I've actually spent quite a bit of time thinking about this lately......I really like this post from parentdish about children and the loss of unstructured free time. I love the first few paragraphs, nice writting. Little boys are so much like puppies! (In my experience)
I see much of this with Leanna's school. Recesses are often taken away or shortened(I think as diciplinary measures for the class). There is only one recess, right after lunch. I am trying to remember, I think we had two or maybe three? A quick snack one in the AM, then after lunch, and possibly in the afternoon. I was talking to her teacher yesterday morning and the teacher told me Leanna is a good reader but has trouble with spelling. She asked if I would go over some words from a list at home. She told me they no longer teach spelling in school, no time for it. At open house the teaching assistant told me that their only history, or social studies, is a little bit of civic responsibility stuff(being nice to others and that sort of thing) and they have very little science. Because there's no time for it, they have to teach the stuff on the big tests. Leanna never had show and tell. They get about two field trips a year. I'm guessing there won't be any spelling bees either then.
The teachers seem like genuinely caring people who are doing the best they can with the way things are. It's just very sad all around. I've run accross several articles on why our educational sytem was designed and the way it's run today. All of it makes me seriously consider homeschooling.
I see much of this with Leanna's school. Recesses are often taken away or shortened(I think as diciplinary measures for the class). There is only one recess, right after lunch. I am trying to remember, I think we had two or maybe three? A quick snack one in the AM, then after lunch, and possibly in the afternoon. I was talking to her teacher yesterday morning and the teacher told me Leanna is a good reader but has trouble with spelling. She asked if I would go over some words from a list at home. She told me they no longer teach spelling in school, no time for it. At open house the teaching assistant told me that their only history, or social studies, is a little bit of civic responsibility stuff(being nice to others and that sort of thing) and they have very little science. Because there's no time for it, they have to teach the stuff on the big tests. Leanna never had show and tell. They get about two field trips a year. I'm guessing there won't be any spelling bees either then.
The teachers seem like genuinely caring people who are doing the best they can with the way things are. It's just very sad all around. I've run accross several articles on why our educational sytem was designed and the way it's run today. All of it makes me seriously consider homeschooling.
