I worked with plenty of students that could. In the last few years, I had many students that were taking community college classes online with no adult supervision. It was all on them to ensure they did their work and attended classes.

It works in many other places. I'm looking into something called Brave Generation Academy for my kids for the high school years. https://bravegenerationacademy.com/home

We clearly aren't ready for any sort of change in how we school in the US. Between gun violence and a fundamental lack of trust in people, both students, educators, as well as institutions...we have very low social trust.

Judging from the reaction to my comments, it's clear that most people are super happy with how school worked for them and how it works for their kids. I'm in the minority.

I don't disagree...I had 4 in elementary school doing it...it sucked... badly. It was a major reason for me taking them out of public school if that what the adults/admins thought was right for 6-10 year olds..after a summer to think things thru...

But I don't think it sucked for all of my high school students...for some it was a whole new world that was opened.for them and they thrived...these were my highly intelligent yet socially awkward folks.

I disagree with the last point...I don't think that there is a one size fits all approach. Especially because of special education.* Social interaction is just that social, school is not the only place that happens...for some sure. And it should be in the elementary school years, exactly as you frame it. After that I think things start to vary widely. I'd argue for more social time and less guided academic time, if they're going to be 6 hours in a building...more sports, less structured learning and more opened ended project/interest based learning. I worked at Voke school and it was great that the kids had 50% time in their vocational area...I'd advocate for more of that across all schools. Apprentice programs. Help kids identify what they like not force them into boxes.

But what you have right now is that it's virtually impossible for a regular teacher without a co-teacher who specializes in Spec Ed to accommodate all students...that's where "zoom" comes in for academics, taking some kids out of the classroom for some of the time.

Just my take..kids like your autistic child would most likely benefit from less bodies in the room vying for attention one way or another. I'm speaking mostly from the perspective of a high school teacher. Elementary school i definitely feel that online learning should be supplemental not the driver.

Maybe I'm a moron...

Lots of pedagogical experts in this sub.

Edit: wanted to clarify...

No... It's better for some kids, probably the majority given the learned helplessness of many. Teachers are more than babysitters, I certainly didn't act like one...but the general sentiment during Covid was that we were...my feelings.

I can confidently say it's not better for all...and Zoom isn't the only option. In a system of distrust zoom is horrendous, it's mandatory face time...and we all know how much we love that shit as adults.

Could it have been something much better? I absolutely think it could have ushered in a new concept of what school is... Maybe to be seen as more collaborative learning centers/community centers where kids could go rather than had to go... With educators, adjustment counselors, etc there to work with those that need help, in whatever capacity that was.

There is far too much control over the student body (I obviously understand why and there are larger societal problems to deal with before we can comfortably get to my vision) for it ever to feel like a place where kids, particularly adolescents (the only age group I can say I have solid experience with).

The downvotes on my other comments are pretty indicative that I do not represent the norm...lol, for what it's worth.

I was a freshman in NBPS before I moved and my wife is a product of NBPS with degrees from UMass Amherst and an MBA from UMass Dartmouth...if that's not enough public school educational experiences plus an outright love for knowledge, I don't know what is.

I'm going to roll with my 15 years as a public school teacher, and the multiple years of education between us guide what we think is right for our kids. I do value your opinion though, I don't know everything as I've learned in my life and can only work within the circumstances I'm presented with and always seek other's views to help shape my own. Something I try to impart on my kids... all systems, people, ideas are fallible and flawed and shouldn't inherently be accepted as the only way to do things. Self-reflection is important...we did that and consistently question our decisions...but it still always feels like the right thing to do at the moment.

I'm sure your kids are awesome and will be well off because of their public schooling, It might be just me and my personal experience(s), again if I didn't have eyes and ears for the last 40 years. I'm happy that you feel confident in what they are getting. You care about them, that's more than I can say for a lot of parents.

My kids can go back to school tomorrow if they showed any interest and if they weren't thriving on their own. I don't own them, I simply care for them, they are their own people. My life would be much much easier if they were all in school. But their love of learning is the most important thing to me and I simply didn't get that in the public school system.

I love spending time with my kids, literally nothing I would rather be doing. I love being the one to challenge them and their views of the world, I love traveling with them and exposing them to shit they will never be exposed to in their depressing little bubble of ALICE trainings and prepping for STAR and MCAS testing, and the nonsense of American adolescence.

:)

I know you have already painted a picture of me, and that's fine...but I assure you that nothing that I have done in the last few years was done in haste or because of a temper tantrum. It's genuinely what I believe is the best move for my family.

We're having a discussion about you and your comments about us as we speak.

Lol...

I moved to Portugal as a 14 year old...I'd love to see you do better than I did learning every single subject in what amounted to a foreign language for me...but go on and call me stupid. Fine.

You don't know the inner workings of the evaluation process and how they affect what your kid is exposed to and learns in school. And for 15 years I was rated proficient and exemplary, mentoring young teachers and being asked to put on professional development sessions for my coworkers. It's not Wall St...but I feel fulfilled in my attempts, and continue as an educator on my own terms, I teach people that want to learn.

Yes mass schools are great even comparatively worldwide... I think they would be 9th if we were a country...but I know they could be better. It should be better.

I was an AP teacher, in fact I (along with my Academic Coordinator, who also found greener pastures) started the program at my school that had zero AP classes (I'm also certified in ELA, History. Spanish and Portuguese and taught those subjects for the duration of my career in the classroom)...I know there are brilliant kids. Lots.of them, I also know lots of them that ultimately, once the school wasn't there to support them crashed and burned...but it's not the schools making them brilliant or fail...it's their home life and parents that care about their future...and also kids that don't want to be anything like their parents (that's my wife).

I'm not opposed to learning... I'm a life long learner always developing new skills. No stagnancy...I'd like to see more of that and schools in the US feel very apathetic to me from all angles at the moment...the moment being my 14 years in US public school as a student and 15 as an educator and 10 as a parent of 4 kids in public schools.

And for the record I don't believe in God either, nor in any grand narratives.

Edit: hadn't seen the antiwork, starving artist comment...lol.

Also, every year I was approached to "find ways" to get at least one student to the finish line...at least one...and yes, brain dead parents are behind that, no doubt about it...and it's not just at the school I worked at.

I don't even care if my kids want to be factory workers. If they find personal fulfillment in that, awesome. It's really not about income or the need to be your own person...those things are obviously important but not my guiding light... personal fulfillment, taking owbershio of their lives...yes factory workers typically don't exude that...but I want to be clear that I don't belittle anyone who works to provide a service.

I'm with you finding passions and developing skills that will matter in their future, knowing the basics of coding, developing strong communication skills, thinking globally beyond their little bubbles, regardless of where that bubble may be. We're leaving for Portugal in a couple of months while they continue with their online curriculum, while we supplement with weekly field trips, Portuguese language development (which will be in a classroom because they see enough of my mug) and travels across the country.

Happy to hear... apparently I'm fucking my kids up to a good portion of this thread.

If I didn't have eyes and ears to see what is actually going on around me my entire life I'd probably be more worried...

The number of miserable, unfulfilled people I know personally and on the interwebs are a pretty clear indicator to me that the one thing most people went thru isn't doing it's intended job. Or maybe it is.

Dude...short temper? I did the job for 15 years... I had my kids in school for over a decade... I think a final straw was more like it.

I'm happy with our decision, and was very skeptical at first...my kids feel less stressed and I'm impressed with their progress and their ability to determine what they want to learn, they even have time to learn a foreign language, something they wouldn't get until high school, for 2 years....

Listening to my 3rd grader learn about consumers and producers for 2 months during Covid was more than enough to see where the focus is. We definitely have our ups and downs but overall my wife and I think it's the best choice for our family at the moment. We're not even opposed to them returning to public school, but not while standardized testing rules and the lack of individualized learning and teaching the individual are not taken seriously.

I understand the constraints, but the technology capabilities and resources are readily available, but as long as the system for educators values the ease of collecting data over how school actually should work for the individual we're good. Unless they really feel like they are missing out. For now the social activities they have (they spend a solid chunk of time in sports with other kids) seem like they are providing them with that aspect...their friends that are in school don't really sell it very well either.

Edit: I don't go on Facebook nor am I part of any homeschooling groups on Facebook or anywhere else. I'm just a frustrated educator that watched apathy play out every single day. I tried hard to make kids care about learning to make their day interesting and I guess ultimately failing...the vast majority simply don't, the overwhelming majority of the parents whose kids I taught didn't care about their kids education.

I have high expectations, I didn't graduate from high school in the states and struggled...but the fact that I wasn't just passed along was important to me. And I was allowed to try new things, lots of freedom to make academic risks. In my experience, and maybe I worked in a shitty school (on paper it's not, very much the contrary) we are very much pushed to pass students, look the other way, "seeing what we can do for kids"...that is not indicative of a solid school system. And it's not just my personal experience ..I have multiple friends in administrative positions...it's a problem.

Wow...you nailed it.

It's all a sham. I prefer to babysit starting at 9 so I left and took my kids out of this ridiculous school system.

Never in a million years had I ever thought I'd become a homeschooling parents until the state of Massachusetts, one of the leaders in education in the nation, told me straight up I was a babysitter.

For the record I have no issue with babysitting, it's still time and labor....but that's not what I signed up for...even though I kind of new, but thought that I could make it matter, back when I was naive and thought more of us wanted that too...

..."the kids just want to go back to normal"... Right, the same normal all parties have been bitching about for at least my entire lifetime.

Edit: To be clear, the state of Massachusetts as in the Department of Education didn't tell me I was a babysitter, which I thought would be clearly interpreted as hyperbole, I meant the state as in the totality of its citizens and local/national media coupled with the indirectly said "hey these people need to get back to work, so we have to get back into the classroom, asap"...as the person in the classroom, I will 100% stick to my statement on the apathy that exists in the American classroom, particularly in high school.

I haven't heard a good thing about the state of education in my experience as an educator other than the obligatory, end of year, end of high school romanticization of the experience...the day to day is miserable and had over the last 15 years, at my school, and my kids' schools increasingly become about mitigating problems and not about servicing the educational needs of individuals. Checking boxes. Fuck that.

I strongly support them not taking any vaccines.