Is it just me?

What those "can't read a ruler" kids need is a "Polish Measuring Tape" -- which I am qualified to discuss by virtue of Polish ancestry and by having seen one of those tapes years ago (and kicked myself many times for not buying it).

It was blank except at about 12" there was a tiny footprint symbol, at 24" two tiny footprints, and so on. Luckily it was only a six-foot tape because us Pollocks might not have been able to handle any more information all at one time.

I don’t buy the argument that schools need more money to teach kids to count or add or read. It is not expensive to teach those subjects. Things that cost big money are the “administrators”, and the grand modern buildings, gymnasiums, stadiums, the fleet of busses, etc – the FLUFF. A kid doesn’t need a fancy building or a shop class to learn to read a ruler.

In a “former life” I taught (or attempted to teach) college-level science to prospective and employed teachers. Actually the level most of those students comprehended was, to put it generously, high school at best. The Polish Measuring Tape would have come in handy.

I can’t imagine the quality of education received by their students – and did not stay in the college position waiting for the next generation of students to arrive.

This is not to say that all teachers are inadequately prepared, but college “departments of education” are not known to attract the highest caliber, or best prepared, or most intelligent students. I don’t know if it has changed in the past twenty-five years, but then a common attitude was, “anyone with a pulse and tuition could get a degree in education” (and pulse might have been waived in hardship cases).

Do parents have any responsibility to teach their children fundamentals that they may not or do not learn in school? Does anybody even care?

As always, this is my personal opinion as a private citizen. The opinions of others may differ. I do not intend to demean anyone personally or their family or their friends or their favorite teacher or whomever. However, I do intend to criticize the “profession” and the “system” of schooling as presently configured in the US.

Many teachers are wonderful people who are capable and willing to do their best for students. Many, however, realistically speaking, may “mean well” and be “dedicated to their students”, but are not getting the job done. If they were, why is the US education system the laughing stock of the developed world – the most expensive and the least effective?

Does anyone know where to buy Polish Measuring Tapes?

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Whether you believe you can or you believe you cannot – you are usually right.

This does not include flying or moving mountains unassisted or attempting to prove the existence of an “afterlife”.

Just try to find a high school or COLLEGE for that matter - anywhere that offers home economics courses. Forget it. I wanted to take some home ec courses and people LAUGHED at me when I asked them. It is an INSULT for a woman to learn how to be a housewife these days.

What a world.

donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)

As a parent I felt my duty to my kids was to teach them things I "KNEW" the school would not bother to teach. They will not teach out of their expert field. It is up to the parents to teach their kids to measure and do projects at home. Many of these kids have parents that are hardly home. Being both of the parents work 2 jobs and sometimes even three to have the best for their family... missing the whole point of being a parent. *remembers the latch key stories 15 years ago.*

I decided when it was time to have children I would be a stay at home mom. "I" taught my kids to measure, "I" taught my kids to cook, "I" showed my kids the right and wrong of things. I also helped my kids work on projects so these lessons didn't get lost in the grand landslide of wonderful learning of history, math, *Yawns* speech, and the other things THEY believe MY kids needed. I decided my kids had to know how to make a living at the basest of living conditions. How to dig an outhouse*yes I have one* and my kids dug it for me and built the building. I am very proud of my kids and they excell not only at that but at all the things the school threw at them. Never the less, they have a very hard time finding a job. I gave my all to my kids and my eldest son, is an excellent cook as well as my daughter, the youngest just prefers to eat out but he will learn eventually. I have offered those same lessons and he has taken a few... he makes a dynamite grilled cheese sandwich. They are hard working adults now. But finding someone to say when can you come in is a virtual nightmare! So my son educated to be a mechanic of autos and trucks can't even get hired anywhere around here. There are too many. So he worked for over a year washing dishes at a Pizza joint. My daughter 70-80 wpm/5% error ratio can't find a job. They won't even call her. She has applied where ever she could. She is still unemployed. She is so fast and effecient they fired her because she could finish a weeks worth of work in 2 days, forcing them to find work that wasn't there for her and instead of getting rid of slower ppl they just got rid of her.... is it fair no it isn't but that's life.

She is still living at home so is my oldest, ya can't get an apartment for 400$ a month + utilities on 600$ gross income per mo. The world is crazy now and it is going to get worse I have told my kids they are welcome to crash here when ever they need because I feel that is how families should be. My home will always be their home. Over 2.5 millon bankruptcies were done last couple of years that is unpresidented. Things are just bad. Such is life. Time to learn the how to's of living...

Arklady

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"His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

well, I guess that is why the Amish are doing so well. I can only scoff when I hear that the schools need more money for this and that. the dumbing down process has worked very well.
Have you seen an Amish school from the inside? Looks a bit like the school I went to. Very meager. Outhouse, woodstove,no fancy books and equipment etc. but our Amish friends Teenagers, working with their Dad, are on the ball, know what they are doing, know what they are talking about. They come, don't say much, get right to work and I can leave the key with them. I have had three teenagers working once by themselves and I have only praise for them. (Dad was sick, they carried on).
However, I also have good words for the guy who put in heat and air, his helper did good work and I hope he earned a good wage, he deserved it.
It is true there are just too many who exploit their workers, I have a son who can tell stories....
Why are there no apprenticeships in this country? you hire someone, pay him low wage and train him, (including for instance how to read the tapemeasure) then when he is capable to do the job right he gets paid what he is worth. This is a very old and timehonored system that has worked well for hundreds of years. My grandfather was a really good master woodworker, he had journymen working and a few apprentices. After three years one could take their journyman exam. you can't hire someone off the street who does not know what he is doing. I think it is unfair to complain that a seventeen year old is not much of a carpenter. You have to learn something first, then you know something.
Kids nowadays have short attention spans and little endurance and stick-to-it-ness. Not all, but the greater part of a class. (I have been subbing for several years, (and I can spot homeschooled children when I see them). sell your mobile home and build yourself a strawbale house,at least you can do that yourself (mostly)
hey arklady, show me a kid who knows anything about history or geography. they just copy out of books ,get a grade, pass and that was it. They have not learned a thing. Congratulations on your super kids, I have two of them, my son repaired my appliances when he was fourteen, kept our cars going when he was a teen, when we built our house he put the plumbing in, studied and got a degree in sound technology and worked for a big company selling musical equipment for minimum wage 70 hrs a week to keep body and soul together, then was gyped out of the bonus at Christmas.
Have you noticed that whenever you have any paperwork, anything with insurance etc. there is always a hassle, something gets lost, is wrong etc. this country is going to hell in a handbasket. mark my word.

My son does all our car repairs. Does good work too. Never had a problem with the work he does. Daughter works like a dog here on our little homestead. My younges moved out but eventually they come back once or twice because they can't make it the first time. They gotta try I just give them a place to go when and if they fail to make it.

Arklady

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"His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

i wouldn't blame the High school... the kids elementary school and his parents let him down long before he made it there... cant read a ruler? sorry , thats kindergarten- first grade stuff there

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The Journey -IS- the Destination

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning to dance in the rain....

I have noticed a couple of terribly annoying traits with cousins and friend's kids in middle school and high school who I hired for simple chores and manual labor around the homestead after their parents not so subtly mentioned that they needed spending money. They of course figured since I have a big place in the country I always have extra chores I could use doing.

So anyway the kids show up and they simply have an aversion to work. They have one speed which is SLOW. They need to stop and get something to drink constantly and they need a rest breaks every few minutes.

You can't just tell them "Okay, here's a string trimmer cut all the weeds between here and the pond." You have to stand over them and watch them to make sure they actually do it and guide them through the motions. If you don't, you'll come back they'll have only done a fraction of what they should have or messed something up some other way.

I don't think I actually get more work done with them working on the place. I have to stand over them directing them and watching them so I can't really work on anything. If you try to work on the same project with them they just end up slowing you down. It is just maddening.

Oh and when it comes time to settle up with pay they think they deserve the same compensation as your average highly trained technician with some exotic obscure skill set that is in high demand. Unfortunately there is a huge untapped market glut of slow lazy teenagers with no real marketable skills who think they are worth way more than they actually are. A few hours work that is worth 30 or 40 bucks (and I'm being generous-that is hourly-the job they did was worth maybe 10 bucks) they think they should be paid 75 or 100.

Now here's the kicker. What I don't have the heart to tell them is that I can arrange to have a couple of retarded guys from the retarded group home come out and they do a better job. They have a work program and I know one of directors. I've had some of his kids and adults out here before. Some just for experience and some for actual work. Those poor retards can work rings around those spoiled teenagers. The truly sad part is that most of the tards need less supervision too. Just explain everything simply upfront and turn them loose and they'll tear up a job like a house afire. At the end of the day they're more appreciative and don't have that sense of entitlement that's for sure.

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Respect The Cactus!

Isn't it sad?

One of my favorite cookbooks is an old Home-Ec cookbook from the '50's. Has recipes, other info....one of my favorite parts: tells about manners and how to conduct oneself in a resteraunt. (Do people need that one today, or what....LOL)

When I interview families who come in for me to "fix" their kids, one of the questions I ask is about chores. Does the kid have any? Do the parents make sure the kid follows through?

Only rarely do parents answer that their children have age-appropriate chores for which they are responsible and which the parents enforce. It's like the parents never grew out of the resentment they had for chores as kids, and so they're being "buddies" to their own kids instead of seeing how chores instill a work ethic, a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling of belonging.

Drives me crazier, it does.

Pony!

The 30 dollar an hour place in California pays that only for experianced people. If they had stated they couldn't get 10 dollar a hour workers in a area where thats not much, then the news media wouldn't have made a big deal out of it.
Yes, reading a tape measure is very simple. Also takes little time to teach someone to read a tape measure to. Yes I have taken plenty of badly taught people and turned them into good workers. Don't expect schools to teach them. The good teachers don't get rewarded.
Heres the problem, hard workers don't get rewarded. You could say that forever but people see the laziness getting rewarded. So people learn to be lazy. The person working hard doing a exellent job stays in that lousy job, the one that sets around joking with the boss gets the promotion. The one that smiles a lot gets hired. The one that has worn hands from working hard doesn't. The lazy ones can always can get another job to be fired from.
Legit companies that hire hardworkers and reward them get picked out and crushed by lazy goverment types who don't like companies like that. (legitimate companies don't pay bribes).
When people see the ones doing the work being rewarded, guess what, they work hard. People are not being lazy because they want their life to be a joke. Its simply the examples they see, the lazy ones have it pretty good. This is is bad for soceity.

Sometimes businesses who say they are desperate for help are too picky.

DW, who is SAHM of three kids, would like something where she can work maybe one shift of anywhere from 8-12 hours.

A convenience store told her that they could not work out a schedule for her around my schedule (so I can watch the children) and a restaurant wants someone for mnore hours that that.

They are desperate and she wants to work, but they won't hire her.

http://langamp.com/borderblog/?p=2519

That is more information on the suppossed 30 dollars a hour story.

I dug some fence posts for someone in hard ground for $3 a post he had to build a fence around his property as he had piles of stuff around he lives way out in the country about 12 miles from me though he is next to a paved road he said he ticked someone off that works for the county, anyway he was lucky he foud me as it is really hard to find anyone willing to do physical labor for hire in my parts. Construction is booming in North west AR and anyone that wants to sacrafice their time for a regualr large amount of $$ works in the trades at a steady job and has no time for odd jobs like that hmm maybe I found my niche to make $ to pay my property taxes with out commuting to far.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer