Academics in my mind is NOT about worksheets and testing- but about getting kids excited about learning, discovery and exploration. DH is a professor in the sciences and he says there is a huge difference for example in the way graduate students from China think compared to the US. The Chinese students can do any calculation, formula work etc... that you can give them. The US students lag behind. But, the American students absolutely excel in creative problem solving, which at the graduate level is actually far more important.
I was talking to my Mom the other day about a conversation she had with their new Chinese teacher (her school is a new Chinese immersion school, they just finished their first group of kindergartners). Keep in mind, my Mom's school is in a very wealthy area and is considered the best elementary in her area. The Chinese teacher said that the first thing she noticed with the different groups of kids was that the Chinese kids she taught were much more obedient, disciplined, and dedicated but that the American kids were MUCH happier and more childlike. She said part of her plan with the immersion school is to create a happy medium. I desperately wish I could move there and have Ellie go to this program. My Mom said it would probably be possible since she is a well respected teacher and is very close with the principal (nepotism, yay). No chance for Ellie here as we have no immersion school anywhere near us.
Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement. -From a bumper sticker I saw once
I care about the students being taught to be whole people--strong academically but also artistic and creative, possessing social skills as well as some athletic development. It's a lot to ask in this day and age, where standardized testing rules all. It's why we went out of district and drive so far out of our way to send DD to an alternative program, where the teachers believe that all those other things are as important as academics. I think anyone with a good understanding of child development would believe that as well. The more you explore and grow in other areas of life, the better you do at academics. The beneficial connection between music and math is pretty well documented, but somehow music programs keep getting cut so they can focus on math (??).
DD (1st grade) was doing really well in her classes so I let the teachers challenge her more and more, but only to a point. I told them the most important thing to me is that she continues to develop her love of learning, and they agreed to push or not depending on her enjoyment. I feel that elementary schools that push kids too hard can damage students' intrinsic drive to learn, and that would be really hard to get back as a teenager. DD wanted to do 3rd grade math and reading? Great. She got frustrated with learning to multiply by 9s, and got frustrated that the chapter books were too long and couldn't be read in one day? Great, back to first grade work, that's obviously too much at the moment. The academics are important to me, but if she's in a good school I know they will come in time. It's the other areas that require more effort on parents, I think.
To clarify, I mentioned having a threshold for academics. Certainly I'm not going to be happy with a poor or even average school. But if it is good, I'm okay with that. The district we live in is actually a top rated public district in Ohio but it doesn't offer near what some of the private schools around here do with regards to academia.
Personal background certainly affects opinion. DH and I both went to mediocre public schools that had just a few options for gifted/advanced programs. But we both went to top engineering schools and neither of us had any issues with either our undergrad or grad degrees. I have no regrets about my academic life AT ALL (well, sometimes I think about going back for a PhD but there is still time for that). What I do wish was that I'd had more opportunities to understand the whole world, to volunteer, to spend time or semesters abroad. I do a lot of global work and for my children, I'd much prefer them to be on the European model where travel and vacation are just as important as the time in school and later, in the office!
We are in a great school district and so I am not too focused on academics at this point. I know my kids will be prepared for college, if that is their route. I have been very happy with the school district so far, DS just finished first grade. Most children love to learn and I think schools need to keep that interest alive. I know teachers have a hard time with all the testing. In his two years in public school I think he has had a good balance of academics, specials, and recess. I may be in the minority, but I liked half day K. It is giving my kids another year of more unstructured time. This year it was nice to see he had two recesses and a special everyday. In K and first they do a lot of stations to learn things, so I think it is good that it gets the kids up out of their desks and moving some and also working with others to figure things out.
K & B ~ 04.05.03
O.R. ~~ 12.12.05, J.V.~~ 06.02.08, F.J. ~~ 01.12.10
Originally Posted by Pine Tree
