Playing Hookie

[B.Calhoun]

Yup i decided not to go to school today even though i have a big science test.....oh well. I just needed a break from school for a lil bit....i have to make up all the work when i get back but its kinda worth it.

Anyone else playing hookie today? :naughty:

 

[Foxtrot]

I have today and tomorrow off.

 

[B.Calhoun]

why do you have off?

 

[Sai]

fall break, that's why i have the rest of the week off

 

[Foxtrot]

why do you have off?

Not fall break for us...I don't remember what it is called. I think it might be some workshop for teachers.

 

[Deadline]

Yea im playing hookie, and I just scored a GOAL... w000000000!

I love ice hookie... :dork:

 

[oldagerocker]

In Britain we call them "Staff Development Days" and "Bank Holidays" but also "Half-terms" usually consisting of a 'bank holiday'.
Missing school is called 'bunking' or 'skyving' or just being a lazy bum

 

[Korgoth]

Ah I love Britain.... So many crazy sayings for things. Its a bit of a sticky wicket or something.

 

[Immortal]

i wish i could get a bad case of skyvinyteous on the 16th of november

 

[Steve]

skipped my Mass Comm class today, but i have to go to my accounting class for an exam. oh, shit...i have to buy scantron sheets...heh heh

 

[Korgoth]

i wish i could get a bad case of skyvinyteous on the 16th of november

heh, I like your avatar Immortal, is that a nuclear explosion in the form of a hand giving a peace sign?

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

I skipped high school all the time my senior year. By then you realize as long as you're not a total idiot that high school is easy and most of it is a waste of time, yet even while skipping I pulled a 3.5 average. Now that I'm in college it's more of "Well I can skip, but I'll probably fail that class if I do... I mean I AM paying for this, so I should probably do well."

Nov. 16th I think I have exams, so no skipping that day. It'll be a hellish day of college, and then sweet sweet bliss of HL2. Hopefully.

 

[Steve]

heh heh...no exams for me on the sixteenth, dude! and i've got like 4 friends in both of my classes that day, so i can get the notes no problem! yay for me!

 

[Gray Fox]

The previouse week I had exams the whole week, but this whole week is vacation.

 

[Gray Fox]

I skipped high school all the time my senior year. By then you realize as long as you're not a total idiot that high school is easy and most of it is a waste of time, yet even while skipping I pulled a 3.5 average. Now that I'm in college it's more of "Well I can skip, but I'll probably fail that class if I do... I mean I AM paying for this, so I should probably do well."

Nov. 16th I think I have exams, so no skipping that day. It'll be a hellish day of college, and then sweet sweet bliss of HL2. Hopefully.

That depens on what Highschool you go to. Or don't you folks in the US have different level highschools.

 

[Janet Reno]

Last year there wasn't a week of school where I didn't miss a class. I would usually sleep in during the morning.

I would miss whole days, some months I'd miss a couple days out of the week and sleep all day. Although the sleep was usually badly needed.

I ended up with a 75% or 80% average in my last semester, can't remember exactly what it was. I probably only went to half or near half of my first and second period classes. I guess I was lucky I had a third spare a long with that as I would sleep till about 12:30 and go to my afternoon classes often. The good part was, my first and second period classes were extremely slack so it didn't matter a whole lot.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Greyfox, we in the US have pretty much one type of high school. We don't get placed in other type high schools ala German Gymansium (spelling?) or Realschule. I guess if you consider private schools a type of placement you could say we have different levels, but the average person, the bum off the street, and even most incredibly intelligent people go to the same schools usually. There ARE some schools around this country that are junk, but they weren't meant to be that way. Pretty much kids are all treated as equal students, even when most arent.

 

[Gray Fox]

Greyfox, we in the US have pretty much one type of high school. We don't get placed in other type high schools ala German Gymansium (spelling?) or Realschule. I guess if you consider private schools a type of placement you could say we have different levels, but the average person, the bum off the street, and even most incredibly intelligent people go to the same schools usually. There ARE some schools around this country that are junk, but they weren't meant to be that way. Pretty much kids are all treated as equal students, even when most arent.

Here in holland we have 3 levels

mvbo- 70% of people go there
havo- 20% go there
vwo- atheneum 8%
- gymnasium 2%

Hey but I allways thought US schools were incredibly hard, cause you're colledges are, they said that to do to some really good here ion holand you're minimum grade had to be 7,5.
But could someone give me a link that explains the school system good, I'm interested in learning more about it. Or if you feel like it you could explain to me more.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Well pretty much the average American goes through this type of school system:

Some decide to start their children early and enroll them in "Pre-School" which is pretty much a day care with some learning involved.

Most start in Kindergarten and this is usually the start of Elementary school. This is what we call K-6 Elementary (Kindergarten through 6th grade). Just about every child is enrolled in elementary school (well ideally, there's always folks that decide their children don't need school but yeah, there's an exception to every rule I guess).

Next we move onto Junior High School. This is usually from 7th grade to 8th or 9th. It's under the discretion of the local school district for how long Junior High school lasts (either 7-8, 9, or 10, but hardly any go until 10)

Last in the required schooling is Senior High School, usually lasting from 9th-12th grade. After successful completion of the 12th grade, students graduate and can head off to college, or do whatever they want with their lives.

Pretty much everyone in the US goes through this schooling. An exception would be those who decide to "drop" high school, which they can legally do when they are of the age of 16 (I believe), which means they just stop going to high school and they don't earn their high school graduation papers, meaning they can't go to most colleges until they finish high school. Another exception would be those whose parents have some money who are sent to "Private" schools. These schools can be K-12 and are pretty exclusive schools that are privately owned, not government owned like the public schools.

We don't section our schools off into levels as you can see. Everyone goes to either public or private schools until they are graduated, and which type they go to depends more on annual income than intelligence.

I probably missed a lot, but if you're still wondering about things, just tell me what you want to know.

**Edit** Ah yes, and it sounds to me that the Holland school system is quite similar to the German one.

 

[Immortal]

heh, I like your avatar Immortal, is that a nuclear explosion in the form of a hand giving a peace sign?

Yup, oh the irony!!!!

 

[Steve]

don't forget homeschooling, Umbrella

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Ah yeah, good call He_Who_Is_Steve.

Homeschooling, another choice parents have. Instead of sending their children off to public or private schools, the learning material is sent home for the student to use. Therefore, the parent is the one with the responsibility to teach the student the material. Homeschooled students learn basically the same material as those in public and private schools, just in a different setting.

 

[Gray Fox]

Ah yeah, good call He_Who_Is_Steve.

Homeschooling, another choice parents have. Instead of sending their children off to public or private schools, the learning material is sent home for the student to use. Therefore, the parent is the one with the responsibility to teach the student the material. Homeschooled students learn basically the same material as those in public and private schools, just in a different setting.

But do the homeschooled kids have to come to school to take their tests, I mean the have to right, because the governmet has no other way of telling tha tthe parents are teaching them well, also the in holland only the people tha thave doen vwo can go to college,
they made the level system so that high school are better suited to different types of studenst, in gymnasuim you can be very smart and still get f's .

 

[Steve]

But do the homeschooled kids have to come to school to take their tests, I mean the have to right, because the governmet has no other way of telling tha tthe parents are teaching them well, also the in holland only the people tha thave doen vwo can go to college,
they made the level system so that high school are better suited to different types of studenst, in gymnasuim you can be very smart and still get f's .

if i remember correctly, and you can correct me if i'm wrong, umbrella, you can only be homeschooled until high school. you actually HAVE to graduate from a real senior high school.

 

[Letters]

if i remember correctly, and you can correct me if i'm wrong, umbrella, you can only be homeschooled until high school. you actually HAVE to graduate from a real senior high school.

You can just take that one test... that I can't remember the name of right now for some reason... but there's a test... like high school equivalency exam or something...

 

[Steve]

the GED

however, a lot of colleges put you very low on their admissions list if you only have a GED, and many won't accept you at all

 

[Janet Reno]

Pre-school here is more or less daycare and only some kids will go to it. School here is Kindergarten through to grade 8. K-8 are all in one school. Then there's highschool which starts at grade 9 and goes through to grade 12.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

if i remember correctly, and you can correct me if i'm wrong, umbrella, you can only be homeschooled until high school. you actually HAVE to graduate from a real senior high school.

Actually you can homeschool throughout high school here. It may be up to the school district though. I believe you have to take some sort of GED test or equivalent when you're done with your homeschooling though, and you still get to go to the graduation ceremony just like everyone else.

GreyFox, the students usually do not come to the school to take tests, because the tests are different depending on your instructor and there is no "set test" that is given for a grade. Since the student's instructor is their parent(s), then they take them at home.

Does Holland incorperate the Abitur (spelling?) or equivalent into their Gymnasium?

Not sure if you are familiar with the Abitur (German final test) but American high schools have no "final test" to graduate. You take something resembling it called either the ACT's (Eastern US) or the SAT (Western US) or you can take both. They are more of a placement exam than anything for college though. The ACT or SAT is not the only thing that factors into you going to college, your high school overall GPA (Grade point average) weighs heavily into it as well. If you fail your ACT or SAT, you can still go to small colleges quite easily here.

 

[Steve]

Not sure if you are familiar with the Abitur (German final test) but American high schools have no "final test" to graduate.

actually, dude, down here in LA we have to take something called the Graduation Exit Exam. The thing is, we take it our junior year. it's kinda crazy.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

actually, dude, down here in LA we have to take something called the Graduation Exit Exam. The thing is, we take it our junior year. it's kinda crazy.

Damn, that's rough. I guess us Michigan folks are lucky in that respect then.

 

[Steve]

yep... (in irish accent) oh, ya lucky bastard...

 

[Gray Fox]

Actually you can homeschool throughout high school here. It may be up to the school district though. I believe you have to take some sort of GED test or equivalent when you're done with your homeschooling though, and you still get to go to the graduation ceremony just like everyone else.

GreyFox, the students usually do not come to the school to take tests, because the tests are different depending on your instructor and there is no "set test" that is given for a grade. Since the student's instructor is their parent(s), then they take them at home.

Does Holland incorperate the Abitur (spelling?) or equivalent into their Gymnasium?

Not sure if you are familiar with the Abitur (German final test) but American high schools have no "final test" to graduate. You take something resembling it called either the ACT's (Eastern US) or the SAT (Western US) or you can take both. They are more of a placement exam than anything for college though. The ACT or SAT is not the only thing that factors into you going to college, your high school overall GPA (Grade point average) weighs heavily into it as well. If you fail your ACT or SAT, you can still go to small colleges quite easily here.

Well in Gymnasium we have the school exams, wich are for everyone in the school in the 5th and 6th the same, wha tI mean everyone in the 6th gets teh same as all teh other in the 6th, that aplies to the 5th as well.
and we have a final exam wich is the same for all gymnasiums in the whole country. If you fail them you do not pass school. Thats the mos timportant one and is designed so that they can make sure all the schools are at the same level, otherwise you can graduate from one school but that school could be a lot easier tha na nother at the same level, so you're diploma wouldn't mean shit, but if you pass final exams they know compared to the rest of the nation you really are at that level at that level.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Ah okay yeah, so it sounds like Holland's Gymnasiums are pretty similar to German ones, which I'm fairly familiar with.

I've heard that Gymnasium depression/suicide rates were significantly higher than say Realschule... due to the stress and pressure. Still true or no?

Oh, and what happens in Holland if you end up going through all of that schooling and failing the final exam in Gymnasium? Is it still that you end up having no way to get any sort of high end job or go to college or do they have some new system of dealing with folks (like knocking them down to a lower school for a year) so they have some sort of graduation credentials?

 

[Gray Fox]

Ah okay yeah, so it sounds like Holland's Gymnasiums are pretty similar to German ones, which I'm fairly familiar with.

I've heard that Gymnasium depression/suicide rates were significantly higher than say Realschule... due to the stress and pressure. Still true or no?

Oh, and what happens in Holland if you end up going through all of that schooling and failing the final exam in Gymnasium? Is it still that you end up having no way to get any sort of high end job or go to college or do they have some new system of dealing with folks (like knocking them down to a lower school for a year) so they have some sort of graduation credentials?

If you fail the in the final year the final exams, you just have to do the year all over. But lets say in Gymnasium you can fail at two subjects and still pas but you failed on a three, but one of those three is latin/greek, well the difference between gymnasium ans atheneum is that there is no greek/latin in atheneum, so you can say you drop that subject and then you have a atheneum diploma. Or if you are in the final year at vwo, that is the sixt and you fail it , well in havo you have 5 years of schooling, then you can just not do the sixt year and you get a havo diploma. See I'm now in the sixt and if I fail 2 times this year and I'm not premitted to do it again(2 is the max in this school) then I allready have a havo diploma in essance.

Oh yeah and they did a study and in vwo there are not only more suicides( logical, you worked you're but off for 5 years and then you fail and still have to get a job at MCDonalds, only becasue you're a game freak and consider Hideo Kojima god)
But they also found out that the higher educated drink and use drugs more( i guess becasue of the stress) although the did give a warning that if you're not smart drinking alot and using drugs won't make you a higher educated, so it doesn't work the other way around.(edit: that was supposed to be funnny, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it)

 

[Adrien C]

I did 4 years of homeshcooling in Mexico, it suked big time. Don't ever try it.

 

[UmbrellaMaster]

Ahh okay, gotcha Grey Fox. Interesting the things you learn on this forums eh?

 

[DavE0r]

yer, i supposed to be in college (Thurday) didnt go ...sleeping. Im supposed to be int oday ( well its 2am on the friday) dont think ill go because of sleep . And next week its half term... basically a week off lazing around the house, and having the missus moan at me for not doing anything, apart from eat sleep, fart and go to work!

 

[Bad^Hat]

Skipping school here is called wagging. I used to do it alot because school was depressing. And then I would wag at home and I wouldn't be depressed anymore