How are you preparing your children

Wth. You are joking right?

 

Btw - I have nothing against naplan, my 2 girls did it. The only thing I had against it with my son is that I had a child who just did not want to do it.

 

I have 2 daughters, 19 and 25 the best thing you can do is reinforce confidence, praise, acceptance all the positive stuff...amazing what this does.

 

I did ok at high school. I scored in the top 10% of the state in the final biology exam. I then got an undergraduate degree and later a masters degree. I have lost track of the number of job interviews I have done but it would surely be more than 30. Out of all the interviews I have done and all the jobs I have scored, I have never once been asked about my grades at high school or university. No one cares!

I can tell you from being on selection panels for job applicants that candidates who are polite really stand out. The lack of basic manners from applicants of all ages is astonishing. Good manners put applicants to the front of the queue.

 

I'm with you on this. I employ people too. I look for attitude and personality. Everything else can be trained.

 

In regard to Naplan, rather than saving my kids from the 'stress' I chose to encourage them to welcome tests a great indicator of what they know on the day. I'd rather teach them to not be afraid of making mistakes, and a wrong answer is only an indication of something they don't know yet, which is perfectly fine.

Your yr 5 Naplan is never going to shape who or what you can become, and I think taking your kids away from the experience isn't necessarily a beneficial thing to do - if they're stressed, helping them cope with that is probably going to grow them more helping them avoid it.

 

Given that the vast majority of folks are what is deemed "average"; that is a scary, scary thought...

I'm currently with the family on the Gold Coast, staying at a slightly up the scale (or so I thought) resort/hotel from yer "Paradise Resort" type cheaper-end family complex....trying to avoid the trailer trash.......bzzzzt; wrong.

Been doing the theme parks of course, and also hangin out at our hotel pool as you do.

We chose to use pub transport this time to the parks (bus stop right outside our door).

I tell ya; you are doing well to spot an Aussie adult which is not;
A) covered in stamps, or
B) the size of a small car.
C) both.

Either these people want to be different, or they want to be the same as everyone else, but either way; the message being sent to their kids and everyone elses kids is sad and disturbing

If this is "average" Australia - indeed; all Western societies - then as a race we are in big trouble lettin' parents educate their kids.

 

That's what happens when you go on holiday to the GC. Kinda like rocking up in Bali and complaining about the Bintang clad boozed up bogans - you've got to expect it.

 

LOL - you have to meet my son to understand. He is not afraid of wrong answers, more like he has a strong view point that it is BS and it is wasting his time. My boy does not follow the herd very well at all. In Steiner education now for high school, we looked at "normal" schools and his words "why would you put me in a traditional school where you will just be setting me up for failure, I am never going to follow those rules".

My girls on the other hand can follow traditional education and do well, both very academic, but my son..... very different and eccentric child.

 

Haha what a champion!

How is the Steiner school going? What are some of the main things that really help him compared to a "traditional " school?

 

Naplan isn't a tool for employers or jobseekers, it's a tool for government to determine how much additional or less finding is required to target needy kids

One of our schools treats naplan as BAU - if they get poor results they know what they're not teaching properly.

 

Your son is 10, right? My 10 year old son thinks cleaning the kitchen is BS and a waste of his time, but he still has to do it.

But you're right, all kids are different (and all parents are different) - I hope Steiner works out well for him.

 

He should do well in the Steiner system. My neices were attending the Waldorf School in Mt Barker and loved it. It is a shame their dad pulled them out to go to a "traditional" school. He wanted to make sure they got university entrance. The irony is that universities love Waldorf graduates.

 

I hope your son does pick up an entrepreneurial instinct if he continues to maintain an attitude like that; the workplace will not be kind to him.

 

Oh he will never get away with not doing house work. I'm not the dogs body that is going to do it all. None of them get away with it, they are all scared of me, even their dad (I think )

 

Yeah I don't think I was very employable either.

 

I agree, it's a great system. My middle child is very academic and wants to do law (for now, could change 6000 times from now till she does it) but they are willing to guide her towards that goal. She is not in yet as she wants to finish year 7 in a traditional school next year.

 

I don't have kids. But if I did, and a teacher said my Grade 5 son or daughter would struggle to get a job because of a F#&%ING NAPLAN EXAM FFS, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOSE MY S#!@.

I'm glad you were able to conduct yourself better than I would have been able to.

 

As opposed to going....where? for a more accurate cross section of the average Aussie?

I just happened to pick here because it is where I am atm, and because you get to see folks with a lot more skin visible....I reckon you could insert any destination to get the description I gave - unkess it is a $1k per night location....folks in that pricerange are markedly different than yer average aussie on a holiday.

Nice of you to try and give folks the benefit of the doubt....but the reality is the Gold Coasts of the world are where the majority of folks go....go to any destination where multitudes of western society folks congregate, and you will see.it.

 

I must lead a very sheltered life or pay too much for my accommodation