Real Life and Parents Who Can’t Parent
Is it any wonder so many parents don’t know how to parent? It isn’t their fault. We have separated the events of life, isolated children from the daily observation of adulthood, and in so doing, taken from them the most fundamental learning tools, resulting in adults who don’t know a lot about real life.
family/parenting | Word Warrior | 
May 25, 2012 6:55 am
This post looks like it has been cut short..or was it supposed
to be that way?
Shocking, I know, compared to my usually long posts
It was just the thought for the day.
My little girl is in special ed and the home curriculum she uses is called the LIFE program and uses the ULS (Unique Learning System). I wish more kids had a more life based education like this. She learns to do things needed for life along with academics where the goals are not so big. I mean, who really uses geometry and so much of the stuff learned in public school after high school? Really. I think I actually use about 15% of all that was crammed into my head when I was in school. As we continue to push out career oriented people, the basics are left to the wayside… a young lady may know how to identify something under a microscope but not have the faintest notion how to cook, keep an orderly home, shop for good deals, manage money, or care for children. My daughter, because she is disabled, is learning about real life IN HER HOMESCHOOL PROGRAM. I think public schools could take a better approach as well at teaching young people how to be grown people with responsibilities that are used, not forgotten over time because they were never needed in the first place. A big gap exists in public school education, REAL LIFE EDUCATION.
Brttany, I was wondering where you would find such a program online? I googled it but couldn’t find it. Would so appreciate being able to look into it!
Thanks so much!
Hi Michelle,
Just google “unique learning system”. That’s the one. It is adaptive and the thing that helps us so much is that it can be used for a disabled child like mine to never let a “needed” thing that is used in life to be a issue. If my daughter, because of her cognitive problems, cannot do math in order to check her bills and make sure she is not being cheated when she grows up, then we move forward by teaching her to use a calculator. She may not be able to read the word “Walmart” so she can find it, but she can learn to recognize the sign itself. She is learning simple recipes and later will learn to make lists. Right now she is on the Kindergarten level but as kids get older it teaches other important things. God bless!
Have you heard about the thing going on here in FL where they lowered the standards of the writing tests? I don’t watch the news but my husband told me about it. I’m sure there is more to it than this but one of the reasons was “some 3rd graders might not know what a camel is”. Really? Take your children to the zoo, or the fair, or the library. Yeah, there may be a gap between children and real life.
Well, please pray for me. I’ve had my 3 year old home for 3 months and the result? Weight gain, stress, marriage tension, etc. I really don’t see anything good of it.
Stephanie,
I long to offer you some encouraging nugget to soften what you’re feeling, but without knowing anything of your situation, I fear to try. Nevertheless, peel back what you know of or can in life that might be causing the stress, and try to focus on the simple joys of life, your daughter, your husband and your home.
I am praying for you. From my experience, the good one can see is often in hindsight. What you are doing is hard – it is stressful and it comes at a personal cost without immediate reward. Be encouraged; victories will come, and that’s when you’ll see the benefit.
Stephanie,
I will pray for you.
Cathy
Thank you Laura, Cathy, and Kelly.
I haven’t been a mom, Stephanie, but many women I know have. They often described the days home alone with the newborn as the hardest; maybe this is like that? If so, it will get better. In the future you may even go back to work, but it’s good to be with them in their younger years; either way, things will give. Will be praying!