Quote:
Originally Posted by el_draco
The curriculum is a mess, has been since the late 70's when the powers that be decided to adopt "whole language" approach to reading. Better call it, "direct path to illiteracy". Then followed the "You can't fail a kid because its bad for their self esteem" waffle... No one fails, no one tries.... 
As a teacher, the things that stands out for success are:
- Teach language phonetically, no short cuts and start young, before they go to "kinder". I read fluently at 5...
- Teach mental arithmetic and drill teach Times tables until they are faster than an calculator ( Real easy: Use black mail, bribery, threats... whatever it takes!).
- Read to them, for them and with them.
- Instil a love of learning.
- Teach them high personal standards, If they believe in themselves, they wont accept anything less..
- Feed curiosity.
- Teach them to dream without limits.
- Invest your own time, you get ONE shot at being a good parent.
Do these things, and the school they attend is largely irrelevant. 
(Oh, for gawds sake, don't pay private school fees, waste of money. These places claim to have a higher success rate; they don't. They just concentrate kids from families who are more affluent and therefore more interested in their kids education. Spend the money on your children, not private school building funds  ) |
I was slow to read, but there were reasons for that (Aspergers, and bullying from both other students and teachers). By the time I got to year 2 though, I'd caught up. i was lucky, that my year 2 teacher (different school to what I attended for year 1) was brilliant.
I didn't need my parents or teachers to encourage me to read, or have an inquisitive mind. I was top of my class for maths timetables up to and including year 5. I had a dip in year 6, but was still ahead of the rest of the class because I had a crap teacher who disliked me. 2 dud teachers in 6 years isn't a good record imho. And, teachers were a lot better in those days than they are now imho. I've just turned 49 btw, so I'm not a spring chicken.
Sadly, as you get older, bullying gets worse, and being bright is like wearing a bit bullseye target on your chest for the bullies. Schools refused to deal with bullies back then, and are even worse now.