Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PatrickGHBusan]

[eslwriter]

Kindergarten and elementary school are mostly quite enjoyable for so called mixed race kids. But that all changes in middle school.

My kid had many friends and learned to stand up for herself when the occassional taunt came out from other kids.

Middle school is a completely different game. Based on what I saw with my kid, middle school is a mind chilling experience where kids learn to become thoughtless robots. Teachers, from what I saw, do very little teaching.

My kid does very well at math, but that is because of the hagwon teacher.

Exams are excrutiating and pointless. Here is an example. The PE teacher told the students to memorize a book about shot put for the exam. Even though students NEVER played the sport, let alone saw a shot put ball.

I happily pulled my kid out of the public middle school system.

[GJoeM]

--

[PatrickGHBusan]

GJoeM you raise very valid concern but your condemnation of the public school system is a bit too strong in my opinion. Sure PS has its issues but it also offers some advantages. Things are not so black and white and how a kid does in a PS has a lot to do with the individual school but also with his parents.

I truly believe parents are far more important here and their role will be the determining factor in how their kids do in school. That is just what I think of course.

We (wife and I) have friends in Korea who have mixed kids and some of them have middle school - high school age kids. Some have had problems, some have had no issues and are very happy with the education their kids get. Again, nothing is so black and white.

I respect your choice of homeschooling your kids and I wish you the best with it but let's avoid swinging too far one way or the other.

[GJoeM]

--

[PatrickGHBusan]

This is a thread about parents with kids in school (thread title: Parents - how are your kids doing at school?). My kids were in school/kindergarten in Korea and so are those of many people here and many people I know. I have an interest in this subject because it is possible we may move to Korea again in the future due to job postings or to wanting to do so for other reasons.

What's to gain from exchange and debate? Learning and expanding your views (and mine). Seeing another point of view is a good way to learn I think. This is not about converting anyone, it is about trading experiences and expressing opinions.

Threads are open to everyone, no one owns them. As long as people in here comment on education and their kids, then it is, in my opinion, a valuable contribution to the thread.

My point in my previous post was not to discredit your opinion, far from it. It was simply to say that swinging too far one way will not help anyone looking for information or input on this topic. That is all, I was saying and sorry if that offended you in some way.

I said before and will say again: I completely respect your homeschooling choice. I am sure it is the right choice for you and your family and I am GLAD it is working out. I just thing that PS in Korea can be a good choice for parents too and that some people may wish to learn more about that option.

Isn't the aim here to help people who may want to learn more about being parents in Korea and about education options for their kids?

Me, I would LOVE to have people comment on yet more options like International Schools. That would be a great contribution to the thread. I would also enjoy more homeschooling experiences being related and yet more Public School input. At the end of the day that stands the most chance of helping people with those decisions.

Take care.

[GJoeM]

--

[PatrickGHBusan]

[GJoeM]

==

[T-J]

Just to get this thread back on track, the OP was: