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What are the best schools for kindergarten in Philly?

What is your opinion about virtual K12 (Kindergarten to 12th grade) schools and online schools at the college level?

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    Well, when I was a kid in elementary school I was bored out of my mind. I use to sit there and count the minutes. Out of a 6.5-hour school day, there were only about 3 hours of any real teaching and learning. The rest of the time was filing from class-to-class, or out to recess, or down to the lunch room, etc. And then on top of that, it took me a half hour to get to school and another half hour to get home. And then when I went to high school, it was almost an hour to get to school and more than an hour to get home. All that wasted time! I actually envisioned a day where I could sit in front of a flat screen and have my classes beamed to me. In the 1950s and 1960s there were actually classrooms being beamed over the local PBS TV stations. But the teachers' unions didn't like that idea. I always thought that instead of the teachers I had, some of which were pretty bad, that I could be taught by the best teachers in the world via TV or some such thing like the Internet. That's possible today, but again, teachers fight this. They're afraid they'll be put out of work. But look at the education system today. If you're in a big city, the educational system is awful. Simple awful. Maybe 1 out of 10 teachers know what they're doing. A lot of small towns are able to have good educational systems only because they're small and principals can get rid of bad teachers and let them go look for jobs elsewhere. In the cities, you have union seniority that keeps you from getting rid of these people. And how did we get to the point where the cities and towns wind up running school systems? Who says a town should be in the education business. In my town, 70% of the money goes to the school system. Basically, that means that the number one job of the town is education rather than patching roads and fixing sewer systems and providing services. If you're in a big city, you literally can't switch schools to get away from bad teachers, or bullies, or bad neighborhoods. All you can do is leave the city, and that's what millions of families have done since forced busing and other supposedly "anti-discriminatory" laws have been enforced. And that's why about a million kids are involved in home schooling. If it were up to me, I'd get online education up and running as quickly as possible. I don't buy this socializing theory about schools. As I child, I almost exclusively dealt with adults, and I think kids would mature faster if they did the same instead of picking up bad habits and learning bad things from other kids.

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As I understand your question, you're asking for opinions about virtual schooling from K - end of college. Not a good idea. 1. Small kids need to be around other kids their own age so they can develop social and interpersonal skills necessary to get along in the world. Virtually, there would be no socialization and you would have kids finishing schools as social lepers totally unable to communicate at that interpersonal level. 2. On-line colleges: Very few - as a matter of fact, I can only think of one, the University of Phoenix - are recognized as being little more than a diploma mill. You pay for the degree you want. Employers want people working for them who have the social skills necessary to get along in the world and you don't develop those skills by "attending" a virtual college or university. You are totally incapable of communicating effectively with real people. Don't get me wrong - there are reputable colleges and universities that offer courses on-line, but you still need to spend time at the actual "brick and mortar" campus in order to obtain a degree. There's little wrong with doing that - although I've had students in classes of mine who took on-line classes who say they're a waste of time and money - but you still need to spend time at an actual campus, just as younger children need to spend time with children their own age. As a society, we have become too much in love with "virtual" everything and its creating a society of idiots who are totally incapable of communicating with other people unless they're texting them in that wierd shorthand that old-timers like me can't understand. The leaders of tomorrow are going to be the people who are capable of communicating with people and who recognize the fact the "virtual" world does exist and use it, but not exclusively. If you can't carry on a face-to-face conversation with people, you're going to be lost.

OldHippieHatesNewAV

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Shasha

I agree with you completely.

musicholickgp

Kids need to learn how to play with other kids...we don't live in isolation. For kids who dropped out of school it is nice...they can get a GED, but the rest should go to class...feel the love.

Shasha

Oregon had an online HS set up that was working very well for students who either didn't fit into, or had a hard time physically with regular school. Parents loved it, kids loved it, the kids were doing fine until the teachers' unions wanted it shut down because they were afraid of it. Their union is so strong in this effing state that the politicians are afraid to oppose them. The teacher and public employee unions are ruining the economy in Oregon.

Directmale

About the argument that kids who are home schooled or virtually schooled being socially retarded I disagree. Parents of those kids are often active in their church where the kids get a lot of socialization. Also, when the public school kids get home from school they play with them. During the day the parents can take them to museums and other educational outings that are more educational than shouldering their way through the halls between classes or going to and from school.

Directmale

I agree with you on the latter in that kids can still be socialized by activities not related to school. They don't have to become socialized in just the classroom.

musicholickgp

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