james1,
While I like the idea of what you say, the fact is alot of these parents know they are misfits and perhaps even take some pride in it.
I don't think you can shame someone into thinking or believing the same way you or I might.
But I do think you are on the right track.
Kids today are so worried about "being cool" and I recall that to be smart was not cool.
Why not?
Why not make studying hard cool? Of course, since the children come from such varied backgrounds, you have to work hard at overcoming the barriers that prevent learning. Kids that are hungry don't learn, so our schools feed them, kids come from broken homes, homes where the parents take out their frustrations on the children.
So while I'm not a big fan of government programs, I can see where some folks decided that these things were necessary to give some kids a better chance.
Looking back on my life, it's not the amount of money you grow up with that makes you a success or failure, but do your parents (or some role model) encourage you?
I was a screwball until 4th grade. Today, I probably would have been on drugs for ADHD. Instead, 30 years ago I had a teacher who didn't put up with my crap, and could see that there was a really intelligent boy who was basically bored with what was going on because the class was too slow.
I learned what I needed to learn quickly, and then played around until there was something new to learn. That included talking during class, getting up from my seat and running around, etc.
I didn't need a drug, I needed a challenge.
This particular teacher gave me that challenge.
But she also told me she knew I could do better, and she was right.
More rambling, as I've been thinking about this a bit, hopefully some of my thinking outloud will generate some more creative solutions or observations.
TB
While I like the idea of what you say, the fact is alot of these parents know they are misfits and perhaps even take some pride in it.
I don't think you can shame someone into thinking or believing the same way you or I might.
But I do think you are on the right track.
Kids today are so worried about "being cool" and I recall that to be smart was not cool.
Why not?
Why not make studying hard cool? Of course, since the children come from such varied backgrounds, you have to work hard at overcoming the barriers that prevent learning. Kids that are hungry don't learn, so our schools feed them, kids come from broken homes, homes where the parents take out their frustrations on the children.
So while I'm not a big fan of government programs, I can see where some folks decided that these things were necessary to give some kids a better chance.
Looking back on my life, it's not the amount of money you grow up with that makes you a success or failure, but do your parents (or some role model) encourage you?
I was a screwball until 4th grade. Today, I probably would have been on drugs for ADHD. Instead, 30 years ago I had a teacher who didn't put up with my crap, and could see that there was a really intelligent boy who was basically bored with what was going on because the class was too slow.
I learned what I needed to learn quickly, and then played around until there was something new to learn. That included talking during class, getting up from my seat and running around, etc.
I didn't need a drug, I needed a challenge.
This particular teacher gave me that challenge.
But she also told me she knew I could do better, and she was right.
More rambling, as I've been thinking about this a bit, hopefully some of my thinking outloud will generate some more creative solutions or observations.
TB
