How are you preparing your children

We opted for our son not to do the NAPLAN exams in primary school because my husband and I saw no value to him doing them and to save him the stress when he was in year five we pulled him out of the exams.

What eventuated out of that was very interesting.

One of his teachers made a comment " I really wish your parents allowed you to do the naplan exams because employers look for these results and your parents have made it really difficult for you now to get a job"

Hmmm - children are educated by their parents responses to certain situations and this was one of them.

I don't want my son to grow up to be one of those people who put people down because he doesn't agree with their viewpoint so the last thing I wanted to do was invalidate the viewpoint of this teacher.

instead I started to teach him about the type of people that would have this viewpoint and what it is cause by.

I started to show him that some people really depend on a system and depend on others to give them a pay-check.

Then asked the question how is money really created. Somebody up the line creates money by adding value somewhere this person is called an entrepreneur.

Most school teachers are not entrepreneurs they are dependent on a system that provides for them and that is why results at school are so important to them because they are imported to that system.

This was three years ago the discussion and the education has been going on for that amount of time and I think my son who is now a teenager really gets how the entire system fits together and the different people that make up the system .

I'm not one to push my kids to either be self-employed or employed or entrepreneurs or educated but I do like to educate them on all sides so that they can make a decision after weighing out all sides of the coin.

Just wondering how other parents are teaching their kids and what examples you are using to educate your kids in the right direction.

The education system we have can never teach the other side they can never teach wealth creation because they are not wealth creators they have never done it and you can never teach something that you're not!

it's up to the individual parents to guide the kids to have more holistic view of the world. Agree or not?

 

I agree with you. Going further, high school seems like a waste of time to me. Uni to a certain extent as well.

There's stacks of stuff learnt we don't need to know. I'm sure my learning of European history or which element FE represents will serve me well.

I scored well in TEE as it was called at the time, but if I had my time over I'd have left in year 10 got a job / started a business and invested.

 

You say this..

Then you go on to stereotype teachers and put them down with this comment?

I know more teachers that teach our kids because they believe they are shaping the future of our society and gain a hell of a lot of satisfaction from their results, than I do teachers that just do it for a wage.

Of course it's up to parents to teach our kids as well. The education system was only ever designed to give your child the fundamentals, the base for them to launch off. We can't expect to send our kids to school and have them come out aged 17-18 knowing all the knowledge they will ever need, all the life skills they will require and a roadmap on how to be a bazillionaire. Half the parents of the world struggle to teach their kids basic manners and respect which makes a teachers job even harder for the kids that genuinely want to learn.

I'm glad for my education. I'm glad my parents pushed me to finish year 12. I'm glad they pushed me to do a trade rather than travelling with my mates. I'm glad they then steered me towards uni rather than just working as a tradie for the rest of my life. I'm glad my old man still has chats with me like you do with your kids. I'm also glad he didn't teach me to be an entitled little snot.

 

If I could go back I would leave school at 16 and become a builder!

Then later study law part time.

 

You missed a couple mate

 

I wouldn't change anything.

Love what I do and couldn't do it without finishing high school and going to uni.

Mates love what they do. And leaving school at yr 10 to start their apprenticeship was the right thing for them.

Year 5 is not the time to make those decisions. And nor is it up to the parent. Give them guidance. But the decision is theirs.

 

Please don't stereotype. I work in a large school and can assure you that teachers come from a huge variety of circumstances and backgrounds. More than a few are teaching because they love it while, at the same time, managing large share and/or property portfolios.

Schools can only do so much, and most "real life" education is up to parents.
Marg

 

I'll give you my teacher/parent perspective.

The value is really for the government, as it gives them data on how schools are performing. Schools can also use the data to see how a year group is progressing. As a parent it gives you a snap shot of how your child performed on the day. You can use the myschool data to compare how your school performs against other schools. Lots of teachers are against it, but i think all data is useful and theres nothing else like it.

We always play it very casual to our students and only spend one lesson max prepping for it. Its also useful at high school to give kids a bit of experience of exam conditions and practise at reading and following instructions in a test, especially for multiple choice. Unless my child experienced anxiety, i would encourage them to try as the data is interesting and the experience should be useful and not harmful.

As a high school teacher i always look at the past data for a class to give me a pucture of what im dealing with. Its especially useful for identifying very weak students who have challenges that have been glossed over and very bright students who have been underestimated or are coasting.

The teacher was so wrong i would be wondering if the message got garbled (were they talking about the value of exams in general?) or they were really badly misinformed. Either way, its an opportunity to teach your son to think critically and not believe everything they are told. Teachers are going to get things wrong sometimes. A really useful life skill to develop is the confidence to challenge or disagree with a authority figure or manager respectfully and constructively. I really respect students who manage this.

youre guessing and drawing a long bow.

not sure what this has to do with the teacher who gets a paycheck regardless of kids sitting naplan or results.

but naplan is unpopular with many teachers and some schools. And again everyone gets paid the same regardless of results. I guess they are hopefully all passionate about the power of education so in that sense they are invested in the system.

I have to admit that outcomes are important to me. Id love for my kids to push themselves and have lots of options and fulfilling careers. We will really be trying to teach persistance, empathy, critical thinking and a love of life long learning.

Absolutely agree with this.

 

Anyone want to contribute on how they as parents are preparing their children?

My style is right for some, wrong for others, it is what it is.

What's yours?

How are you teaching your children to think differently to the average person?

 

That is disgusting!! Saying that to a year 5 student. At such a young age thinking he is now potentially won't be employed and also putting parents in a terrible situation.

This is the big problem with naplan, teachers thinking their ass is on the line and pushing students at such a young age!

Looking back I wish I stuck it to more teachers! Rather than "doing the right thing " and going along with their bs!

I'll be following similar lines to you @Xenia educating my children about life and like everydayadult life there are people you don't agree with and just because they are a "teacher " doesn't mean they're right!

We're dreading school and seriously considering home schooling to get away from the traditional schooling.

Richard branson is making ground trying to do good bit too shake up peoples dated ideals of "school"

 

So one teacher says something totally false and inappropriate and all of a sudden all teachers are so ingrained in the system that they can't invest?
Well I proved that theory wrong. I teach young children and when I teach about money I can't help but talk about saving, delayed gratification etc. sure it's not part of the curriculum but it's important to me.
And you can teach something without being "it". Haven't you ever met an "expert" investor that has all the knowledge but never actually bought anything? It's the same with anything, learn it, teach it.
I would love to teach upper grades about finances. Unfortunately it's not part of the curriculum but the education system isn't designed to be everything a child needs. It is not designed to make parents defunct.
Congrats on taking a stand for what you believe. Most teachers hate those tests as much as you do. I just hope you didn't belittle others in your attempt to explain the system to your child. Because the lesson might teach him something more than you intended. Children are intuitive that way.

 

We just met our broker. My 7 year old was also in the meeting, looking at drawings of houses, numbers of loans etc. he quietly observed. He knows what budget, income and expenditure. He knows ROI. Not bad. He knows why we are investing and to see the bigger picture. That's only good education if he applies it.

My daughter did naplan year 3 and she felt no pressure because we didn't treat it as a big deal. She excelled in every aspect but she knows weaknesses. I think the data serves good purpose for school and teachers but some parents placed unnecessary pressures on their children.

 

My intention was not to stereotype all teachers - that would be useless information for life.

I was trying to educate him on where that mindset actually comes from - fear and dependency, irrespective of what the persons profession is who has that .

There were scientist who were also dependent on a system and would not know what to do if grants did not come through. When I was working as a scientist I made a decision to never ever depend on this system it would be great if Grants came through but I was never dependent on them. This is the reason why I purchased more properties when I was a scientist buying real estate was my plan B .

It's the mindset behind it that I'm trying to teach my kids not to focus on individual people or groups of people

 

But Why do you think that converstion was inspired by fear? What do you think the teacher has to fear if you child doesnt sit a NAPLAN test?

Ive met a few teachers who were opposed to naplan because they were fearful of the scrutiny or how the gov would use the results. Most dont care much either way because it barely affects them unless someone is going to hold them to account.

Im one of the few teachers i know who are pro naplan and thats because i find the data useful. Knowlege is power and all that.

 

Nothing to do with naplan - I was referring to the fear of "not getting a good job" - if people are dependent on a salary and have never created their own income anywhere else - investing or business, then "getting a good job" is a big thing for them.

I'm sure there are teachers and other professions with multiple streams of income and investments and who would be totally financially independent if they lost their job tomorrow. They are not the ones who would be scared of not having a job.

 

That's what i done. Left school at 16 in year 10, done my 4 year apprenticeship in carpentry and started my own business when I was 21.

 

Oh, i see.

 

I have never studied accounting. Broking study takes a few hours, but I spent 5 years studying Japanese.

Is it working out? You are living the dream!

 

I can confirm that this term in humanities my school is teaching year 7s economics. I have spent a week on the concept of supply and demand and will probably spend another week on the topic. The kids homework for the long weekend was to pay attention to the RBA announcement and to tell me what impact a rate cut or hike might have on demand.

NAPLAN is a great diagnostic tool and I often look at the data to inform my students' learning needs.

Also, when applying for my last teaching position the principal required me to submit all of my previous NAPLAN scores as part of my application. Ultimately, upon receiving my transition report from kindergarten the principal was unable to offer me a position as he was concerned with my lack of attention and my inability to colour in-between the lines. This is why every time I give my students a test I inform them that their very future depends on the outcome.

 

Is it working out? You are living the dream![/QUOTE]

Well I started the business in 2005 and it is getting stronger every year. I am now in the process of starting a building inspections company, because my boys can run the jobs while I'm not there so I might as well go and make some extra money do something else that I like doing as well.