The Class of 2020:The Class with Vision! March 29, 2007
Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise , trackbackLast night, I had a meeting at our lower elementary school for kindergarten entry. I had been under the impression that this would be a meeting discussing the assessment program (we already have our date scheduled) and what that would involve.
Alas, the first 40 minutes reeked of bullshit.
Perhaps it is just me. I wanted to stand up and say "Is it just me, or is this a bunch of bullshit?" They invited a child psychologist to come and discuss the excitement and fears of kindergarten. He brought up Alfie Kohn’s work, he discussed over scheduling a child, he discussed the need to instill excitement for learning. Yippie kai yeah. I was not impressed. (I actually like Kohn’s work, BTW, it just wasn’t really something I expected here).
At one point, he discussed the recent reports of "over praising your child" and how we should worry about performance praise (ie- praising the child for trying and persistence) vs result praise (ie- good for winning). Sigh…
To me, this stuff is what we do anyway. When things don’t work for the girls, we suggest ways to work at it better. How to improve what they are doing while pointing out what went right and what went wrong.
The kicker was when he said "Kindergarten is the time to create the love of learning and the opportunity to set up the love of school. Once we pass this age, we can never reach these things again!" BULLSHIT. You can always create a love of learning. I am not sure I ever loved school. I was second in my class, I was right up there in the AP classes and I hated the social constructs and the mindless work given by teachers.
I don’t think ANYONE over the age 13 loves school anymore.
Then a parent asked what his feelings on homework were. He spent 5 minutes arguing that the word "work" should not be used with respect to home work. He set the word up as a negative connotation, which to me, defeats the purpose of the word. I love my job. I love my work. Work is not bad. Why teach kids at 5 years old that work is a bad thing? I don’t agree with homework at a young age, and I think it is not really the best way to encourage learning, BUT BUT BUT don’t you dare associate WORK with EVIL and BAD. UGH!
Fortunately, he is not a school administrator. He is just the psycho psychologist. I really like the principal, although I have to say that I find all Jennifers a bit too happy just like I find all Heathers just a little on the insane side.
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No offense to any readers (oops), but have you met children of psychologists…?
You should have called BS early on (but I know that I wouldn’t have the guts to do that, either… peer pressure, I guess)
I don’t know…I think that kids do get taught (in school) that learning is BORRRRRing, and once that’s taught, it’s hard to counteract. I think that kids over 13 *can* love school, it’s just that the western method of schooling doesn’t promote it because it’s all about The Test, bleah. (Don’t get me started.)
I agree with you on the “work=bad” message. Bah.
So what did the psycho-logist tell you to call homework, anyway? Homeplay? School practice? The stuff you do at home to help you learn stuff at school? Yadda, yadda, yadda…
Dirk- Yeah, I am too scared IRL to call the BS
OM- Do you have testing in your state? We do and it BITES. I hate it! UGH. It starts in 3or 4th grade… Such a pain for the kids… sigh…
You know, the guy never did actually give a name to what he would have called “homework”
Yes, we have testing. I don’t know when it starts. I’m dreading it; I don’t mind the “achievement tests” we took when I was a kid, because it was more a “look where you (personally) are” than a “if you don’t do well on this test, the whole school goes down the drain!” Which is a heavy burden to put on little kids.
Well, I suppose it may have been boring for you, because you are a progressive parent. But I think it’s great that they brought up Kohn’s work (I’m a big fan, too) for those parents who aren’t quite on board with such things. Sounds like a decent place to send you kids.
But please tell me you aren’t going to have homework in Kindergarten??!! (whatever name they give it - how about we’re-so-inefficient-at-teaching-kids-you-have-to-take-it-home-with-you-Work”
And yeah, kindergarten is all fun and games. But show me a kid in a grade level who still thinks school is as fun as they tell you it will be on Blue’s Clues, lol.