Due to a recommendation by a friend, I recently decided to watch this documentary on Netflix Instant Watch called "Waiting for Superman". It was a fairly interesting look into the public school system. The guy who made the documentary stated that in the 1990s, he had made a documentary on the public school system in a favorable light, but that he felt that he must revisit the subject and discovered that it had dwindled significantly since his last report.
This documentary was somewhat enlightening, but I thought it was too narrow a look into the system, though I agree that it is flawed. For one, he followed only a few kids from specific inner-city schools. He looked at schools in inner-city New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I am not sure this gives a fully accurate look into the public school system since, let's face it, our country is huge and most Americans do not live in the inner-city or even anywhere near any sort of metropolitan city. Oh, he would state facts about where the worst schools in the country can be found, but his focus mainly stayed on these few students, their families, and the poor school system they were in.
He said, quite inaccurately, that the only choices anyone has where school is concerned is public or private and most cannot afford private. Homeschooling was never brought up. He said that too often, a family is in a bad school district, or is zoned to the bad school in a good school district and cannot afford to enroll their kids into the private school system. Of course, we know, that this is not the only option. Homeschooling is a viable option and, in most cases, the best choice.
The documentary should have been titled simply "Charter Schools". Each one of the families mentioned were trying to get their kids into one charter school or another. Because of the long list of families that want their kids enrolled in these schools, charter schools often have to hold lotteries to see who will make it in and who will not. It was heartbreaking to listen to these families sad tales of not wanting their kids in these schools that are violent and poor.
One interesting story was the one and only school that was a school in suburbia. The narrator talked about this one school in Colorado which is considered one of the best in the nation. He spoke about how it is often, in these school situations, where a student who is above or below average gets all the attention while the middle child will just be scooted along. This was a scenario I knew all too well as my daughter does fall into this category and was, indeed, pushed along. She passed all her schoolwork and state tests and it did not seem to matter whether or not she understood what she was supposed to be learning.
I like the title of this documentary..."Waiting for Superman". Maybe the Superman your kids are waiting for can be found in your own bathroom mirror. You can be Superman. The education you provide can be well above the highest school standards, the safety you provide is better than any security guard, the foundation and self confidence you can instill is, obviously, the highest quality. Our children look to us...instead of looking for someone else, maybe the answer is to look to yourself.
The main point is, though, that Superman stares back at me everytime I look in the mirror....or even better...everytime I look in my kid's eyes. They will be the first to tell you how much they love to be homeschooled and they did experience the fine public education system.
This documentary was somewhat enlightening, but I thought it was too narrow a look into the system, though I agree that it is flawed. For one, he followed only a few kids from specific inner-city schools. He looked at schools in inner-city New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I am not sure this gives a fully accurate look into the public school system since, let's face it, our country is huge and most Americans do not live in the inner-city or even anywhere near any sort of metropolitan city. Oh, he would state facts about where the worst schools in the country can be found, but his focus mainly stayed on these few students, their families, and the poor school system they were in.
He said, quite inaccurately, that the only choices anyone has where school is concerned is public or private and most cannot afford private. Homeschooling was never brought up. He said that too often, a family is in a bad school district, or is zoned to the bad school in a good school district and cannot afford to enroll their kids into the private school system. Of course, we know, that this is not the only option. Homeschooling is a viable option and, in most cases, the best choice.
The documentary should have been titled simply "Charter Schools". Each one of the families mentioned were trying to get their kids into one charter school or another. Because of the long list of families that want their kids enrolled in these schools, charter schools often have to hold lotteries to see who will make it in and who will not. It was heartbreaking to listen to these families sad tales of not wanting their kids in these schools that are violent and poor.
One interesting story was the one and only school that was a school in suburbia. The narrator talked about this one school in Colorado which is considered one of the best in the nation. He spoke about how it is often, in these school situations, where a student who is above or below average gets all the attention while the middle child will just be scooted along. This was a scenario I knew all too well as my daughter does fall into this category and was, indeed, pushed along. She passed all her schoolwork and state tests and it did not seem to matter whether or not she understood what she was supposed to be learning.
I like the title of this documentary..."Waiting for Superman". Maybe the Superman your kids are waiting for can be found in your own bathroom mirror. You can be Superman. The education you provide can be well above the highest school standards, the safety you provide is better than any security guard, the foundation and self confidence you can instill is, obviously, the highest quality. Our children look to us...instead of looking for someone else, maybe the answer is to look to yourself.
The main point is, though, that Superman stares back at me everytime I look in the mirror....or even better...everytime I look in my kid's eyes. They will be the first to tell you how much they love to be homeschooled and they did experience the fine public education system.
RSS Feed