Like a broken watch, idiots are right once in a while

I read this story today. I agree with the President on this one. Children should be taught in the way that facilitates eagerness to learn. That feeds their curiosity. 


Sadly today that does not happen in most schools. As Obama states, "All you're learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test and that's not going to make education interesting."


I agree. This has been an issue for us since we made the final decision to home school our children 8 years ago. Children are no longer taught the basics they need to become intelligent adults. They are programmed to pass a test that in turn generates money for the school. They retain very little of this information and many lose interest in learning period. By the time they reach high school they have very little knowledge and most are incapable of doing research. They are programmed to recite the "answers" someone else has given them without any thought that that answer may be wrong.
If you don't believe me, next time you are at the store and your total comes to say $7.83 hand the cashier $13 and wait for the confused look on their face. It usually isn't until the register tells them the change is $5.17 thats they "might" then realize that your goal was to get back a $5 bill. What is more telling is if they don't type in the $13 correctly, or in some cases, hand you back the $3. They are at a complete loss to think of anything that is not already programmed into their heads. 

This applies to everything in their lives. Children today lack reasoning skills, they lack creativity and they lack the personal responsibility needed to survive. They have become so reliant on others for information. In a religious school, or homeschool, children are taught that God will help them thru their life. That God is who you look to when you need help. That God is who we rely on. In government schools they are taught that government will help them thru their life. That government is who you look to when you need help. That government is who we rely on. With God, he offers us guidance, but we have to put for the effort. With government, there is little effort, if any required. The answers are handed to them, so the government looks good. 

I am not sure what Obama's solution will be but I am sure it involves more tax money, bigger government, and a reduction in parental rights. I'd like to be optimistic, but I know his pattern. 

If I were president, or, more realistically, were to elect some one who would be president, I would want to first focus on disassembling the Dept of Education. I would put education back into the hands of the States. I'd like to see a separation of school and state, but I will take baby steps. I think the first focus of schools needs to be competition. Let the parents choose. America is about freedom of choice isn't it! We allow a woman the choice of whether or not she can abort her child- one of the arguments being, if we cant trust her with the choice, we cant trust her with a child. Well if she chooses to give birth to that child, why cant we trust her to choose the proper education for her child. Why cant she choose the child's school? What are they afraid of? I know. Its not about your child. Its about power. ( see clip) 

American education would flourish if we let kids be kids. Let them learn. Encourage them to grow. Challenge them. Let them fail. When they succeed it will be appreciated more. They will grow up and continue to seek out knowledge. Our children aren't numbers on a test score. They shouldn't be treated as such.