Concerns about children's education

[welsummerchicks]

I can see the argument in favor of an informal email language for kids to communicate with each other, but not for a teacher to communicate with a parent.

 

[Big Dreamer]

Ok im still in school 7th grade and my english teacher does NOT teach none of this stuff! She expects us to know it already when she hasnt taught it..teachers confuse me!
Oh and I don't use many words like "Thnx" Or things like that i spell everything out use commas and periods, but i do say Omg, and things like that, but stupid little shortcuts like "soz" as in sorry is just plain dumb.

 

[welsummerchicks]

OH EM GEE!!!! An eyewitness! Aha!

It's "My teacher does not teach ANY of this stuff".

Any? Never ever ever? In any grade? (incomplete sentences....LOL)

By seventh grade, I would think that a lot of spelling and grammar had already been taught.

For example, have you been taught how to diagram a sentence - verb, noun, adjective, direct object, etc?

Have you been taught adjective, direct object, etc, what those terms mean?

When you write something for school, do you rely on 'spell check' or other computer programs to check for grammar and spelling, or do you check grammar and spelling yourself.

 

[AKsmama]

Quote:
However, you do use punctuation here. Look at what you just wrote. You used commas and periods and an exclamation point, even. There are a lot of people who don't do that much, and then expect other users to decipher what they write. Being informal is ok. Being downright indecipherable, when all anyone has to go on is what is what you write, isn't.

What does that mean? Just because I dont know what that means that I'm not good reader?

Dictionary.com is your friend, Steven. Being a good reader is looking up the definition of words you don't know so then you can know them. Try doing that instead of acting like a smart aleck.

 

[welsummerchicks]

The dictionary is your friend too. Both indecipherable and undecipherable are in the dictionary.

Often people use the word 'undecipherable', but 'indecipherable' doesn't set off most spell checkers and sounds a little classier.

Both 'undecipherable' and 'indecipherable' are in the current Oxford Dictionary. If asked, most people think 'indecipherable' is more correct, but both are in the Oxford dictionary.

The purpose of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar is to make sure one's ideas are not misunderstood, and can easily be read and understood by others.

Using standard grammar, spelling and punctuation means that a person can read and absorb more information more quickly. Standardization has a value.

The longer a reader has to puzzle to identify the word or sentence, the less s/he can complete reading of and the less well s/he will absorb, understand and remember. Standard grammar, punctuation and spelling really does have a purpose and it really is beneficial.

Type in the word in google and the definition will pop up. Takes one second. Learn a new word.

But this is just another one of my gripes about school education.

Anyone who's gone through a few grades of school should be able to break this word down into

UN DE CIPHER and ABLE, and know what each part means, and look up 'CIPHER' very easily and figure out what the word means just by looking up the root.

But google makes it so someone doesn't even have to think or break down words....which also bothers me.

People just aren't getting taught to do any sort of analytic thinking in school.

 

[Royd]

Are we really interested in the root cause of the problem or are we just going to chat about symptoms, all day?

The truth is, there is an insidious evil, which has invaded our learning institutions,[What better place to start, than with young minds?] and it has been embraced, as a whole, by those who think it's a magnanimous principle that noone excell and make a loser out of everyone else.

When the kindergartener comes to school, on the first day of class and has their shiny new box of 48 crayons, with the built in sharpener, absconded by the teacher, and put into the common supply, because Little Johnny's parents could only afford a box of 12 basic colors, and he shouldn't be made to feel less important......Well, there's your answer. And sad to say, for the sake of this forum, it is politcal.

 

[zippitydooda]

Quote:

 

[PineappleMama]

I think kiddos need to know how important punctuation is... just give the example...

Let's eat Grampa!

Versus

Let's eat, Grampa!

Really makes a lot of difference... especially for poor Gramps! Teaching it doesn't have to be horrid, an example like that is actually rather fun IMO... but it does need to be taught else who knows what kind of mistakes might be made!!

 

[vanilla.exe]

Graduating high school is all about doing homework anyway. Doesn't matter if you do well on tests and prove that you know your stuff. It only matters that you pass in your homework. That really irked me because I never did homework but got awesome test scores (I love to learn and retain knowledge very well if I read it). I had to take summer school senior year and graduate late while other kids I knew who were complete idiots and didn't know a chicken from an egg graduated on time because they "tried". Sickening.

 

[rufus]

Quote:
"From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs." It is not even a full sentence, but it sure tells it like it is.

Rufus