rise to.  I don't know about you but I don't want to live in a country where being mediocre is the aspiration.    Righting this ship will take a major shift in the way everyone thinks.  The emphasis needs to be taken off of standardized test scores and put on teaching skills.  Kids need to be challenged and allowed to fail, if warranted.  We need to go back to the basics and start over.  

We are raising a generation of people who are going to run this great country when we are old.  I, for one would like to grow old with the knowledge that we did everything in our power to prepare them for this task.

Making Blood

For the past two weeks we have been learning about blood and today we tried our hand at making our own.  We followed these instructions - http://www.education.com/activity/article/Components_Blood/

First we poured in our plasma (corn syrup)

Then we added our red blood cells 

Next came the white blood cells so we could fight off infection

Finally we added the platelets so our blood would clot

Trying desperately to get our white blood cells to sink.  Marshmallows didn't work so well.

The finished product.

The great books we have been reading.

Showing Compassion

In the past 10 years I have been many things.

A full time working Mom.
A stay at home Mom.
A Mom of publicly schooled children.
A homeschool Mom.
A part time working out of the home Mom.
A work at home Mom.

I just finished reading a blog post that made homeschoolers sound like they are leaps and bounds better than those that do not homeschool.  It really made me pause and contemplate why we as a society feel the need to think we are better than the next person?

I am currently working 2 part time jobs, one at home and one out of my home, as well as homeschooling my 3 children.  I do not have what you would call a traditional lifestyle and I know many of you would look at me and think I am nuts but why does it have to be that way?

Everything that I have been and done has been because it's what was best for myself and my family.  Isn't that why 99.9% of us make the difficult decisions and sacrifices we do?  We are all in this together, why do we break each other down instead of supporting and building each other up?    The world would be a very different place if we could just muster up a little compassion for and a little less judgement of the people in our lives that have chosen different paths than we have.