Posted on 03/28/2012 5:55:30 AM PDT by jda
BS! I make enough typos, or because replying to messages like this is “stream of consciousness,” I will sometimes for get to pluralize a word, or make some other grammatical error. Then there are those induced by editing what I’m writing where “cut-and-paste” gets in the way, i.e. the editing wasn’t THAT successful.
I’ve written TONS of documentation in my 30+ year career, had a few articles published in technical journals, etc. I make typos... you wouldn’t hire me.. your loss!
I learned that if I did my homework, I'd get a good grade.
Uh.
So having a just sent a 18-year-old off to college myself, I’d say that we found a happy medium somewhere in the middle for him. I feel the kids need to have a life outside of school, i.e. they need a child-hood!
My kid went to some structured activities, and he had some time to burn on his own. He was forever doing his own projects beyond school/structured activities - which has led him to wanting to be a film maker.
Like yourself, he had some tendencies towards being an introvert. One of his activities was scouting, where he learned some leadership skills. Having a chance to practice them helped him to be much more confident in front of people, i.e. helping him get over his fears of public speaking, etc. He eventually became the SPL and got even more experience herding cats. ;-)
He is as ready for the outside world as we can make him. Time will tell how successful we were.
Looking back on my own life - I did just enough homework to get a B average in High School. Usually I did it between classes. When I got to college it was a real challenge to learn study habits. That was one of the things I wanted my kid to avoid. Like I said - happy mediums are possible.
Happy mediums are absolutely achievable and necessary for teens. Introverted teens often become listless and get into dead-end hobbies like video gaming. I am a video gamer now, but when I was in high school, video gaming consisted of my Nintendo and the neighbor kids. Nowadays games are so involved that kids become lost in them (think: World of Warcraft).
I was also a Scout and found scouting to be a necessity as a young man. My yet-to-be conceived children will be scouts/brownies as well. It breeds leadership, personal responsibility, and social skills that are becoming a rarity among kids these days.
I bid your son the best of luck. Today’s colleges are intellectual minefields. I’m 10 years out from graduation as an undergrad, and the academe tapestry is no longer one of universality but progressive specificity.
This guy obviously has a hidden agenda.The agenda isn't hard to figure out:
1. Coddle teachers unions; make their job as easy as possible.
2. Create an army of graduating ignoramuses who will willingly vote socialist.
homework = homeschooling
Actually in my experience by the time most people figure out that they can do things they don't want to do many of the opportunities in life have passed them by.
I want my kids to have the opportunity to pursue anything they may wish to try in life and I want to instill the self discipline to accomplish their goals.
I have great memories of my childhood and I want them to be kids and to be able to look back with the same fondness I do. I am very tuned into to them and make sure they can do the things they want but I also want them to learn to do the things they need to do to be successful at whatever they pursue.
If I was still living in some of the other places we have lived we probably would be homeschooling them.
My daughter in particular is very social she really thrives on the interaction with the other kids so for now at least the Montana public schools are best for her.
One of the most successful educational systems is the Jewish ‘yeshiva’, where the students comes to class having read teh lesson and prepared to discuss it.
The parent does not ask what did you learn, but “what questions did you ask?”
Pubkil skools are in failure mode.
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