Kids need nurturing for character-building
Posted on March 18, 2007 - Filed Under Punch Forum |
Ms. Ric
18 Mar 2007
Mr. Duque,
Twelve years of primary-secondary education here in the United States isn’t what it seems. If I remember correctly, when I went to grammar school in Manaoag in the seventies, I went to school from 8:00-4:00 with an hour break for lunch and recess in the morning and afternoon. I’m not sure exactly how many days we were in school for the whole school year, but it seemed forever.
Public education in California is 180 days in a year with 300 minutes a day without the breaks. Most schools have 10-11 weeks of summer vacation. It's too long of a break, if you ask me. We spend at least six weeks doing nothing but review what the kids forgot over the summer.
Supposedly, primary grades (1-5) are designed to develop the basics in a self-contained classroom. Middle school (6-8) grade was created because of the need for transition. When pre-teen are not quite independent enough to be on their own and are not developmentally ready for secondary challenges. High school (9-12) is designed to literally train our teens to be successful in college or as a young adult entering a workforce by 18 years of age.
The original design of our public school system here was working fine. It produced some of the greatest minds this country ever knew. Then politicians started tinkering with it and claimed that time is changing and we must compete. For the longest time Japan was used as model to taunt school officials, teachers, and students alike. We kept changing policies and kept shoving new standards for our kids. We became a nation of labels and differentiated instructions. Every child was identified, labeled and shoved in a classroom to meet new challenges immaterial to whether the child is actually developmentally ready. Gone were the days when kindergarten was half academics and half fun. Believe it or not, pre-algebra concepts are being explored as early as first grade.
In our haste to be competitive in this modern time of ours, we’ve forgotten that our kids need nurturing not just in their mind, but their body and character, as well.
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