Originally Posted by
EllieGirl
As a retired teacher, I can say these are pretty accurate. It's not a matter of where the schools are located, but the economic and educational levels of the parents. If we move, most of us would do it on weekends and after work. Low income parents many times keep their kids home for a week to help. Also, if we have to go to the doctor we do it after school. Not true for many.
Parents shouldn't be screaming for better education for their kids. Teachers are screaming for better help from home. When a five year old walks into kindergarten and does not recognize the letters of the alphabet or numbers, that child is behind already that is the fault of the parents, not the teachers!!
Oh yes! I could write a book on this topic, as I'm sure most teachers can. One of my favorite excuses of all time was concerning homework. Sometimes if a child hadn't done homework, the parent would hurriedly do it before dropping them off at school. Best part was that it was first grade, the children wrote in manuscript, and the parent did the homework in script! Another one of my favorites was if the child had no homework, I would either get a note from the parent (or the mom would drop in and say
please excuse little ....... for having no homework done. It was my fault. We had to go to Walmart.
Yes, it is so wrong for teachers to be judged by the performance of the children. So much depends on the parents. The school system has so much to plow through before the child can learn at school. I was teaching first grade before there were even pre K and kindergarten classes. We got some kids "raw" from their homes. WE had to do things like potty train, teach them to use a fork at lunchtime, etc. I'd better step down off my soap box before I blow a gasket.