Coffee Chat!!! Back to School...
I am joining by sister Leslie at Time out for Mom for her weekly coffee chat....
Now this week the subject is: Topic: Back To School!
At first I wasn't going to write about this at all... after all my kids are 23, 22 and 21 and back to school seems like so long ago... but then I started thinking what back to school really means or meant.
I was always a working mom so back to school meant I no longer had to worry about what my kids would be doing every day... it simply meant that when I got home from work we would end up with the homework battles... those of you with high school students know EXACTLY what I am referring to....
AND then of course there is the: the classes are taught to standards so the students can pass the tests.... Whatever happened to teaching so the kids understood what was going on??? Here is the greatest example of that...
Every child is taught history and every child is taught about the atrosities of World War II. Well I am sure that my daughter slept through most of her history classes because about 5 months ago she told me she and her husband were going to a concentration camp, but that she had never heard of it before. Mind you they are stationed right outside of Munich....After her visit she said to me that the next time I come I need to go with her... she learned so much and was stunned at what had happened. "Why didn't I know about this???" You see... my daughter had actually gone to Dauchau and for the first time in her life saw the harsh reality of what she had missed in her history class.... So tell me... how does a teacher get that lesson across to a child?
And while I'm on my 'rant' against schools... does someone want to tell me how all twenty somethings have NO IDEA how to spell or put together a decent sentence??? What happened to grammar... or even the three "R's"... of the 5 "W's".... was the way we learned so bad?
Does this mean I am getting old??
I am joining by sister Leslie at Time out for Mom for her weekly coffee chat....
Now this week the subject is: Topic: Back To School!
The Kids have been back into the school routine for weeks now: How ya doing mom? All systems go? Can open, worms everywhere? Tell me about it.
At first I wasn't going to write about this at all... after all my kids are 23, 22 and 21 and back to school seems like so long ago... but then I started thinking what back to school really means or meant.
I was always a working mom so back to school meant I no longer had to worry about what my kids would be doing every day... it simply meant that when I got home from work we would end up with the homework battles... those of you with high school students know EXACTLY what I am referring to....
AND then of course there is the: the classes are taught to standards so the students can pass the tests.... Whatever happened to teaching so the kids understood what was going on??? Here is the greatest example of that...
Every child is taught history and every child is taught about the atrosities of World War II. Well I am sure that my daughter slept through most of her history classes because about 5 months ago she told me she and her husband were going to a concentration camp, but that she had never heard of it before. Mind you they are stationed right outside of Munich....After her visit she said to me that the next time I come I need to go with her... she learned so much and was stunned at what had happened. "Why didn't I know about this???" You see... my daughter had actually gone to Dauchau and for the first time in her life saw the harsh reality of what she had missed in her history class.... So tell me... how does a teacher get that lesson across to a child?
And while I'm on my 'rant' against schools... does someone want to tell me how all twenty somethings have NO IDEA how to spell or put together a decent sentence??? What happened to grammar... or even the three "R's"... of the 5 "W's".... was the way we learned so bad?
Does this mean I am getting old??
I don't have any first hand experience with what's going on in the classroom since we home schooled, but I'm told on good authority part of the problem is unruly kids not wishing to learn and lack of respect for authority.The problem really starts in the home. Many parents are giving their children want they need to be good, well adjusted adults. I don't know how school teachers coop with all of this today to be honest. Things are so different from when I was in high school.
ReplyDeleteI agree whole heartedly that a few bad apples do spoil the whole basket and that parents need to take a much more active role in their children's educational experience. BUT there is so much more going on at school than what is happening in a classroom...
DeleteNo - this means you are WISE!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't broke, so I don't know why they "fixed" it. My younger brother graduated both high school and college; and he is basically illiterate. You are hard pressed to understand any kind of written communication from him. And that does not fly in the business world: no one wants to do business with someone who appears dumb.
And why the heck if they are so techno-smart, do they not know computers come with spell check? It will even check your grammar! OYE sister, you are preaching to the choir.
All these changes are why I did not go into teaching as I had planned.
On the plus side, I had the most awesome History Teacher. He designed this fabulous course that basically started from ancient times - right up to what was then the Present (Gulf War). But he didn't just talk about dates and facts, he taught us about the art, the music, the writings of the time too. It was such an interesting class. And then he arranged a class field trip for 5 days to New York City.
I still love him :)
Thanks for joining me today.
I had a similar experience with my history teacher... albeit we did not go on a field trip! And I then continued and received a bachelor's degree in history... it is so much more than just memorization of dates and facts... there were lives during that period of time that need delving into!
DeleteAND don't start me on the illiteracy of today's young adults. I think we need a decoder to read anything they produce!
I am going to say that the problem is the fact that the schools are standardized. You said yourself they teach so the children can pass a "test" which makes the school look good. I used to supply teach many years ago and tghere were a few classes I could walk into an know which page they were reading and which math problem they were solving.
ReplyDeleteChildren are being taught by rote instead of by encouraging them to "think". Also the new technology does a lot of the work for them. Why learn to add when the calculator or computer will do it for you. How is that for a rant today? Should have even asked?
agree... agree... agree... WE were not allowed to use calculators and my kids still use their fingers (not proud of that fact by the way!)
DeleteSchools require test grades for funding... funding comes from disgruntled people who don't think the schools are doing enough... what a wicked web we weave!
Wow. That really confirms the old saying, "The younger generation will repeat the sins of their fathers unless they learn about them." I know my 11 yo daughter read Anne Frank and we discussed the war but I wonder how much she really knows. A lot of wisdom in this post.
ReplyDeleteNot the teacher's fault...they have to follow the rules of the standards. Can't be creative any more. It is sad.
ReplyDeleteOne standard I think should be enforced in EVERY school is that every student must know how to type before they graduate. :)
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
No, you are not getting old... I hate to sound a snob but I am very glad that my kids are able to go to private school now. The past year has been so very different for them and I'm so happy they have the opportunity to learn the way they do now not because they have to take a test! As for the concentration camps... it is taught differently here and most High school kids are very ignorant when it comes to all of this... I had a hard time when I first moved here and was often astonished by what my class mates were saying.
ReplyDelete