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Blog: FCAR
Speakout
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Refusing to Sacrifice Our Son on the
Altar of FCAT Insanity
By Ru'e Lam
March 23, 2007
My son falls into the category of Exceptional Student who does poorly on the
FCAT.
He nearly had a breakdown from being kept in Intensives with NO electives
(meaning no PE or Music, drama or Art in which he is gifted). He could not take
Shop or Typing or anything else that might relieve the agony of sitting through
Language Arts, Intensive Reading, Intensive Math, Math, and Science every day.
He has always needed a lot of exercise and frequent breaks from difficult
subjects, in order to concentrate. He has a hearing issue. He is only 12-13
years old. I would have a hard time even as an adult, sitting through that many
hours of subjects in which I did not excel.
In addition, as I saw his self esteem plummet I noticed his behaviors were
beginning to be affected as he was exposed to other students in the Intensive
classes who often come from a very rough environment.
Kids are 'clickish'. So my son was being ostracized from the "A-B Honor Roll
crowd". He was not allowed to show his talents in drama, music or sports so no
one in Middle School could see he had any. A lonely child will gravitate to the
group that accepts him and these rough kids were accepting him.
Three weeks ago I stopped working (at serious financial loss to our family) and
began Home Schooling. To us our son is worth any sacrifice. We refuse to offer
HIM up as a sacrifice on the altar of insanity that the Public School system has
become.
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