When I was younger (yes, it’s true, I was younger once), I considered going to a elite school. The Bronx High School of Science. My guess is, had I gone there, I would have stayed in high school- but that is not the subject of today’s post.
Bronx Science, Brooklyn tech, Stuyvesant, Arts and Music… these are probably the best high schools in New York City. (Now, I believe this number has been expanded to nine schools- but the first three have been around for some 80 years, now.) I would have had to use my uncle’s address to afford myself the opportunity to study at Bronx Science.
And, these elite schools require(d) admissions tests- verbal and math components- and it is not a short one (about 3 hours). If it sounds like the SAT’s of old (come on now, I already said I was old), that’s exactly the point. Almost 30,000 children in New York City took these exams last year- which means some 20,000+ disappointed kids exist each year.
Add to this the fact that many folks think these tests are “racist”, so there actually is a free crib course for the disadvantaged- a summer long program. Other parents send their kids to private prep courses. (Just like some parents send their children to SAT preparations schools.) Of course, most of these tests are examining cumulative skills- not what you can cram into your brain within a few weeks.
The same applies to the “magnet school” of Northern Virginia (Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology), of which I have written previously. Those that make the school have spent years honing their skills- it’s not just aptitude that gets you through the program.
Because, it turns out there is a skill being tested by all these exams. Tenacity. The need to study and read and “do the right thing” every night of the year. For years. And, that also means parental guidance, steering the child away from texing and Facebook, instead spending time reading, studying flashcards, learning vocabulary, doing math drills…
It turns out this is the key factor. It’s not dumping more money into middle and high schools- but working with children from the time they are 3 or 4 (no, we don’t cut HeadStart), working with parents to insure they guide their children properly. That’s what will make our children the international stars we claim we want. The buck really starts there.
Wow. I didn’t even adopt my oldest til he was almost 4 and he didn’t speak English then. So much for his verbal scores…
marie from RTK recently posted..Snoop
It doesn’t have to start at infancy- but the reading and math skills need to be honed almost daily from 5 or 6- and that is, indeed, the problem, Marie.
Some tests really go long http://t.co/75FClb52YG via @Adjuvancy
Mom was very good about reading to me at a very young age but that was the end of that line. I look back and wonder how I even got through school honestly. My second grade teacher yanked me out of all the advanced classes I was in because she didn’t like my mother (that’s the truth). She kind of killed my love for school, she picked on me and another boy relentlessly…and the stuff she was teaching was waaaay too elementary to keep my attention. The other boy’s mom pulled him from the class and put him in another class, we stuck it out. She made me feel very stupid all through the school year, and that ended my love of school. Looking back I see how I could have turned it around but I was a baby…On the bright side, I taught myself to keep myself challenged and learn on my own. Anyway, I’m rambling, but this is a good post it obviously made me think, and I am grateful I don’t have children to teach because I’m not sure I would have been capable given my predilection for becoming bored with structured learning.
Lisa recently posted..Skully Alas We Hardly Knew Ye by Lisa Brandel
Yup, that is a problem, Lisa.
My youngest was a terror in class- because he was bored sh….ss. And, they never picked up on it. But, I yanked him out in Grade 3, placing him in private school, where he flourished and grew.. to return to the public school system as one of their top choices- which he has maintained ever since.
Roy,
You’ve hit a nerve, and that is the electronics have to go away (for the most part) if we want our children to excel in ANYTHING. Video games and excess social media are a big time-waste and teach our children very little.
Amy recently posted..Helping Philippa lay her egg: an egg-binding adventure
You are right, Amy…
Video games may hone the eye-hand coordination, but that doesn’t really help if you can’t become a brain surgeon in the first place (or a pilot…)
I believe in what you said so strongly that we decided to take our kids out of the public schools & homeschool. We didn’t change the material they had to learn we changed the learning environment. One loved hands on, one loved to read and the other had to be active for the material to stick. It was up to their father & I to make the decision to help our children succeed.
Shawn recently posted..The Law of Reciprocity in Social Media
Great points, there, Shawn.
Too many parents think that learning only happens in schools- and they have nothing to do with how their kids acquire knowledge and sense!
Agree 110% Roy. No more to say!
Carolina HeartStrings recently posted..NC EVENTS – MAY 2013
🙂
(keeping with the reticence…)