Well, Im one of those kids who did very, very poorly in 12 years of schooling. Im not a book learner which is what schools teach. Theres many types of learners, different ways that people learn. I flunked math in the 7th grade. I almost got held back a grade in the 3rd grade. I dragged Ds in English. I would study endless hours trying to memorize things. I ended up with a SAT score of 600 (that was a very low score then in 1963, and Im sure its considered pretty low today too). Yet...I went on to become a New York Times best selling author with 135+ books in print in 22 foreign countries, with 23 million sold thus far. So, it begs the question of what did our US educational system not do to help me learn. And the sad fact is that theres more of my kind out there, than those who are book learners and thrive and do well with grades in school and college. How did US schools not see my promise? My skills? My unique abilities? Because I could not fit their idea of how to teach a child, I was always a C student at best. Yet, I could create a worm selling business to fishermen and sporting good stores, make thousands of dollars starting at age 16, bicycle up to the Medford Airport at 17, plunk down $600.00 and learn to fly. I soloed in 12 hours, which is the average for a person learning to fly, to solo. I went on and flew 39 hours until I graduated from Medford Senior High school in Medford, Oregon. The US public school was of testing intelligence is badly, badly flawed. Im an example of being left behind, not engaged, not acknowledged, not seen as smart. As a matter of fact, on my junior high SAT score test? Someone wrote: DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR COLLEGE. Because my SAT score was so low. Not that I wanted to go to college. I couldnt afford it, anyway. And I hated school. I tried so hard, worked endless hours, tried to memorize, and still dragged Ds and Cs. They were using a form of teaching that my brain could not comprehend. Oh, and I wanted to go into the Latin class and learn Latin? Well, they wouldnt let me because I had a C in English. I got so pissed off that I brought books from the library and taught myself Latin! I still use this root language to this day ;-). Who else OUT THERE was failed by the US Public education system? I know Im not the only one. But in my case, unlike untold millions of kids who didnt fit the book learner style that is held dear in public education, my confidence was not crushed, I did not get low self esteem because I never did well in 12 years of schooling. I always believed in myself and I believed in following my hearts passion--which was telling stories and writing. And in so many cases, children like myself are crushed, their confidence shattered, because they dont do well in school. And it has nothing to do with their innate intelligence, their skills or abilities. Its just that school does not have testing to find out the treasure chest that is found in that kind of child. The whole teaching system in the US needs to be rectified and changed to discover the gems right under their nose, and bring out their creativity, their skills and abilities.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 14:57:47 +0000
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