Bright 9 year old

Kimitatsu

vigesimal wrote: »

It is a very sad fact that the mothers who think that teachers should be spending more time with their children at my school, are usually the same mothers who spend less waking hours per day with their child than I do. The home environment provides an excellent source of learning, but sadly some children are unable to go home straight after school and spent little time with their mothers during the school holidays.

How many who have posted here, are mothers who are home when school finishes for the day and are with their children during the day for the school holidays?

I can see both sides of this argument, the feeling goes that "when I was at school everything was done at school" and now parents are naturally expected to be a larger part of their childs education.

In reality I think that time blurs the truth, I think that we had more homework than kids today have (certainly for my boys) or maybe it was just I was expected to read at home and know my times tables :rotfl:

I for one have always worked around my kids for just this reason that school cannot provide for all of their needs and I am incredibly lucky that I have an understanding employer (and the advent of the net!). Schools have been chronically underfunded for so long that now we are starting to see the results of it, head teachers who are supposed to be "business managers" with no formal training, teachers who work six days a week to catch up with paperwork, health and safety red tape from here to eternity and school buildings in a dangerous state, all of this means that money has to be diverted from the school budget into dealing with these things.

Teachers dont just teach any more, they are unpaid administrators/social workers/business managers who are also expected to teach and get the best out of their charges according to whatever set of rules ofsted has this year. The introduction of League tables has only exacerbated this and put more pressure on heads to get as many kids through SATS as they can to attract more pupils and so get more funding. This means that the kids at either end of the spectrum are left to their own devices.

I'll step off my soap box now :cool:

Hapless_2

saraharrow wrote: »

Crumbs! I found Tolkein tough at 21, and I only read it cos every else had!

Have you tried the Phillip Pullman books, the Dark Materials Trilogy was thought provoking and we had lots of talk about that. She was 9 when we done those though.

Yup, she has the Dark Material Trilogy and also the Lemony Snickert series of unfortunate events. She is a real bookworm, she's even been at my old A-level books!

patchwork_cat

Miss Moneypenny I am offended by that post I am very well educated and not out of touch thank you - probably brighter and better educated than you, almost certainly more expensively!!

She is stimulated at home however after a day at school I am not going to be bombarding her with extra work. Much better that the work she does st school is pitched at the right level.

Do not make assumptions as to people's educational background with no knowledge of them.

I think that with 11 O levels and 3 A levels and a drop out university career I would be laughed out of night classes and understimulated myself!

My daughter is an avid reader and has a supply of books a library would be proud of. She certainly didn't get her 12+ reading age from school as at the moment they are reading Hundred Mile an Hour dog at school. Excellent book, but not the reading age of those in her bookshelf at home.

I would like to point out that I am a stay at home mum, so some will criticise me for not contributing to society.

I don't know how this has turned into a heated debate.

saraharrow

Patchwork cat, raising you bright talented daughter is your contribution to society, one day she may become a doctor or a lawyer and a mother, and achieve great things, save lives, see that justice is served and she couldnt do this without you.

Anyone who says different about your contribution to society should take a close look at their own lives first and then comment when they are fault free and so are their children.

I suggest then they start their own thread so we can all be perfect too...

Things start as a debate and then change the world, just look at how bank charges have become mainstream conversation these days!

Regards

Sarah

9 O levels, 3 A levels as a child, and a degree done at the age of 27 - I had a gap 9 years

patchwork_cat

Saraharrow
Thanks for that. I made a decision after my mum , a doctor, said to me virtually on her death bed - don't make my mistake , you can't do it all. I decided then that if we could afford it I would give up my jobshare job. I managed when my son was 3.

Kimitatsu

Patchwork cat, raising you bright talented daughter is your contribution to society, one day she may become a doctor or a lawyer and a mother, and achieve great things, save lives, see that justice is served and she couldnt do this without you.

Anyone who says different about your contribution to society should take a close look at their own lives first and then comment when they are fault free and so are their children.

I do agree with this - no-one is a perfect parent, however much we would all like to be. However I think that everyone in this thread is doing the best for THEIR child and none of us should be here to pass judgement on someone else.

Once your children go to school you find that you miss being able to question other parents about how children grow up and develop (just think of mother and toddler groups!) which is where forums such as this come in

As mothers it is a sad fact that no matter how well educated we are, we all have to put our families before our careers. Just look at Christina in the Apprentice, son is now 18 and this is Christina time? I think she will find that is not quite that easy :rotfl: