tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8978692582622766930.post3032350755676409243..comments2023-07-16T07:47:21.314-04:00Comments on The Reluctant Homeschooler: VentingThe Reluctant Homeschoolerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16344663418885710401noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8978692582622766930.post-77131434340756808522008-03-04T10:25:00.000-05:002008-03-04T10:25:00.000-05:00Georg,Learning and memorization are indeed differe...Georg,<BR/><BR/>Learning and memorization are indeed different. I can't throw out tests altogether, but to give Jacob such hard tests only to demoralize him seems silly. He's not a Biology enthusiast and will most likely never take another Biology course (unlike me; I took dozens of Bio courses in college and loved them). It's a real struggle to balance true learning and memorization.The Reluctant Homeschoolerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16344663418885710401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8978692582622766930.post-61331072611049875682008-03-04T01:41:00.000-05:002008-03-04T01:41:00.000-05:00One of the biggest problems, IMO, with the public ...One of the biggest problems, IMO, with the public school system (including private schools) is the idea that is drilled into students, deliberately or not, that everything they are studying is so that they can score high on a test. The idea of studying for a test, working for grades, etc., is not what true education is about -- learning -- and can often be harmful. On the other hand, tests CAN sometimes be helpful, and (in my experience as a student, anyway), students can learn even from the test itself, especially if the test is well-written. Even if they don't get the answers right, they know what to go back to later and review. Of course, the student has to become motivated to actually do this, which many students are not.<BR/><BR/>Memorize-and-regurgitate tests do seem inordinately silly sometimes, especially in practice. The students sits down and stares at the material, remembering a bunch of words, then later writes them down. Better if the student knows what they all mean, understands their context, etc. I do love facts, though, and some part of me thinks there has got to be something useful in knowing lists of phyla and such, but just straight memorization of names is less likely to be remembered than learning about the things the names stand for, and in the latter case the student is at least likely to remember enough 10 years later to find material to refresh his memory.<BR/><BR/>-GeorgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com