School

I think that school has changed so much over the years. I think that our government has lost sight of what school should be and by doing this it’s hurting our youth more and more. Not only them but teachers. The obsession over test scores makes it hard for teachers to actually teach the kids and help them to learn to absorb knowledge. I also think it’s hard for them to focus on what is going on in the class room and how kids are being treated.

Yesterday was “Earth Day.” When Jacob got home from school I asked how is day was, if anything interesting happened, and what he did for earth day. His response: school was good, nothing interesting happened and today is earth day? I went on and on about earth day… Saying to him you didn’t plant a flower,  you didn’t walk around school property, you didn’t pick up trash, you didn’t dig a hole? Really anything…. No, they didn’t do anything… They were busy preparing for the tests that are coming up next week… Hmm I see how this is important???? Seriously, I am pretty sure that I would rather my children learn how to help our planet and the importance of making smart decisions about littering, planting, and taking care of our environment and how that impacts us today and always… I get that the schools have to get a certain score for funding, but at what cost?

Why is it that if a child doesn’t learn the way that that “society” is the correct way to learn that child is labeled as being “lazy” or “a problem child” or “maybe that child should be put on medicine”  or “That child has focus problems”… My response all the testing is stupid!! I am pretty sure that ISTEP testing hasn’t helped me in my adult life. I am pretty sure the testing is stupid and everything that I had to “memorize” and not actually learn I don’t remember, but  the things that I was actually taught I remember…

I have an idea… how about we teach our kids and not just “train” them to be robots and spit out information.