a state of education

our life group tends to have mostly naked conversations. recently, they've centered on government, diet, education, politics, family, and a new way of living. it has been mentioned, more than just once, of starting our own "tribe" because america is headed down the drain with not a lot of hope in sight.

as i was perusing the NY Times this morning, drinking my first, then second, cup of joe (with dark chocolate creme creamer....yum!), i came across a certain article about education in south africa. their state of education is pathetic, and matriculation scores (kind of like our SATs) have declined EVERY YEAR of the past 6 years. children just aren't being educated well, and the teachers don't seem to care very much.

sound familiar?

i've long said that i would home school my kids. our education system in interested in only one thing: test scores. education centers around it, and thanks to our good old government, who of course knows what is best, schools are being stripped of much needed funding if their scores aren't high enough. that means that inner city schools, who already struggle with needs of their own, are being forced to standardize, and even close programs!

this new, practically underground program in SA is having amazing success. the kids are doing amazingly well, even though it takes super long days to do it. can you imagine an american kid staying until 5:15 to do science and math, and 8 to study for tests? IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. 


if i ever get to live in my own tribe, i'm adopting this educational system. like a community home schooling. any takers?