Val - so what do you suggest the US does to improve the education system?
I agree with you that it is very complicated but what you seem to have done is to bash responses so far without having any of your own suggestions.
I had a couple of suggestions in my post: read whole stories or novels instead of excerpts, discuss them, and write paragraphs (ETA: younger kids) or papers (older kids) about them.
Also, I thought that math books written by people with subject knowledge was implicit. I'll also add that it helps to have writers with subject knowledge who have also taught and who know the points where kids get stuck.
Alternatively, and more cheaply, we could just use the old ones. The Brown/Doliciani books that I've mentioned many times here are a prime example. They run from pre-algebra through introductory analysis (called precalc these days, but analysis is much different).
Science: embed the scientific method in all teaching. Instead of presenting facts only, teach how discoveries are made and how they must be proven. EVIDENCE. This theme is essentially lacking from pedagogy today, and IMNSHO, the problem is due to teachers who don't know what the scientific method is and books that give it a page in a sidebar. It has to be integrated.
Grammar: bring that back. Schools don't teach this subject like they once did (the National Council of Teachers of English took a position against it in 1985). I know that my kids have had minimal exposure. Grammar lessons should be accompanied by lot of writing. My class started writing stories at the end of first grade. By second grade, it was common. My kids didn't do anywhere near as much of that as we did as kids. And everything was corrected by our by our teachers.
I always felt like folks should not have children if they cannot afford to raise them
You may have changed your opinion somewhat, but you make it sound so simple, like no one ever loses a job or gets sick. Medical bills are the #1 cause of US bankruptcies. So should pregnancy rights be restricted to people who will never lose a job or get sick/injured? I know you're not suggesting that there should be a license to get pregnant, but the quoted statement is just so...simplistic.
I stand by my criticism of harsh attitudes that blame people for circumstances beyond their control --- attitudes often held by people who don't have to struggle through a life of stress and hopelessness. Some people live with a level of stress that's so immense and distracting, it precludes an ability to do homework consistently. Mom and dad are shouting about how to pay the rent AND buy a needed medicine (at full price because they don't have insurance), the heat got turned off, there's no internet at home, and there's nothing but white bread for dinner.
The thing is, American society is so very harsh. People here can be so judgmental about others. It's almost become a blood sport. There's also this idea that anyone can just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Where's the constructive compassion?
This stuff just doesn't happen to this degree in places like Canada or Denmark, because medical care is a right and because wage laws ensure that people can live on the earnings of a single full-time job. Schools are funded equally, and they 1) spend their money well and 2) don't have to go begging for art or science supplies. Less stress helps improve outcomes. This is what I mean by constructive compassion.
