If I'm being honest, I have a real love/hate relationship with the public school system in this country. I think there are pros and cons to anything in life but it seems like there is something left to be accounted for in our schools.
Our government has created a sort of "we know the best way to handle this" with our schools. It's not a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. This "I'm the expert" mentality is bipartisan and started a long time ago. Most of their expertise is based upon standardized testing; yes, that's right, the little fill-in-the-bubble tests of yore. When I was a student, I actually tested quite well but as a parent, I've seen very intelligent and advanced children ranked below average because they don't test well. When I say "don't test well", I'm not referring to kids who rush through and "Christmas tree" the test just to get done. I'm referring to the kids who understand the concepts just fine but might not understand the complicated wording we all know goes on in standardized testing. We've taken the power away from the teachers to decide which students are below the level they should be, meeting standards, or above that level. Now a set of cookie cutter standards decides that.
We've gone through a set of hullabaloo very similar to parenting "recommendations" now too. We can't use red pens or we might hurt their feelings. We can't say "your kid is being a little butthole"; we have to say things like, "He is a real challenge." A lot of schools don't do A-F grading systems anymore. Instead, it's "approaching the standard" and other such wording. A lot of junior highs and high schools are now implementing a system of anything being able to be retaken. Slack off on an assignment? No worries, you can redo it without penalty. Didn't feel like studying for that test? Nah, don't worry. You can just retake it with the stroke of your parent's pen to sign a little piece of paper. No extra credit work is required. No concern of what you might be teaching the kids by having no real consequences. Nope...we don't want to hurt their feelings.
I have a feeling (after speaking to several teachers) that this is frustrating for teachers too. They no longer get to use their educations that they worked so hard for. Instead, it's teaching core curriculum and teaching to the test. The teachers of my childhood that got to teach us things creatively no longer get to do this. No more dainty little songs to teach fun things. No more making sure that the basics are learned. Nope, it's far more important that children are bilingual at 5 years old and are starting algebraic equations in first grade.
I don't want to be entirely negative because, honestly, I love my kids' school. The teachers have such big hearts and I see their efforts to make things interesting. I see their frustration that the system stunts their desires to make learning fun but STILL learning for these kids. I see a lot of teachers really working at trying to cram everything in and it's heart-wrenching because they have the best of intentions. It's not the teachers that are broken; it's the system.
So what's the solution? Well, if I had my way, it'd probably be home-schooling. I'd have to make sure the kids were in activities and such outside of school but I'd be able to truly let them explore concepts and learn. I can't afford a private school solution and I don't know that private schools are entirely better on this front. My opinion on the solution is relatively simple: less government involvement in every single area of our lives. Instead of picking apart every little details, let's get back to the basics and let kids learn for real. Let them get excited and learn to love learning because it will all come together when they WANT to actively participate in their learning process.
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