schools

Danni girl

My son needs a teachers aid. He sat for a test to get one my son scored 71 percent to get a teachers aid you need to score 70 and under. This means my child gets no help because he missed out by one percent cant tell you how sad i am. My child is in grade three and is just now at prep level. The education system is letting my child and many other children suffer. These child desever to receive the help that they so very much need.

Stez

My son needs a teachers aid. He sat for a test to get one my son scored 71 percent to get a teachers aid you need to score 70 and under. This means my child gets no help because he missed out by...

I heard that schools budges are now being cut again, so quite a few children that need aids will not get the extra help. I guess the best thing you could do for your child is either request extra work from the teacher to try and teach your child at home. Or, try a tutor, a lot of people find having their children see a tutor outside school hours makes a big difference to their education.

BcindyB

My child is at primary school in year 6 I have been bringing up problems with the teachers for years since she was in year 2 that she is way behind the other kids and she is actually starting to feel stupid now and under alot of a peer pressure and not only that a lot of pressure from the teacher to try and catch her up when she started year 6 the new teacher said she was at year 2 level now end of term they have managed to catch her up to a year 4 and 5 in most subjects except maths were she remains a year 2 level. why was this not addressed when I expressed concerns why leave it to the last year for that poor teacher plus us and the child to stress about catching up in time to go to intermediate. They also want us to have her tested for processing problems but this will cost us $300 which we can not afford to do. Does anyone have any suggestions???

Mim

They say that if children aren't literate by year 7 then there's little hope. The system, teachers and parents are failing kids if they don't see that they can read and write adequately for future life skills. This has been the case for along time.

cocki

i understand that not all parents are educated however they can teach their kids about rights and wrongs,being polite,showing respect etc
a teachers valuable teaching time is taken up by having to educate these simple lessons to the kids
parents have been encouraged to 'pass the buck' so now teachers have to bear the brunt in a failing educational system
there just is no time to teach the lessons in a disruptive environment

Thaiphoon

I will flip this back to those of you complaining, and yes I do as I think there is a lot that can be improved in our state and no doubt private school education systems. My question is how many parents have left school and no longer have an education from themselves, when did you last pick up a book and learn something new. I friend told me "Not worry about if the kids are listening, but worry about if they are watching" If you follow the life you want your kids to have, you are their greatest role model, they will do the same. If you both read, ideally something educational at time, but none the less read, guess what your kids will be readers, If you have some educational, motivational CD's in the car, your kids will slowly turn off music and listen and god forbid ask questions. So set the example, turn off the TV and do something to set an example, you are your kids greatest heroes and we all know kids want to be just like their heroes.

Captured

I personally don't have a problem with the school system. I don't know if my children's school does things differently or what, but my daughter is the youngest and top of her class. I'm not saying this to boast or anything i am just stating a point. She is reading a few years above the others and her teacher allows her to borrow home readers from the library as the books in her classroom are too easy for her and she gets bored reading them.
My son's teacher picked up on his speech difficulties last year and the school worked with us allowing him to get speech therapy at school.
We also encourage our children to learn new things when we have family outings, if we go to the beach- we will explore rockpools and teach the children about the sea creatures living in the pools along the shoreline, if we go bushwalking we encourage our children to ask about different plants and animals they see.
We encourage learning at home by having fun, educational "activity" books in easy reach for the children and lots of reading books of all reading levels- both fiction and reference types.

If you're worried about your child's ability to grasp what they are being taught at home or school, take your child to your GP who can always refer you and your child to a specialist who will help you figure out why your child may be struggling.
This is how we found out about our son's speech problems. We thought he was just a typical child learning at his own pace, but it turned out to be more than that and if we hadn't have gone and looked into it more, it may have been a lot trickier to work with the school and speech therapists to rectify the problem while he was still young.

Wildsav

Although the extra curricular activities at school are fun, I have discovered that the basics such as reading, writing and maths are taking a second seat to dancing and other activities. I have found my son is completing all of these extra curricular activities at school and is being sent home with hrs of homework daily for the core subjects. He has been doing this since yr 1 and is currently in yr 4. With all of this work being sent home to be done and all of the 'fun' stuff being done at school how can they really understand what the child is taking in. I spend alot of time with my son after school completing assisting him with homework/questions. Young children can be at school up to 7ish hrs a day and still have to go home to complete the things one would be expecting them to do at school. I feel the homework in some schools is too much for the primary school children but I feel this is because they need to catch up as a result of all of the 'extra' activities we are told are part of their grading. Important skills to learn such as reading, writing, maths etc.. need to take priority over dancing etc.. (i do like the extra activities though.). For the base rate they are getting, they seem to be doing less for it. Instead it is becoming the parents job and we are not all qualified to be doing so. I do not expect the school system to be teaching my kids their manners etc... that is my job. I do however expect it to do what it is paid to do and that is teach the core subjects to their best ability. The extra curricular activities to be learnt at an age appropriate time. To focus on their grasp of sujects before teaching to dance etc.. for their school discos at yr1.

Anonymous

Hi,
My son who is 15yrs old has just left school, he has no Qualifications, he is doing 3 days training in automotive and 2 days practial, but at school they didnt
help him with maths and spelling, he should know at least some for his age,
and 2 he is doing his theroy with indian tutors which makes it hard for him.
He is frustrated, so how can he get his credits up.
Yrs ago raising my kids, i come across a book, the teachers are teaching our
kids back wards, so the primary kids get the work sammed into them, and the college kids arent aloud any help from the parents, and yet some teachers dont put there time into them.
A College up the far North was getting $5000.00 per student, from the Goverment, so why arent our children getting anywhere,
They should wiped out the Credits and go back to 100% in a exam.
Vinne1

Shebb

I am sure the school system in public and private education could be "tweaked" to some degree, but in my opinion it ultimately comes down to the parents. We are here to be the guardian of our children, which also includes education.

My husband and I decided 2 years ago that we would home school our children (at least for the early years) as we believe it is the best way we can be sure they are being inputted with good morals at an early age and understand what we believe as a family. It has also been an awesome growing time for my eldest daughter and I as I guide her in her education and see for myself exactly how she thinks/learns. It has been a blessing in more than just schooling - it has helped my husband and I become better parents to our children.

:)

anthea

My son is in prep. He gets his reader, a workbook each week where he has to find picture/words starting with a particular letter, and now he has just started sight reading common words like; and, the, in etc.

We spent a few hours a week doing these things with him. He's very enthusiatic about all he has learnt and wants to practice his writing a lot.
I know we are strict with him (only watches a little of ABC kids and no commerical tv, no DS, playstation etc) so I find that many of the other activities he does for fun are actually part of learning. Whether its uno or other card or board games, drawing, making stuff, reading books together- this all feeds into his greater learning.
I don't expect teachers to teach my son everything. Yes, they need to provide foundations and the skills of how to learn, but they are only at school for 30 hours a week.- and many of those hours are spent on other things like art, PE, language, RE etc. My sons spends more time with me, so I expect to share the load as his parent.
I would expect parents should see improvement and take and active interest in monitoring and being involved in this.

cookla

My son is in prep. He gets his reader, a workbook each week where he has to find picture/words starting with a particular letter, and now he has just started sight reading common words like; and,...

I was very active in my kids schooling and so was a mate of mine who babysat while I was at work.we spent so much time of an afternoon working through reading, writing and anything else that they were doing at the time. I am sure I got on the teachers nerves as I was asking about my kids 3-4 times a week. I still didn't see improvments in 3 of my 4 children until I started homeschooling. I am with them 24/7 and have a night out once a year. I am not a fan of T.V either and have not had TV connected in the house since my kids were born. This is the first year my 12 year old has had a t.v. so I guess I can safely say it wasn't due to anything I have done or failed to do.
All four of my children get at least 80% in all their tests and have improved tremendously. My son who has trouble learning has even learnt more than I would have dreamt in the year that I homeschooled.

GavinMe

Reading your question, cookla, prompted the thought that maybe the problem isn't with the system at all. I mean, I'm sure you were taught correct grammar and punctuation when you went to school. However, you seem to have forgotten how to use it now. If we're not setting good examples in how we apply learnt skills and knowledge, then how can our kids be expected to? If they're exposed to is lazy "text-hand" communication at home, that's what they'll propagate.
Food for thought.

cookla

Reading your question, cookla, prompted the thought that maybe the problem isn't with the system at all. I mean, I'm sure you were taught correct grammar and punctuation when you went to school....

Just a note to say that I use correct grammer with my children. I correct thier's accurately and when I am on the computer I use computer talk. My children however are not permitted in chat rooms so they do not learn thier lack of punctuation and grammer from me.

typhoon

Many blame the school system but how many parents are involved with their children's education. My mother taught me read to me and a love of reading when i was young and i did the same for my children.Parents are teachers too. Teachers are not omnipotent and if a parent notices their child is not up to scratch, let the teachers know that you would like them to get help.How many parents feel that their child's education is wholly up to the teachers and don't have the time or are unwilling to get involved? Is the school system totally at fault or has our society go to the point that no one has real time with their children anymore?

karen04

Many blame the school system but how many parents are involved with their children's education. My mother taught me read to me and a love of reading when i was young and i did the same for my...

We teach our kids extra maths and english based on what they learn at school. We even borrowed the text book from the library. We had to do this as i asked if we could see what they were learning in class and was told they are not allowed to bring their books home. i asked if they could get extra work to do at home and got nowhere. Their learning was going backwards if it wasnt for us. And then i found that that the education department was lowering the expected reading level for the younger grades. Shouldnt they be raising the level?

cookla

Many blame the school system but how many parents are involved with their children's education. My mother taught me read to me and a love of reading when i was young and i did the same for my...

personal I did let the teachers know that my son wasn't up to scratch and the teachers both said that I was wrong and he was doing fine. I even asked for him to have some in school tests done to find where the problem was. Again I was told he was fine. I have homeschooled my kids for two years now and my son is not fine. both of his younger sisters are passing him and he has only now learnt basic maths, he still doesnt grasp the concept that if it is +1 than it is the next number. is this nothing wrong? I dont think so he has a lag in his cognitive learning as well. He cannot distinguise if something happened last week or yesterday.
so my point is in this case yes it was the school's fault as I was actively involed and discouraged from concern.
I was also like to had that my highly intelligent daughter was discouraged from reaching higher and just told to learn what the class is learning.

Anonymous

I have been very disappointed with the schooling of our now grown children. Not because they were left behind but because they were bright and were not encouraged to attain a higher level. They were in fact discouraged and it was suggested to them not to be smart and try to just go with the flow. How I wish I had gone with home schooling but in those days it was not really the way to go.
Recently i been involved with the Steiner schools and wow what bright, imaginative, creative, confident and responsible children this method turns out. This would have been just so perfect for my young folk and the magic thing is that they are so nurtured as the wonderful individuals they are.
I also know too that teachers dont finish work at 3.05, their hours go on til 9 or 10 at night preparing and marking all the stupid testing they now have to do. Their time would be better spent in working with the children but there is no much paper work for them now. Rather my job than theirs.

Isildae

I work in childcare, and i find that parents are wanting more from us as child care workers - expecting us to teach the children how to read and write before they hit school. Though, parents may...

My eldest was described as 'naughty' by his child-care 'teachers'. Soon after he started school he was diagnosed with Aspergers.
My youngest son was also described as 'naughty' by his child-care 'teachers' and I was made to feel like a bad parent. He has recently been diagnosed with hearing loss which would certainly explain his behaviour. Imagine being forced to sit in a group and watch an adult mouthing words at you. Wouldn't you rather go off and play with something more interesting? Because the child-care workers don't have sufficient training, that's why.
My middle child is in the enrichment class at school and constantly being praised for his good work and effort. His soccer coach, a police officer, recently pulled me aside to tell me what a great kid he is.
Bad parenting or individual needs?
Child-care workers most certainly aren't qualified to teach children. Nor are they qualified to diagnose children's behavioural difficulties. I would be appalled to discover that someone with your generalistic attitude was working at my child's centre.
Having one neurotypical child also does not equip you to understand the challenges faced by people with multiple children or children with special needs so please don't offer up advice to parents based on your limited experience.
This is what frustrates me about early childhood learning in Australia - lack of experience, knowledge and understanding by so-called early child-care 'professionals'. Why on earth do we think that an 18yo with six weeks' training is better equipped to teach a child than the parents? With so many kids in some form of pre-school care these days, why aren't developmental delays and disorders being picked up sooner? Because the child-care workers don't have sufficient training and would rather just blame it on poor parenting. If child-care workers don't respect parents, why do they deserve to be respected in return?

cookla

I work in childcare, and i find that parents are wanting more from us as child care workers - expecting us to teach the children how to read and write before they hit school. Though, parents may...

I must say I agree with the qualifications of child care workers and that some parents expect to much. however when my children were in preschool I never expected more than play and basic learnning. I was suprised and excited to find that both my daughters could read simple words and write more than just there name. My question was based onkindy and up.

Alicia

I work in childcare, and i find that parents are wanting more from us as child care workers - expecting us to teach the children how to read and write before they hit school. Though, parents may...

I work in childcare, and i find that parents are wanting more from us as child care workers - expecting us to teach the children how to read and write before they hit school. Though, parents may be worried about the school system and be trying to get a headstart with their children. The problem being is that child care workersa are not qualified to teach these skills, and the learning that we do teach is play based and based around the child's interests. My son is 2 yars old, and doing extremely well due to my husband spending lots of one on one time reading with him, while I do the singing. This is taching him so much more then his friends who's parents might not be able to offer this extra time or have developmental knowledge. I think as parents we need to take responcibility for our children's learning regardless of where the school system is. We need to be teaching our children at home and not rely on the schools to do it all. Teachers may be becoming slack in their style, byt I must say that children on average are becoming harder to deal with. Even at the age of 4 and 5 we see children who do not want to conform to any type of structure, follow directions or complete activities set in front of them - done in fun ways, let alone follow the strict guidlines that are given to them at a school. These behavious fall back to the paretn once more as they have not be "taught" how to act to teachers and who they should be giving respect.

solstice

My wife resigned from teaching some years back due to the changes in standards of teaching, there were less and less every year. Teachers today cant sell or puntuate so how can they think they can teach it? They can't and thats why the children do not have to try as they are not having it instilled into them they must. Our grandchildren are proabably the best educated kids around as my wife makes learning fun and the kids love her games and they can spell and do things that other kids in their class are not able to, no its not a grandparent bragging its fact.