Anyone else attend a nongraded school?

[Streetcar]

My grade school in the seventies did not give regular grades. In school district I live now, parents permission must be given to repeat grade

 

[drssg]

We had E, S,N, U. Excellent, satisfactory, needs improvement, unsatisfactory. I really don't recall exactly what the letters were based on. This was the 70s

This might have effectively been our system as well. There seemed to be a strong correlation between the perceived level of effort and performance. As long as the students are essentially average intelligence, it would be about the same thing.

The focus on effort might have just been a matter of wording. “You need to apply yourself more” vs. “Your performance is terrible.”

 

[MossRoad]

As a matter of fact, they DID threaten to hold me back in kindergarten, due to excessive absence. My mother was a rather free spirit. She believed in the value of education, and she taught me some reading and basic arithmetic before I was in grade school. She also believed that the most important thing to learn today was not necessarily what they were covering in school.

For example, there was an injured great blue heron in our driveway one morning. I got to stay home from school and catch minnows in the creek, and we tried to nurse it back to health. (It didn稚 make it.)

We had A-F grades 1-12.

I was surprised the Nuns could write grades in our records, what with their hands so sore from beating the other kids all the time....:laughing:

I got hit once in 1st grade, and Dad made sure they knew they weren't allowed to touch me after that. Same thing happened to his mom when she was little, only my great grandfather went into the school and slapped the teacher around. Ahhh, the good old days.

I had straight A's (B in handwriting because I was left-handed) 1-3. I checked out of grade school mentally at the start of 4th grade. Couldn't hold my interest. Mom let me stay home very often. And she was a teacher at that school. 7th and 8th grades if I'd have missed one more day of school I would have had to repeat the grade. I had a rowboat, fishing pole, binoculars for bird watching, a lake in the back yard, farm fields a block away, a river 1/2 a mile away, and parents that taught me more than school could.

I checked back into school about age 20 and went to tech college for electronics. Served me well. Met a good woman, too. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

As for holding kids back today, yes, they'll still do that. They evaluate your kid's progress, and if they feel they are not making enough progress, they'll recommend holding a kid back. Held back kids sometimes do really well. My daughter was neck-and-neck for top student 7th and 8th grade years with a little guy that got held back 6th grade. He was smart as the dickens. But tended to get into mischief, and had some serious home life issues. He had a younger sister that was advanced a grade, so they were both in my daughter's class. My daugther, even at that age, thought it a bit unfair that she might lose out top honors to a kid that had seen all the material before. We really had to talk to her about what's most important, but she's a stubborn girl. I think it drove her even harder. They ended up being pretty good friends all the way through high school.

 

[bunyip]

Told at school that I was not destined for anything great and would most likely have a menial job or live on welfare.
Left school, trained as an electronic tech, went to university, studied psychology, went back and got a doctorate, divorced in 1982 and lost everything, got up, brushed myself off and started again, worked hard and bought properties, now own 10 and get an income from them and people tell me I am lucky!!!
I think it was Samuel Pepys who said that personal wealth came as a result of luck, and the harder you work the luckier you get.

 

[drssg]

As for holding kids back today, yes, they'll still do that. They evaluate your kid's progress, and if they feel they are not making enough progress, they'll recommend holding a kid back. Held back kids sometimes do really well. My daughter was neck-and-neck for top student 7th and 8th grade years with a little guy that got held back 6th grade. He was smart as the dickens. But tended to get into mischief, and had some serious home life issues. He had a younger sister that was advanced a grade, so they were both in my daughter's class. My daugther, even at that age, thought it a bit unfair that she might lose out top honors to a kid that had seen all the material before. We really had to talk to her about what's most important, but she's a stubborn girl. I think it drove her even harder. They ended up being pretty good friends all the way through high school.

That’s an interesting story. It makes sense that some kids just emotionally mature a little later and do well by being held back a year.

The held back kids I knew fell into the more typical stereotype. As we aged through high school, they all ended up in the low-achiever/druggy crowd.

 

[MossRoad]

That’s an interesting story. It makes sense that some kids just emotionally mature a little later and do well by being held back a year.

The held back kids I knew fell into the more typical stereotype. As we aged through high school, they all ended up in the low-achiever/druggy crowd.

A lot of it depends on the support staff at the school. Our kid's school ( a very small Catholic school ) had great, long-term teachers, and some really good principals. They set up programs to test the kids' progress every two weeks, and adjust the curriculum for each individual child as needed. For example, the kid I'm talking about above and my daughter were getting bored with science, so the teacher ordered them some cow eyeballs to dissect for a special project. Back around 4th-5th grade, they said academically, we could bump our kid UP a grade, and skip a year. We said no, because emotionally she was still a little kid. Kinda interesting that had we done that, she'd have jumped a year and that other kid got held back a year, and they would have never have had the chance to drive each other competitively.

 

[MossRoad]

That’s an interesting story. It makes sense that some kids just emotionally mature a little later and do well by being held back a year.

The held back kids I knew fell into the more typical stereotype. As we aged through high school, they all ended up in the low-achiever/druggy crowd.

In my class, there was a kid that got held back a couple years. He just wasn't there academically. He was OK at sports, we all liked him, but he just didn't grasp the material. Same thing in high school. His parents owned a liquor store and his father was a politician. The kid passed away from complications of alcoholism in his 40's.

And there was another kid in 8th grade that was driving his younger siblings to school.....

I have sister that was a teacher in a large inner-city public school system for about 15 years. Only ONE year did she NOT have a 6th grader that was already a parent.

 

[Alan W.]

In my class, there was a kid that got held back a couple years. He just wasn't there academically. He was OK at sports, we all liked him, but he just didn't grasp the material. Same thing in high school. His parents owned a liquor store and his father was a politician. The kid passed away from complications of alcoholism in his 40's.

And there was another kid in 8th grade that was driving his younger siblings to school.....

I have sister that was a teacher in a large inner-city public school system for about 15 years. Only ONE year did she NOT have a 6th grader that was already a parent.

The sad state of most public schools both academically and morally is why we sent our son to a Christian Academy. We were concerned about not fitting in with the typical private school clientele, but most of the familys were like us, having to work at it to afford the tuition. Yes we gave up a lot of things to make it happen but it was worth it.

 

[Industrial Toys]

As for hurt animals. My experience as well, they rarely make it. Sad.

Sad too, is that very little of real value is taught in school. Many people have miserible lives because they simply don't have a clue. They had the time and years to learn something, that would help but for some reason, we don't do that. Nothing about relationships (50% divorce rates in the west) , attraction, jealousy, the ego, debt, consumerism, addiction, depression, the physics of driving a car. I could go on and on. It just astounds me.

We have a Waldorf school around the corner. (Rudolf Steiner). Apparently they teach about elves, fairies and such. One Ex GF had her kids there. At five, they would make dinner! Another ex GF had her kids in a Montesory (sp?) school. Her kids did well by it and were also way above their peers in various areas.