LogFAQs > #976253487

I'm not going to defend high school, because it is pretty shit at doing what it's supposed to do (though I think it has more to do with the fact that we're educating to the lowest common denominator and using an Industrial Revolution-era approach to learning, which is now almost two centuries out of date, despite the fact that better methods are available). However...

Dikitain posted...

I am willing to bet all of those kids with "A"s and "B"s probably had parents and teachers breathing down their neck telling them how and when to study so they can get good grades.

I can only speak for myself on this one, but no, I didn't have parents and teachers breathing down my neck telling me how and when to study, because that would imply that I studied. I did almost no studying in high school (or any other part of grade school), because I didn't need to - I was smart enough that it was unnecessary. There were many times where I would wander into class first thing in the morning and notice everyone was very quiet and poring over their notes, only to remember, "Oh, right! There's a test today, isn't there?". I would then proceed to ace it and get one of the top marks in the class despite not studying.

Talk to most former high-school high-achievers and they'll tell you much the same. And it *really* does not set you up for success come university, because there studying is absolutely necessary and most of the smart kids never figured out how to do it effectively, because they never had to (and I include myself in that description).

Dikitain posted...

Oddly enough, that number actually drops significantly for homeschooling. Probably because a good homeschooling environment actually teaches you those things.

You could say the same about non-home schooling environments, though. A good school will have much better results than a bad school, and that is true regardless of whether the school in question is home schooling, a public school, or a private school.