Post by youngdan on Oct 23, 2010 4:48:32 GMT
There comes a time when reality must be faced. Ireland soon will be presented with it. It should be viewed as a great blessing. It will be a sledgehammer blow between the eyes and it if dosn't cure them then it will kill them. Either way it will be an improvement.
But how did it come to the stage that is present today. Forget this chat about it being the fault of the bankers or the politicians or the gombeens or whoever. The fault entirely rests on the regular people of the country. It has been their own stupidity that has laid them low. Even in yesterdays paper I saw quoted an amazing oiece of absolute drivel. Michael D Higgins was making a comment on the Eastern European who hung himself because his dole ran out. He proclaimed that there should be a permanent floor below which nobody should be allowed to fall, into poverty. This idiot is being considered for presdent.
What does it say about a nation when a clown like this is taken seriousely.
It says that the level of understanding about basic economic reality is very low indeed. These lads are likely to be the next government ;D
The dumbing down process appears to have worked it's magic well and reading other boards has me convinced that there are many idiots throughout the land.
This brings us to the topic at hand. Education.
It seems to be a total waste of about 16 billion euro a year foran archaic system of one mediocre teacher standing in front of about 25 empty skulls. The odds appear stacked against a student wishing to learn. There must be a wide disparity in the group and the standard is lowered each year.
Pick up any examination of say 70 years ago and compare it to today and be prepared for a shock
Therefore it was with great enthusiasm that I decided to homeschool my son of 12 this year.
Up to this he had gone to a private Catholic school and achieved good grades. Then his grades just fell off a cliff. I put this down to 2 things. A touch of rebellion, common to a boy of his age, which is to be expected. Secondly once he failed to grasp something he got frustrated and tuned out. In a classroom setting a kid can be tuned out for a long time and is lost easily.
My first task was to decide on the subjects I wished to teach him. I choose history, science, geography, maths, english, health, spanish, civics, biography and arts. 10 in all.
I will need help with english, spanish and arts but the others I can take him through University if necessary.
I have found a great study aid to assist me. It is the Khan Academy
www.khanacademy.org/
It is amazing. Check it out. An MIT and Harvard MBA who chucked it all in and has decided to teach the world. Everytime I am on there are about 2300 others on at that time studying. Mostly we have being doing maths so far. It has 2 great advantages, 1 everything is laid out in order and 2 I can pause everytime I see that he is not grasping something and take the time to explain it to him.
This one on one situation is ideal. From this site w have learned about banking for our civics and we have done some chemistry. The site recently won a 2 million dollar grant from google to expand it's 1800 videos into languages etc.
We have also done a good deal of history. I tnd to take one particular event and study it closely. For example we spent a good deal of time learning about The Mayflower Compact and why is was so important.
As part of Civics we spent a lot of time learning about the convention that eventually produced the US Constitution.
I think this is the future of education. Granted not everyone is in the position that I am but one would be surprised the free time that is available. I for example rarely watch TV and I know plenty of people who watch football on Sunday from 11am pregames to the end of the night game at about 10pm.
One person could teach a small group of maybe 5 without too much bother imo.
It is time to bring in private education.
It would be a great step in reviving civilization
But how did it come to the stage that is present today. Forget this chat about it being the fault of the bankers or the politicians or the gombeens or whoever. The fault entirely rests on the regular people of the country. It has been their own stupidity that has laid them low. Even in yesterdays paper I saw quoted an amazing oiece of absolute drivel. Michael D Higgins was making a comment on the Eastern European who hung himself because his dole ran out. He proclaimed that there should be a permanent floor below which nobody should be allowed to fall, into poverty. This idiot is being considered for presdent.
What does it say about a nation when a clown like this is taken seriousely.
It says that the level of understanding about basic economic reality is very low indeed. These lads are likely to be the next government ;D
The dumbing down process appears to have worked it's magic well and reading other boards has me convinced that there are many idiots throughout the land.
This brings us to the topic at hand. Education.
It seems to be a total waste of about 16 billion euro a year foran archaic system of one mediocre teacher standing in front of about 25 empty skulls. The odds appear stacked against a student wishing to learn. There must be a wide disparity in the group and the standard is lowered each year.
Pick up any examination of say 70 years ago and compare it to today and be prepared for a shock
Therefore it was with great enthusiasm that I decided to homeschool my son of 12 this year.
Up to this he had gone to a private Catholic school and achieved good grades. Then his grades just fell off a cliff. I put this down to 2 things. A touch of rebellion, common to a boy of his age, which is to be expected. Secondly once he failed to grasp something he got frustrated and tuned out. In a classroom setting a kid can be tuned out for a long time and is lost easily.
My first task was to decide on the subjects I wished to teach him. I choose history, science, geography, maths, english, health, spanish, civics, biography and arts. 10 in all.
I will need help with english, spanish and arts but the others I can take him through University if necessary.
I have found a great study aid to assist me. It is the Khan Academy
www.khanacademy.org/
It is amazing. Check it out. An MIT and Harvard MBA who chucked it all in and has decided to teach the world. Everytime I am on there are about 2300 others on at that time studying. Mostly we have being doing maths so far. It has 2 great advantages, 1 everything is laid out in order and 2 I can pause everytime I see that he is not grasping something and take the time to explain it to him.
This one on one situation is ideal. From this site w have learned about banking for our civics and we have done some chemistry. The site recently won a 2 million dollar grant from google to expand it's 1800 videos into languages etc.
We have also done a good deal of history. I tnd to take one particular event and study it closely. For example we spent a good deal of time learning about The Mayflower Compact and why is was so important.
As part of Civics we spent a lot of time learning about the convention that eventually produced the US Constitution.
I think this is the future of education. Granted not everyone is in the position that I am but one would be surprised the free time that is available. I for example rarely watch TV and I know plenty of people who watch football on Sunday from 11am pregames to the end of the night game at about 10pm.
One person could teach a small group of maybe 5 without too much bother imo.
It is time to bring in private education.
It would be a great step in reviving civilization