Spin off: Literacy.......I was told this week that local schools do not expect, teach

[Ferdie]

Our school teaches MLA citing starting in the 6th grade. They also research plagiarism in the 7th grade. They define plagiarism, research the consequence in college by looking it up on three different college websites, and they write a few paragraphs about Stephen Ambrose

[Joanne]

:001_huh:

 

So...what you are telling me is that I can mess up this homeschooling thing pretty wretchedly before I come close to the level of the average ps....or private school. (How do you not rip out your eyeballs trying to teach in this atmosphere?:confused: I'm ticked off for these kids!!! They have been cheated out of an education!!!)

 

 

).

 

This is probably fodder for another thread, but I love my school and I love teaching there! My students are (mostly) quite high functioning, engaged, lively with discussion, thought and articulate.

 

The quality of their writing is adequate (with few exceptions) and, in some cases, excellent.

[Perry]

That's what they told you, at least. :D

You are fortunate that you have access to an excellent school. But there are truly very big differences in teaching and curriculum, and it can't all be blamed on the students.

 

The high school my kids attend has fantastic extracurriculars. Our girls' and boys' basketball teams are each ranked number one in the state. Other sports are highly ranked. The music department is fabulous and the show choirs, bands, and orchestra have won many awards. Our dance team places high in nationals each year. Parents tend to think the school is outstanding. This high school is in a very affluent area, with few low SES kids. These kids are smart, with lots of professional parents with high expectations. They think their kids are getting a good education, but I disagree.

 

We have another high school in town that really does do an excellent job. The courses are rigorous and expectations are high. They are in a much less affluent area, yet the school seems to be much better.

 

These two schools are in the same area, but different school districts. The leadership, curricula, and priorities are very different.

 

Here's how they compare:

 

Our school:

Total Enrollment - 1510

American Indian - 4 (0%)

Asian - 55 (4%)

Black - 48 (3%)

Hispanic - 22 (1%)

White - 1381 (91%)

Free Lunch Eligible - 127 (8%)

Reduced-Price Lunch Eligible - 41 (3%)

Combined Free or Reduced - 168 (11%)

Number of AP scholars: 27

National AP Scholarship awards: 1

 

 

The other school:

Total Enrollment - 1617

American Indian - 6 (0%)

Asian - 39 (2%)

Black - 315 (19%)

Hispanic - 57 (4%)

White - 1200 (74%)

Free Lunch Eligible - 503 (31%)

Reduced-Price Lunch Eligible - 85 (5%)

Combined Free or Reduced - 588 (36%)

Number of AP scholars: 173

National AP Scholarship awards: 16

 

They have over 6 times as many AP scholars as we do, with a much more challenging population! It's no mystery. They teach better.

Edited January 15, 2011 by Perry

[GypsieFamily]

I thought EndNote just did it all for us these days. Tell it what referencing style, directly import citation, use cwyw. So easy. So lazy. Do remember to check it's worked though...I got penalized for forgetting a heading 'references'. Maybe Australia is stricter?

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Well then, I guess my dc are out of fashion. I require a full bibliography and we documented facts and quotes with every research paper/project and they do one major paper/project a month. They get a LOT of practice.

[laughing lioness]

My dh teaches on-line undergrad and grad college classes. He demands the papers turned in to be APA correct. One grad student, about to graduate, told him that he had NEVER been required to turn in papers with such high standards. Another student told my dh that she learned more about writing in his class (into to psych) than she had ever learned before.

[Chris in VA]

We were behind on writing in homeschool high school--it was a big regret of mine. I thought it would be a big disadvantage for my son, but it turned out that the 3rd (sophmore level) English class he took was all about writing a research paper. That's ALL they did--write ONE paper, going thru the process step-by-step. It was not a remedial class or a low-level, Freshman class.

He got an A.

 

It's funny, b/c he had other classes in which papers were required, which he took first, but this class is a must for most sophmores.

 

I guess the college feels the students don't get it in high school (which was the case with my son, but not the case around here, typically--my other, ps'd son, had to write one as a senior in hi sch).

[Mejane]

My .02. I think if you've been taught to write a decent short paper and are given the guidelines for quoting and citing, you should be able to write a research paper. It's not super difficult. My daughter jumped into college english having never written a research paper and still managed to earn an A on her first one. It's a trial by fire, but it can be done.

 

ETA: I'm not advocating NOT learning this in high school. We just didn't get to it with her. My son is doing one now in 9th grade. :)

[LibraryLover]

I agree, it's not Rocket Science (if you don't have any learning issues). Now they know because Joann is teaching them. Better late than never. If they still don't know how to do it after being taught, there may be some issues that need tending. Let us hope they can get that help.

 

My .02. I think if you've been taught to write a decent short paper and are given the guidelines for quoting and citing, you should be able to write a research paper. It's not super difficult. My daughter jumped into college english having never written a research paper and still managed to earn an A on her first one. It's a trial by fire, but it can be done.

 

ETA: I'm not advocating NOT learning this in high school. We just didn't get to it with her. My son is doing one now in 9th grade. :)