Who's? What? Where? How not to test kids

Sketch a day #23 - 1 hr. Pen and ink

So clearly our society is obsessed with the size of people's butts.  Whether, you are all about that bass- no treble, or think silicone butts are Ew- EW.  They are everywhere!  And let's not talk about Kim K West's (no I'm not linking to it) latest magazine pics. The bigger the butt the better.

Pop culture has conversations about butts locked down.  So why-oh-why does Mecklenburg County NC have questions about butt size on exams used throughout the county?  Seriously.  Ew.

Here's my problem with the question:  

"LaShamanda (Who??? Lashamanda isn't a real name.  One can only assume that they were going for a stereotypically black name.  If you google Lashamanda, you will not find it has ever been used before.  Lashanda, or Shamanda would have been more appropriate.  Instead they chose to mock black names with this made up farce) has a heterozygous big bootie, (What?  are you referring to her behind?  Big bootie is a term used primarily in ebonics- slang... Both Oxford dictionaries and Webster dictionaries defines a bootie as a shoe worn by a baby.  If they meant booty.. well that is defined as a plunder won in war.  Urban dictionary, the worse source for a dictionary defines a bootie as "a woman with an --- that is healthy and fleshy from a bit of jiggle to firm but always tasty".  Is that the definition of bootie, they want kids to embrace?  How rude!) the dominant trait. Her man Fontavius (once again- who?  First, "her man" is a phrase not used in any dictionary, but is street for her husband or boyfriend, so by saying they were married was kind of redundant.  Second,  Fontavius is another name not found anywhere on Google.  Dontavious is a real African American name though, so way to go- mocking black names again!)has a small bootie (what? the term bootie is reserved for women, even in ebonics) which is recessive. They get married and have a baby named LaPrincess. (I actually found this name online, so ...OK.  still it is rare) What is the probability that LaPrincess will inherit her mama's (Merriam Webster says the word Mama is slang for mother) big bootie?" (Saying a baby or child has a big bootie is crass and inappropriate.  Like that time a man said my baby, who was six at the time, had a gadunk-adunk -and I almost slapped him.)

The WHERE is that this was on a science test in a public school.

This is offensive in more ways that I can count. The most detrimental salacious phrases possible was used in this test question. It mocked African American names and culture. And the subject matter was inappropriate.  I will stop there. 

So when a parent complained, a teacher replied "I am sorry IF your child was offended".  Please. Bye Felicia.

Can we please stop trying to bend to the lowest common denominator and teach kids using subject matter that won't dumb them down and victimize them?  Where is the commons sense in this.  Makes me glad we homeschooled. 

Just because it's news doesn't make it true

A local TV news reporter did a hard-hitting expose on a program a lot of homeschoolers use to help them homeschool their kids.  The program gives accredited  diplomas and it also does dual enrollment for public school students.  It is the dual enrollment part that has gotten them in hot water.

I wrote about the story here:


WSBTV news reporter vilifies alternative education program

I personally used this program to review my daughter's work and provide her with a diploma.  While I didn't NEED to use the program, I did to give my kid a boost with the state's HOPE program, and to certify her grades to make her more competitive for scholarships.

I dare ask, instead of questioning how rigorous credit recovery programs are, perhaps they should be asking why so many students need credit recovery?

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

My ideas for keeping schools safe

I can't seem to get off this subject... of the Connecticut school shootings.  So since my heart is stuck there, I thought I would engage you all to think, think, think.. about ways that schools might be made safer.

Mine is in this video.



(Looking at the video is hard... there is so much pain in my face... but still, it does not compare.)

What is your idea?  What do you think we need to do to make schools safer?


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Somewhere between mad and sad

At the Alamo, 11/1999

Most people who know me in real life would say that I am a "strong person".  I hate that phrase.  Probably because it is not true.  I am more of a 'stiff upper lip' type of person, able to hide my emotions, especially when and I am distraught.  I am not strong at all.  I am sensitive, and repressed.

With that said, I am just so mad right now.  I am mad and I am sad. The connecticut school shootings are killing me.  I am over here ugly-crying, brooding, sobbing, and just overall ticked off.  I have so much to say, and can barely phrase my emotions today.

I managed to squeeze out abbreviated versions of how I was feeling at Examiner.com today, but there is soooo much more in me that I need to get out.

Will mental health professionals in the school prevent future school shootings?
Media unfairly pointing to the fact that Adam Lanza was homeschooled

I looked at an old family photo of my family taken when my son was in Kindergarten, and I am sharing it with you.  I can't imagine the little kids in that photo being taken in violence and not allowed to grow up and be as amazing as they are today.   

This is all beyond tragic. 

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Will homeschooling keep our children safe from mass shootings?

It will keep them safe from any violence they could encounter in the school, but this kind of violence probably happens more outside the school buildings than within.

Read:

Homeschooling as a knee-jerk reaction to the Connecticut school shooting

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Over two dozen dead in Connecticut School Shooting?

Someone explain to me how you go into a school and kill children.  Here is my summary of the devastation in Newtown Connecticut. 

As of right how, there are still a lot of rumors abound.  The most disturbing of these rumors is that the gunman was the father of a Kindergartener whose intention was to kill his own child (and many others) in retaliation against the other parent.  I don't know if this is true or not.

The consensus is that there were two gunmen, one who killed himself and was about 24.  The  other person may have escaped.

Hug your kids a little tighter today.  I for one am very glad my very, very big son is home from college today, and my daughter is down the hall from me, safely sprawled across her bed reading.  As for me, my heart is sick and hurting for these innocent souls and their parents.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Local School Emergency Drama

This is on the news right now.  There was a carbon monoxide emergency (highest readings the emergency people have EVER detected) at Finch Elementary school.  Most parents found out about it because they noticed helicopters in the neighborhood and walked or drove to the school.  Some kids and teachers were taken to the hospital, the rest were bus on a but and taken to Brown Middle school.

Parents were told on the news that they could come and get their kids if they want, but now parents
are being told they will be locked up if they don't go behind the line and wait for instructions.  Their children are not being released to them.  One parent in particular on the news is saying that her child has severe asthma, and she wants to take her directly to the hospital, whether or not the school officials feel she is in danger or illness.  She has been told that she will be locked up if she does not leave the premises.  She has told the news that her child will never attend an Atlanta Public School again.

Can you say homeschooling anyone?

Ok... still watching the news, and I am realizing that these kids aren not being tested medically (I think), but separated from each other and being asked about symptoms... that is all. The want to continue with "School" at another location.

This is unorganized and out of order.  No regard is being given to parents... and kids are being kept from parents, probably to hopefully let the kids carbon monoxide level to drop so they won't be sued or whatever.  What they need to understand is that this is not a joke.  This could be fatal!  And the parent who wants her kid released to her because she has asthma...  needs to get on the phone with a lawyer.  Now!

I am sick, sick, sick, and so glad that my kids and I have not had to deal with this.  This reminds me of when my kids were in public school there were tornado warnings over and hour away.  The school refused to release the kids, and instead lined them up in the halls with their heads down and their butts in the air.  I could not get my kid when I had plenty of time to get them home and get in our own safe basement.... there was nothing safe about the school hallway.

The school does not know better than the parent... most of the time.  They've got to get over their superiority complex.



Two other things that bother me...

1.  Why aren't there carbon monoxide detectors in this BRAND NEW school?
2.  Why are some parents screaming racism?  Everything bad that happens in a black community is not racism.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Yet another school bus crash!

I just saw on the news that there was a school bus crash where a car tried to make a left turn in front of a school bus got hit.  The driver and a middle school child where life-flighted to a hospital, and 13 high school bus passengers where brought to the hospital by bus, and the school bus driver was also brought to the hospital.

This seems to happen a lot.

I spoke to a parent the other day who had a child on a school bus last week that had an accident and the parents were not informed.  They found out through the grape vine.  That parent began homeschooling this past Monday.  That was the last straw in a long list of complaints.

Last May 50 or more people were injured on a multiple school bus crash to Six Flags.

I know putting your child on the school bus is easier for parents than driving, but it has always made me nervous.  I am glad that we only have to be out and about the same time as the hectic morning commute (another factor) one day a week.  The rest of the days we stay home until rush hour is over.



FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

Middle Schoolers Gone Wild

Bullying has gone too far when middle schoolers attach a school bus monitor

 It is difficult to find someone who hasn't been bullied or has done bullying themselves. Back in my day, the response was "kids will be kids", or "it's a part of growing up", and it was just dismissed. When kids were especially brutish, parents tended to deny that their child had ever done such a thing. Currently, there is no denying the current bullying culture when kids record their bad deeds and post them online for all to see.

 read full article here

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

OK... no more school pranks ever

When I was a senior in high school we had a series of pranks that we now affectionately refer to as the AP Chem-Bio Wars. I'm not sure what started it, but when the dust cleared there was a fetal pig hung from the ceiling in the biology lab room, and the AP chemistry students were covered with formaldehyde (distributed in balloons)....   Don't even think about trying these things in today's schools.

 Full article here: http://www.examiner.com/article/senior-pranks-are-no-laughing-matter?cid=db_articles





FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Which song is most appropriate for Kindergarteners?

Song 1 

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Song 2

 And I was like baby, baby, baby ooh
Like baby, baby, baby nooo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)

 Baby, baby, baby ooh
Like baby, baby, baby nooo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought you'd always be mine (mine)

According to  Principal Greta Hawkins who "doesn't want to offend other cultures", song number 2 is most appropriate for kids to sing. Keep in mind that these are both choruses only, but it is clear that one is about loving the USA and the other, the accepted song is about mindless whining over a lost relationship... maybe the kids are singing to their wubbies....

Besides being clueless, I am sad to say that this principal is not only polarizing this school by religion, but by race as well.

 THIS IS NOT A JOKE.



FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

What is a public school push out? Jada Williams' experience

 If you have been following my blog, you may have noticed that I keep mentioning public school push-outs.  Public school push-outs are kids that have been deemed unteachable by the school.  They used to be drop-outs, but since homeschooling became virulently popular, schools have instead taken efforts to make kids miserable, and to find reasons to push them out of schools, in many cases, they suggest "homeschooling" to the parent.

Well, a powerful student has now joined the ranks of a homeschool push-out.  I don't know what educational course is ahead of her, but for
now, she has been pushed out of public schools in Rochester NY and her mom had to quit her job to come home to educate her.

WHY?  Looks like she is to smart for own good.  She was given an essay assignment about Fredrick Douglass biography.  She internalized it, and wrote about it from her heart.  It was not pretty, but it was her experience and how she felt.  The teacher and schools turned on her, but fortunately the community has rallied around her.
(as an adult, I can see where she could have softened her essay... not using phrases like "white teachers" and such, but she wrote from her heart, about her experience, and as a 13 year old.  Now she's already an ANGRY BLACK WOMAN.

http://www.publicschoolspending.com/daily-updates/new-york-teachers-harass-student-regarding-her-views-on-education-mother-alleges/


In case you can't understand every word in the video above, you can find the transcript here: http://lonsberry.com/writings.cfm?story=3320  
(only read the comment sections if you want to be fueled by hate)


As a parent of black children and the aunt of dozens of black children, I would like to think that if this had been one of mine, that I would have insisted on a round table of dialogue and stood behind what my child felt, while explaining that maturity may have tempered the words on the paper.  I would like to have had a conversation about there being validity her feelings about school and her parallels drawn in the book.  I would like to have thought that I could have convinced the teachers to not take it personally, and to perhaps think about their expectations of black children, hopefully causing some progress in the schools.

As a former resident of Rochester NY, I know that my kids would have never been in Rochester Public schools.  I realize this is kind of elitist, but I saw how bad the public schools were, with 12 and 13 year old girls killing each other over boys and fighting outside even the best of schools.  I personally bought a house in a town with a better school district, and still sent my son to a Catholic preschool.  Rochester public schools were bad when I was there over a decade ago... and they are clearly still bad.

As a parent who has homeschooled for most of the past decade, I know that while I would like to talk and cajole, and affect change in schools, I know that I don't have the time or patience for people to come around.  If there is a problem with the school or the educational system, I can't leave my child there.  I would much rather influence schools from the outside without my kids being the test dummy.

But I have seriously digressed.

I have met far too many Jada Williams' in my travels.  There are a great many accidental homeschoolers who the schools offered to put in Special Ed at best so parents have no choice but to remove these "undesirable" kids from schools.  Even worse than this is that the bar on what child is desirable or undesirable is on the move.   It used to be children who misbehaved were undesirable.... then it became kids who had slight learning difficulties that were too expensive for the school and brought down test scores... now it is kids who are highly intelligent, but speak out of turn... you know, too smart for their own good... kids like Jada Williams.


Also read

A 13-Year-Old's Slavery Analogy Raises Some Uncomfortable Truths in School

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

What are your daughters wearing to prom?

There is a big to-do about prom dresses in the news.  Apparently, high schools want it to be clear that girls should wear prom dresses that make them look like young ladies... not hookers.  Yes, I said that.  It completely floors me that parents are paying hundreds of dollars for dresses for their daughters that have so little fabric.  Have they forgotten their veto power?  Are they afraid to say no?  ... And will they really be surprised when their little girl comes home knocked up?  Yes, I said that too.

I'm sorry, but whether I buy my daughter a prom dress or not (yes, homeschoolers really do have proms), there will be quite a bit of body coverage. My rules are:

NO CLEAVAGE
NO BARE BACK
NO CUT OUTS
NO STRAPLESS without a cover up
NOTHING ABOVE THE KNEES


 Are my versions of a decent prom dress really so unbearable that girls can't look good and ladylike and still have a memorable night?






I especially like the idea of a vintage or period dress for prom. I'd be willing to pay a small fortune for that. My kid is really quirky and would wear something like this.



(all images from creative commons)

 FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

Words and phrases your kids may not learn in NYC public schools

Dinosaur
Halloween
Birthday
Poverty
Dancing
Divorce
Disease
Celebrities
Personal Computers
Backyard swimming pools
Politics
War
Violence

... and so many more. 

To be exact, it is not that they won't learn the words at school, but that tests will avoid any words that allude to anything that may be uncomfortable, emote feelings of insecurities or jealousy, or make kids feel left out.  So they won't see words that suggest evolution or creationism.  They won't see words that suggest poverty or riches.  They won't see words that may allude to a religion other than their own, and so forth and so on.  As far as I can see, there will be no nouns or verbs on these tests.  After all, could they use the word "run" when it may upset a handicapped kid?  Can they use the word "pie" when dessert is a rare treat at home?  This is sticky indeed.

And they say homeschoolers are crazy.






FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

Are you kidding me? Re: sexual abuse in California school

My brain can't even process this:

Former Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who resigned last year amid a school board's firing proceedings, was charged last week with 23 felony counts of lewd acts with pupils, a sheriff's spokesman said Wednesday. He is accused of taking bondage photos of more than two dozen students in his classroom, including some with suspected semen-filled spoons at their mouths.

In response, after years of ignoring complaints about this teacher, and a second teacher abusing the same kids, the entire school was emptied and restaffed.

What is worse?

~That it happened?

~That it was ignored by the principal and others?

~That a knee-jerk decision was made to yank everyone from the principal to the janitors?

~That parents want their old teachers back?
(~that this video is followed by the stupid titillating Valentine's Day commercial suggesting that women will give it up if you buy them flowers)
What a big mess.  This is an argument for homeschooling if ever there was one.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Should schools get to regulate potty breaks and if so, how?

 I remember being in elementary school... actually it was a catholic school.  In the  younger grades we took a bathroom break mid-morning and mid-afternoon.  If we had to go besides that, the teacher would ask, can you hold it until bathroom break?  If the answer was no, she sent you about your business. In older grades, teachers did not have a problem letting you go when you needed, except if you had to go every day or multiple times a day, you might need to have a conversation with the teacher, parent, and or principle to find out if you were OK or if you were trying to get out of class.

So in recent news...

"A Brooklyn elementary school teacher has come up with a controversial idea to get her children to hold it in."



I know before we started homeschooling, you couldn't pay my kids to go to the public restroom.  It was just too nasty. This inability or refusal to go to the bathroom at school actually did cause, or at lease exacerbate existing health problems for my son.  So when a teacher refuses or limits a child's ability to eliminate, it is problematic.

Then there's the risk of people taking it into their own hands.  A friend of my mother's once told the story of a teacher that refused to let her go to the bathroom.  So she stood next to the teacher and peed on purpose.  She got to go home and was never denied a bathroom pass again.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Mystery Illness at Le Roy High School in Upstate NY is troubling

I have read what the experts have to say, but am having a tough time swallowing it.

After baffling doctors there is a diagnosis. A condition called Conversion Disorder.
"This is subconscious, they're unaware of what they're doing," explained Dr. McVige
Which makes Conversion Disorder very complicated to diagnose and treat.
The disorder is caused solely by psychological factors, not a neurological or other medical condition.
"What it is...is maybe stressors, things that are uncomfortable events in your life mount up inside and kind of manifest itself in a physical manner," continued McVige.

12 girls at one highschool all get the same illness and they are calling it hysterical?  I am not a medical expert, but it appears to be environmental to me.  Maybe it's even food-bourne?

(note: changed video... other video stopped working)

Several of them are now being homeschooled.

I wonder if this can't be somehow related to a disorder called PANDAS





FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Homeschool rant, testing, online class drama

Transcript with corrections:

Ok, so this is my 2nd homeschool video in as many days.  I'd like to promise that I'll do this daily because I really want to, but I'm not going to do that. 

If you see me looking off a lot, it is because my screen on my laptop is busted, and I use a monitor, and I like to look at myself.

So what I want to talk about today...

So, here is Atlanta, there's been this huge testing scandal, and a bunch of public elementary schools (and I'm not really in Atlanta, I am north east, so it's not exactly my school, but it's close enough for it
to matter)... in a bunch of the schools, the teachers and the administrators doctored the standardized testing of homeschooled (meant to say public school) students.  And today it was announced that while they won't lose accreditation, they will lose control, or lose local control of schools, and the state is going to take control of the schools for some amount of time.  The good news is that the cheating happened to years ago, and last year while they were under scrutiny, the testing actually came out well.

... And it's just sad.  It makes me sad because it seems that all school is about is numbers.  Can we get these kids to answer questions to get a certain percentage of overall answers right to make it look like we are teaching our kids properly? It just frustrates me because when we are dealing with test scores, in order for kids to do well, someone has got to do badly.  I mean, what good is everyone getting 100%?  It doesn't show anything.  It just makes it like like the test is easy; and that's what's happening anyway.

(Husband singing)

So it just seems like in order to have success, you also have to have failure, and that just leads to another source of frustration I am having today.

My kids are out of town.  They're not here.  Every year they go to Bob Jones University (which is another story altogether) to compete in an arts festival they have chorus, and drama, and all that other yummy stuff. ... And it's good to have that classical training.  It's good to go to a place that while your ideals may not all match up, you're exposed.  You know, that whole exposure, socialization thing, right?

But before they left, they did all of their online work.  I have them doing Georgia Virtual Academy (School) this year, just for two classes for my son, and one class for my daughter. I just wanted them to try something different.  Have them work with some teachers before they go off to college, so they can see that different teachers are going to expect different things.  Well, that's what happened.

So,  they did all of their work on Friday before they left. As a matter of fact, they got it done pretty much Thursday, early Friday, and the due dates are every other week, so they are not worried about it this week, they can catch up, you would think.   So they did all of their work, and before they left they got an email that said servers are going to be down Friday night until Monday morning, and you'll have an extension to make sure all of your work is done, and where like whatever, the work is already done, so it's no big deal.

So my son get's a bad feeling and he checks his iPhone to find out that the work he has done is missing. So, he's out of town, and he can't get an internet connection, (Bob Jones University locks down the Internet) it's going to be a struggle to get it, and so he's getting zeros. Yeah. And for my daughter, I figured that if something is wrong with my son's stuff that I should go check my daughters and I emailed the teacher and the last things that she did, that she uploaded Friday, the last day, are missing.

And you think... OK, upgrade to website, some things got muddled or whatever, so my son's teacher are cool. They're like, well, he's a very good student, he's not in the habit of forgetting things, we really think something happened data-wise.  My daughter's teacher is like yeah, whatever. We'll see when she submits the stuff, if it's time stamped.  I don't know if the stuff is time stamped!  I mean, I guess we'll see.  And what it tells me is that I chose to deal with the public school system with these classes just for a different experience, and I got what I asked for (because it's free).

It's more important to follow these rules and get the data in so that scores can be made.  That's more important than them actually "getting" material. So in a couple of chapters, my son is struggling. He can't linger on those chapters, at all to learn it.  He has to say, OK, I don't know that material, but I've got to move on to the next chapter.  And in my daughter case, she feels like she's learned more about Spanish than she's ever learned, the curriculum is AWESOME, but she keeps running into these technical issues (she's not a big computer person) that are knocking her grade down.  So, I guess it is something that we have to suck up because my son is in college next year, and my daughter is in college the next year and there's going to be a whole lot of sucking up to do.  They are going to have to learn how to talk to the professors when things are going wrong, let them know in advance... find out how they can raise grades and the whole deal.

But on the homeschool realm, while there may be some value with dealing (with this) in the later grades, which my kids are doing, as a younger child, WHY?  Why would you do it that way when the child should be actually learning, and not learning how to pass tests, and not learning how to make grades? 

So.  That's my rant for the day.  Until next time, bye.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Atlanta Parents, need to look at their child's education

This is so sad.  

"The morning of Sept. 30, 2009, half a dozen such students — Chantel Cox among them — showed up in Milton Mack’s classroom at Carver. None was assigned to Mack’s special education classes. All, Mack would later tell investigators assigned to an internal inquiry by the school district, said they had been pulled out of their 11th-grade homerooms while their peers took the high school writing test.

“The students were upset and trying to walk out,” Mack told investigators. “They said they were told they weren’t juniors [but] they were told by somebody that they were juniors until that morning.”

Shortly, according to Mack’s account, principal Rodney Ray arrived to try to calm the students. Ray didn’t say so, but Mack told investigators he assumed the principal had pulled out the students so they wouldn’t hurt the school’s overall test score."

This article really makes me think about some thing that I have seen in my suburb of Atlanta.  I have seen students who were previously moderately successful, suddenly feel unwanted in the classroom.  I have seen special ed students suddenly mainstreamed at Grade 9 and promptly flunked. the goal, I can only guess was to encourage dropping out.  I know of several people homeschooling right now, not because they wanted to, but because they felt they had no other choice... the schools were not interested in helping them.

Read more here http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-atlanta/atlanta-parents-may-want-to-consider-homeschooling


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

Detention for too many potty breaks? | ajc.com

Hold your water. At one Illinois high school, too many bathroom breaks can equal detention after school. Detention for too many potty breaks? | ajc.com

This was one of the reasons homeschooling looked so good to us. Son was born with a stomach condition. He needs to go when he needs to go, but he couldn't. He was getting sicker and sicker in school. We suspect that this problem is why he had so many migraines too.

Once he was home a year or so, his problems became virtually non existent.