School. My son is Failing some subjects. Should I worry?

the public education system is for idiots.

take him out and home school him.

you'll be able to learn aside him as you teach him!

search out programs until you find one that seems to work well with your child's learning style.

i'm 23.. i quit high school, but tried, couldn't keep myself interested. then i saw how much money is made from high traffic websites through advertising and never needed a job again. most people my age come nowhere close.

there is always a way to make money.. i'm glad you taught your son some basic skills my grandfather was a laborer one and tried to teach me how to lay bricks, what long summers those were

reply to post by Pedro4077


STEP ONE: Slowly read the title of your thread;
STEP TWO: Decide IF the title IS worded correctly; and,
STEP THREE: Let us know IF English IS your first language.

Originally posted by totallackey
reply to post by Pedro4077

 

STEP ONE: Slowly read the title of your thread;
STEP TWO: Decide IF the title IS worded correctly; and,
STEP THREE: Let us know IF English IS your first language.

I have no idea what you are talking about my friend.

Originally posted by Pedro4077

Originally posted by totallackey
reply to post by Pedro4077

 

STEP ONE: Slowly read the title of your thread;
STEP TWO: Decide IF the title IS worded correctly; and,
STEP THREE: Let us know IF English IS your first language.

I have no idea what you are talking about my friend.

Now I think you are tipping kangaroos or wallabies...is that a sport down under?

If you have to ask of us and then seem to support his lack of interest with your comments, then, no, don't worry.

We can suspect that he will grow up to be just like his father.

I hope at some point in the future you will be pleased with your influence and support you have given him

Originally posted by totallackey

Originally posted by Pedro4077

Originally posted by totallackey
reply to post by Pedro4077

 

STEP ONE: Slowly read the title of your thread;
STEP TWO: Decide IF the title IS worded correctly; and,
STEP THREE: Let us know IF English IS your first language.

I have no idea what you are talking about my friend.

Now I think you are tipping kangaroos or wallabies...is that a sport down under?

don't worry, he "has good maths and english". he told me so.

I just can't see the problem with starting work at an early age if you're ready.

You can always go back and study at a later date.

reply to post by Aliensun

We can suspect that he will grow up to be just like his father.

I left school at 16, got an apprentiship and brought my first house at 26. I would be glad for him to follow in my footsteps.

Look man, you're coming at this all wrong...

What people are trying to tell you is, no matter how skilled he may be at those trades, the fact remains that it will be much more difficult for him to find a job without an education.

It doesn't matter whether you think that education is necessary for those trades. It matters what an employer thinks. And if an employer has two candidates for a job, and one of them has finished high school whereas the other one has dropped out, which one do you think he is going to hire? 9 times out of 10 (if not all 10), it's obviously going to be the person who graduated. Being a drop-out, right or wrong, gives the impression of being lazy and/or not seeing things through, being a quitter, etc...

And it's all fine and dandy that, as of right now, he wants to follow in your footsteps. But he's 15. Do you not think it is possible that he may change his mind? I changed my mind about what i wanted to do for a living every other day when i was a teenager. Hell, i'm an adult, and i still can't decide.
And if he does change his mind, and he doesn't have even a basic high school education, then he will be screwed. Enabling him by agreeing that his education is pointless will severely limit his options later in life.

Originally posted by Pedro4077

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by Pedro4077

 

Instead of worrying about curriculum issues right now, my honest advice is to sit down with your child and have a good, calm, "person to person" heart to heart talk to find out if there are underlying issues. If you are seen as the disciplinarian in the family - then maybe having a trusted relative or family friend do it is a better idea.

A sudden drop in grades could be a red flag for many things... depression, social difficulties, self-doubt, behavior issues, etc. Often puberty is to blame. And this can be an opportunity to address some deeper issues - before worrying about school based ones.

~Heff

He has represented our town in Rugby League and Rugby Union. He is very popular at school and is very good with Maths and English. Science, Geography, Drama and History are not his strong points.

I too was uninterested in this until I got older, we are a hands on Trade Family.
My brother is a Diesel Mechanic, the other is a Plumber, I have done various Trades. That's where he wants to go.

Way to set the bar high.

Let him drop out. You don't learn anything in school, anyway. HS dropouts usually are far more successful in whatever they try to do in life than actual graduates. And forget university, I mean, come ON. Who's going to ever use things like engineering or hydraulics or electricity in REAL life?

Although I am not sure about about your school system, in most schools that kind of math is covered in grades 6-7. (11-13 years old).

You said your son was 15. Perhaps the school is letting him down. If they are behind he might be bored.

And yes IMO, you should be worried.

Originally posted by Pedro4077

 

No I am teaching him about hard work. Read an earlier post. He is turning 15, he can drive, weld, concrete, fence and many other hands on skills.

If you are happy with your child being limited to blue collar work for the rest of his life and feel that at 15 years of age, he's old enough to make the same decisions to limit his own potential, then by all means there is no need to worry about him sucking in school.

If however, you really want the best for your child, then in addition to teaching him how to pour concrete, weld, and drive, you should be busting his ass to perform better in school. Reward his accomplishments and punish his academic failures. While you may not seem to understand the value of knowing the Pythagorean theorem, I can assure you it isn't rocket science and unless he wants to be known as being a dummy for the rest of his life, he needs to get a firm understanding of these basic principals.

On an unrelated issue, it does make me a bit happier knowing that you aren't American. Although, I don't really expect much more from anyone here either.... sad really.

Hi Pedro, I read your OP and at least two pages of replies, I think the first thing you need to do is change your attitude, and I don't mean to disrespect you at all with that statement, DO NOT bash the school at all, if your son see's that you don't like the school or the system then how do you expect him to.

As already pointed out, find some way to reward him for good grades, at least Bs or better, don't be too strict with that, but tell your son that as long as he stays above average, he will do just fine and you'll accept that.

keep in mind that you are most likely NOT going to change the school system by yourself overnight, in the meantime your son needs help NOW, you don't have much time left.

And most of all, we as parents don't always have all the answers, but I'm a firm believer in asking for help or seeking out information you need, school is there to teach your kid how to do this, and so are you.

And last but not least, Don't be too proud to talk to your kid and show them what mistakes you have made, and how you overcame them and prospered.


I have used these things with my own child and my stepson, my child just graduated elemetary school at the top of her class, among 20 out of about 125, and my stepson just joined the Navy, getting in with a high score on his test.



I wish you all the best




Peace

reply to post by Pedro4077


lol from the sound of it your boy will make a good little worker bee
runs in the family i imagine

the worst bit is that due to this disinterest you are contributing to the
eventual removal of subjects like geometry and history,
subjects not at all necessary in any case for factory bots

reply to post by Pedro4077


As someone who graduated two years ago I can honestly say there is no need for the current schooling system. They force students to sit in one spot for an hour, no interaction with others just shut up and listen. I and most others, are incapable of listening to a person drone on about the same thing for more than five minutes, let alone an hour. Since communication is truly like reading a book; if you dont capture your audience within the first five minutes, you shall not be paid attention too. Then this procedure is repeated eight times a day. Then what you are taught is only theoretics, you are not given any examples of real world uses or see any fruits to your mental labors. Yet I digress. Your son sounds to be a physical learner rather than visual, numerical, or oratorical learner.

My advice is for mathematics such as geometry have him work out the formulas and then build something based off of those formulas. Algebra is completely useless unless he plans on taking physics, which is useless unless your a physicist. Triganometry is just an advanced form of geometry, in which you are not given all of the measurements of the space needed. Yet in reality you are capable of measuring all such distances or already have a pre-constructed notion of the size you want. Thus all jobs using Triganometry excluding ballistics and rocketry, do not need anything more than a good knowledge of Geometry. Calculus is incomprehensible to me therefore i shall not discuss it.

On science have him learn the useful sciences, such as biology, environmental science, etc. Beyond the basics of chemistry and all of physics (as mentioned earlier) are useless unless one plans on being a specialized scientist; which takes a special kind of knowledge, not learned but born with.

On Literature and language, ( but since you're an Australian i'll just say English) i would say that as long as one contains a good verbal repertoire, it shoud be sufficent. Punctuation and grammer are moreso formalities for writers of literature to ease eystrain and give an impression of spoken word, but spelling is important. My advice would be to have him read some adult fiction such as science fiction or fantasy. Since most of these have a fun story it should make him want to read more, and the beauty of reading is the more you do it the better you become at it.

On history. First let me say that most history teachers are very boring, its a here copy these notes and listen to my lecture style that is non-conducive to learning. My advice would honestly be to get him a game called Civ IV. whenever he chooses his leader make him go to the library and online to learn about that country then its culture then allow him to play. IT should give a more rewarding aspect to the learning process.

Wow i'm sorry that got very long I apologize.

talk to him,, show him that he needs to be smart to make it in life,.,. show him that he will need to work hard,,, and that there are colleges for any career he can imagine,, but it starts now with him,, retaining information, and gaining and interest in academia and knowledge,.,. be his best friend,,, try to figure out what his skills and passions may be,,. try to observe what he may be interested in doing, what he may be good at doing,.,.. make him see that learning and being smart is cool,,. and that you promise him he will thank you later.,,..,

I am a lawyer and went to 8 years of school after high school and obtained 2 post-graduate degrees. Much of the specific information I learned in school is not necessarily practical. In law school I studied Constitutional Law cases that discussed how and when the First Amendment protects anarchists, yet I have yet to counsel an anarchist.

What schooling does do is teach you to learn. IThe world needs people who can sit down with a manual and teach themselves, especially when there is nobody around who can teach them. As a lawyer, I am often called upon to advise people in areas of the law only a few people may know a thing about. I have to go study the law, learn the rules, and learn how to apply the rules to my client. I have done things like advised clients on how they can legally host a monte carlo night fundraiser without violating local anti-gambling laws. I never took a class on gambling law and it would not surprise me if no such class existed. Yet my education was able to help me figure things out myself and provide good advice.

Schooling may also enable you to analyze and break down situations in way uneducated people cannot. I have a client who only has a handful of employees with college educations. He often calls on me to not to dolegal work, but to do things that even his most trusted employees are not intellectually capable of doing like structuring deals and vetting out vendors.

If your son is interested in learning to live off the grid or in a commune of some sort, I would say it's not that huge of a deal. However, he's young and if he does want a job at some point, he'll only be able to do that if he graduates high school. Of course, those jobs won't have very high wages, but if he doesn't care about having a lot of money or a large house, it's useful.

That being said, I don't see why everyone is so obsessed with college. That's the majority of what's been shoved down my throat in school and it's extremely obnoxious because they don't tell you that it's not your only option. If he wants to go to college when he graduates, send him to a community college, it won't cost as much.