A difference in schooling

I want to share a comment posted on my Mandymom.com blog, that I found in my inbox this morning.


"Hi there, I just found your blog and I have been reading it all. :) Just wanted to share my $0.02. I am a native of Brazil and married and living in the USA. I have 3 children and one more on the way and we homeschool. In Brazil, children go to school for half a period. They either go to school in the morning or in the afternoon. We spent 11 years in school instead of 12 years. We don't waste our time with classes like Home Economics, Typing, Drama, Music, etc in school. those are subjects that are taken in your personal time at your own cost, after school. We are still a gifted and talented country. :) Everyone has to take Algebra, Chemistry, Physics, Foreign language in High School. By the time you finish HS you had Calculus.

I went to Public school in California for 2.5 years. I went to Middle and high school. I can tell you that the US school system is weak and deficient. Teachers do not use their time wisely in school. There is a lot of wasted time. There is NO need for 10 hours of school a day, 5 days a week!!! I believe like you do that we as parents are the ones that should be training our children. They are precious gifts from God and we need to spend time pouring our lives into theirs. I truly enjoy my children and love to see them learn and blossom AT HOME. I think we Christian homeschoolers are blessed that we have seen the Light. :) I believe the whole Public school system has nothing to do with education but indoctrination, but that is another subject for another day. :) Be blessed, Tereza"

One thing I want to point out is that, in reality, children today go to school for 14 years, from Pre-K to 12th grade. When I was a kid, Kindergarten was a half-day event, but now, it's not uncommon to have a full-day Kindergarten.

I don't think American children could even fathom attending half-days for their whole grade school "career", but they sure would enjoy it!

Thanks for sharing, Tereza!