Reorienting My Mind
Do not be bullied out of your common sense by the specialist; two to one, he is a pedant. --Oliver Wendell Holmes
That's good advice. It seems like there are all sorts of specialists these days - reading specialists, behavior specialists, curriculum specialists, etc...I think, too often, we parents get caught up in the notion that these guys possess some superior knowledge or insight simply because their job title contains the word 'specialist'. There are reading programs marketed as superior due to being written by a specialist. Behavior specialists who spend minimal time observing a child tell parents and teachers how they must interact with the child. Public school teachers are required to follow such plans whether they agree with the specialist or not. Curriculum specialists put together programs; and, we subscribe to the false belief that the program must be good. How could it be otherwise? After all, many specialists were consulted in the creating of that program. It would be interesting to know when, in the history of education, specialists first appeared. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning them when I was in school 20 years ago.
I was blog surfing last night and came across a blurb about how much money per year is spent on educating one public school student. It was upwards of $7000. The guy writing the blog questioned what it was being spent for. I think the answer is specialists. It's simple. Those people get paid. If the public school system hires them, then the money comes out of school budgets thereby increasing the average cost to educate students. What a waste! I can think of lots of better things they could spend the money on.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can move on to examining my curriculum choices for this year; because, I am thinking that I, myself, have gotten somewhat pedantic lately. What was I thinking when I ordered all 4th grade level materials? The answer: I thought they had to have a 4th grade education; because, they're in 4th grade. These kids scored 99 and 97 percentiles on last year's CAT-5. It's no wonder they have been complaining.
Now, I get to spend my weekend revamping my perfectly put together curriculum. I'd rather be out in the yard weedeating.
That's good advice. It seems like there are all sorts of specialists these days - reading specialists, behavior specialists, curriculum specialists, etc...I think, too often, we parents get caught up in the notion that these guys possess some superior knowledge or insight simply because their job title contains the word 'specialist'. There are reading programs marketed as superior due to being written by a specialist. Behavior specialists who spend minimal time observing a child tell parents and teachers how they must interact with the child. Public school teachers are required to follow such plans whether they agree with the specialist or not. Curriculum specialists put together programs; and, we subscribe to the false belief that the program must be good. How could it be otherwise? After all, many specialists were consulted in the creating of that program. It would be interesting to know when, in the history of education, specialists first appeared. I don't recall anyone ever mentioning them when I was in school 20 years ago.
I was blog surfing last night and came across a blurb about how much money per year is spent on educating one public school student. It was upwards of $7000. The guy writing the blog questioned what it was being spent for. I think the answer is specialists. It's simple. Those people get paid. If the public school system hires them, then the money comes out of school budgets thereby increasing the average cost to educate students. What a waste! I can think of lots of better things they could spend the money on.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can move on to examining my curriculum choices for this year; because, I am thinking that I, myself, have gotten somewhat pedantic lately. What was I thinking when I ordered all 4th grade level materials? The answer: I thought they had to have a 4th grade education; because, they're in 4th grade. These kids scored 99 and 97 percentiles on last year's CAT-5. It's no wonder they have been complaining.
Now, I get to spend my weekend revamping my perfectly put together curriculum. I'd rather be out in the yard weedeating.
Labels: homeschooling, life
posted by Cindy at 10:34 AM
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