Wally
September 28th, 2009, 09:49 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.
Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.
"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."
The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.
....
While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.
Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests - Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).
I hope you agree, the idiots are still driving the bus.
It's not about quantity, its Quality.
Hopefully most of you homeschoolers have found that quality HS takes less time that regular school -not to mention the travel time lost.
Our kids consistantly score superior in aptitude tests, have better social skills, and earn quicker recognition by colleges than much of the products the public school system churns out.
But worse is the Family time robbed from these developing young minds. (Of course that leaves more time with Mother O's bot programmers. Hitler youth seem more real then ever?)
No this is another divide and conquer the family. Even Christian schools can cross the boundry with excessive homework and school activities. Yet quality education doesn't have to take 12+ hours a day.
Although abandonded - latch key kids may benefit from a program offering a better environment, but the overall detriment to families is a bad idea.
Keep Homeschooling. The BEST educational option there is.
Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.
"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."
The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.
....
While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.
Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests - Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).
I hope you agree, the idiots are still driving the bus.
It's not about quantity, its Quality.
Hopefully most of you homeschoolers have found that quality HS takes less time that regular school -not to mention the travel time lost.
Our kids consistantly score superior in aptitude tests, have better social skills, and earn quicker recognition by colleges than much of the products the public school system churns out.
But worse is the Family time robbed from these developing young minds. (Of course that leaves more time with Mother O's bot programmers. Hitler youth seem more real then ever?)
No this is another divide and conquer the family. Even Christian schools can cross the boundry with excessive homework and school activities. Yet quality education doesn't have to take 12+ hours a day.
Although abandonded - latch key kids may benefit from a program offering a better environment, but the overall detriment to families is a bad idea.
Keep Homeschooling. The BEST educational option there is.