about a decade later. It’s not the amount of homework that matters, it is the subject matter covered. We covered the Constitution in 7th grade and had to understand things like the separation of powers and the tension between strictly adhering to the granted powers and elasticity. I was in the Academic/Honors classes because I knew I was college bound. Took Latin I in the 8th grade so I could take Latin II in the 9th grade and be done with it. Then was told they would be looking for 4 years of language transcripts, so I took 3 years of Spanish. Covered Algebra I in the 8th grade so I could finish the Calculus class when I was a Senior. Added Probability and Statistics to my course load in the 10th grade when we took geometry (and lucked out that the only math teacher I ever admired taught both classes). Granted my 9th grade history class was a waste (knowledgeable teacher, too laid back about his subject, didn’t care that 99% of the class routinely cheated on his exams) but it at least exposed me to actual copies of the Congressional Record. Senior year I had Physics and Astronomy. If I had realized Astro was a rocks for jocks class and that I already knew more about the subject than would be covered I would have taken Nuclear Sciences instead, but that might have been just as much of a waste from what I heard about the class. I did about an hour a night of homework, but I am also fairly bright and one of those really weird kids who loved school more than summer vacation.

The sad part is, for all that, it really does only cover things that kids going to school in the 50′s were expected to know earlier. Most of what I learned didn’t come from school, it came from reading books. My Dad loved the history of WWII, which ironically we never covered in our US history class. Barely made it through the Civil War, where again my earlier outside reading was more extensive than what was taught in class.

But I talk to high school students about any of these things today and most of them are lost. I’ve even stumped professional lawyers with questions about basic Constitutional principles, and THAT scares the heck out of me.

Our Founding Fathers came from all walks of life and understood that the nation needed all occupations to succeed–and didn’t view being a farmer or a shoemaker as conflicting with being an educated person and a participating citizen.

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The typical college grad today would struggle from the fourth or fifth reader and the vocabulary and sentence complexity in the sixth would be a challenge for any but the best adult readers today.

If you want your kid(s) to be superb readers, McGuffy’s are still the ticket. It’s all about patterning, rhyming, memorization, and phonics. If you pattern a kid’s reading early with the real thing, the schools won’t be able to mess them up with this year’s latest illiteracy strategy.

I want my son to go to vocational school when he is 18. He will finish high school with an associates degree but I want him to go for a year or two for something practical and get an applied skill instead of transferring right to a four year school. People are like no he doesn’t need vo-tech school but I want him to have a skill when he is an adult ASAP to be able to support himself and a future family.
I hope I don’t suddenly get dumb when I’m 38 for him to take my advice, I see that a lot with young men.
I agree with brainwashing too. Outside of the departments like math and physics it’s crazy what goes on.

I mean, for a kid interested in being an autobody painter, a welder, a brick mason, an LPN, a Paramedic, an x-ray technician, dental assistant…sure, tech school is the way to do. Nothing wrong with that road at all.

But for others – let’s say a kid that wants to be a teacher, there is no vo-tech schooling for that profession. A kid that wants to be pre-med, pre-pharmacy, pre-dental, same deal. My daughter wants to be a P.A. and she plays volleyball, so there’s no choice but college.

Sometimes I think the politics thing in college is way overblown. I went to a liberal arts school in a liberal town, and I had a blast. It was just a typical school. I never remember being talked to, asked, or discussing politics with anyone in the four years I was there. Ever. I’m sure there were probably political groups and clubs, but I don’t even remember seeing signs or events for them. When I was in accounting class, we studied accounting, period. Same for chemistry, physics, international law, you name it.

I can’t really talk because I’m a lawyer (supposedly educated ) and basically have to belong to two (the Washington State Bar Association and AFSCME as a county prosecutor – - closed shop in both cases). I would have a hard time recommending anybody go down a path that would almost certainly require them to go union.