Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TESTS, Part II: Failing is not Fun











    Fortunately childhood doesn't look like adult life! Why should kids have to do all the decision making that adults do? Why should kids have to be totally responsible not only for their own actions but the actions of others as well. Kids these days need more time to be kids, and part of being a kid is going to school and learning things that other people decided that you need to know (or being homeschooled). The world is a tough enough place as it is. Imagine if all the kids just learned what they felt like! Some might never know that they are actually good at Maths or Reading because they never tried it because they didn't feel like it. Kids also don't have the knowledge or experience to necessarily make good choice about what to learn or tests to take. Some adults don't either!

  2. @KarenKTeachCamb, I agree that children shouldn't "have to do all the decision making that adults do." But I think they should have a LOT more choices than they do now. They should get to choose when they want to choose. I don't believe adults know what's best for every kid.

    In fact I have imagined if all kids could learn what they felt like, and it looks pretty amazing to me. Every child feeling confident, pursuing his *own* dreams. I trust in people, that all of us are capable and should have the right to follow our own paths.

    I agree that kids need more time to be kids. More time that is unstructured and completely free. I was not allowed to "be a kid" in school, and I don't know many kids who are. Every minute of the school day was scheduled for me. I had no say. That is not what being a kid looks like to me!

  3. @ Vickie.... based on your posts, I think we had a similar school experience. I did well in school. Did well on tests. Fit the narrow mold of what school values ..... quiet, studious, compliant, cooperative etc etc. My schooling experience was just fine.

    I had the unique experience of returning to the school I had attended as a child....as a substitute teacher. Actually, for awhile I was a paraprofessional for a child with intermittent physical challenges so I had a lot of time to just observe the teachers who had been MY teachers so many years ago... I was often called to the office to walk the halls with a disruptive "sped" kid....or a depressed crying 12 year old girl. What I learned is that there is a large percentage of kids who do not fit into any mold or norm or "type" of kid that teachers prefer. Their skill set may be entirely outside of the narrow definition of "good" that school defines. Therefore, for the first 17 years of their life (minus maybe 3 years before they are sent to preschool - but not if they are sent to daycare) they are in an environment where they cannot succeed, they are not valued, they are not liked. THEN they are set forth unto the world to choose a vocation and to succeed as adults somehow. These kids are GOOD kids.... but they are told they are bad.... day after day, week after week, year after year. Makes me sick! It was one of the reasons I chose homeschooling before I ever even HAD kids of my own. (well that and the fact that my mother was the coolest unschooly schoolteacher EVER and imparted in me a persistent "buck the system" ethic)