Race To Nowhere

This post does not have paragraph breaks-- cannot figure out how to get them in--sorry. I hit return but it will not create a new paragraph. This is a venting post about education. I have some experience in this area. I went to public schools K-12 (over 4 different states), attended a public university where I got my BS in early childhood education. I taught in private and parochial schools for 6 and a half years (that first half year was the biggest learning experience). I have friends who taught in public, private and parochial schools. My children have attended church preschools, public preschools, and public elementary schools. We have had a variety of experiences and learned that even when you are in one of the best schools in a state, if the state standards are pitiful it doesn't count for anything. You can be in a "not great" school , but have the most superb teacher ever and learn bunches. You can be in a terrific school with fantastic teacher and the child simply can't keep up and has a "struggling hard" experience. E came into our current school district last year struggling and had such a supportive team of teachers that he was motivated to catch up and with all their help and lots of work at home he not only caught up but blew the top off of a couple of the end of the year tests and found his first true love: american history. This is where my background lies-- setting the stage for the post, stick with me. There is an independent film out right now called "Race to Nowhere". I haven't seen it yet, but hope to. It was shown to the elementary teachers at inservice and homework policies at our school are now being based on it. The premise of the film is that with a 6 hour school day plus hours of homework plus outside activities that kids don't have time to just be kids. That the pressure of all these things is creating an environment of overstressed kids whose mental health is compromised and who burn out at a younger age. Also, that the learning is simple rote memorization and long lasting learning and deep thinking/problem solving is not being developed in the youngest generations. I can see what the film is saying; one of the reasons we live where we currently do is because had we moved to the strongest school system in our area E may not have made it. The pressure in that area is tremendous to be perfect and do all the extracurricular activities (not the right ones-- all of them). E needed a gentle re-entry to real school. Homework amounts can get heavy; hours spent outside the classroom on elementary assignments are outrageous. The responsibility for the pressure and for the solution doesn't lie only on the shoulders of the school though. Who could help the child keep the importance of grades in perspective? Who signed them for a regimented activity every day after school? Who sets the schedule after school for getting assignments completed? Yes, parents have to be part of the solution to the problem. Kids need unstructured time to just be kids. Unstructured play time (not team soccer, team baseball, ballet class, lessons of some sort) teaches children to find friends to play with, how to join a group of friends who are already playing, organize a game, include others (even when you don't want to), how to handle not being included, how to entertain yourself when others aren't around, and the list could go on and on. These skills are not developed in class or in adult run sports/arts programs. So I agree with the premise of the "Race to Nowhere". I am holding my breath to see how the school goes about reducing homework and making the homework it does give more relevant to real learning. What I fear may happen is that the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater and homework itself will be pushed aside. Homework assignments are important. Homework gives students a chance to try out their new skills and show what they know or where they get stuck in a new process. Homework at the very least teaches children to take home an assignment, do something with it, and return it to school. Homework helps kids hone their study skills and find their learning style. Without homework kids would also be missing certain key skills and finding out about themselves. Homework is the place people first learn if they have to study a lot (me) or can walk in on test day and ace it (won't point any fingers, but he knows who he is). We really don't want our children to win the race to nowhere by ending up with a subpar education that leaves them nowhere after 12 years of education. Homework is an integral part of education. To wrap up the post, the "Race to Nowhere" idea is a good point of view to explore, but solutions need to lie at both home and school. One side can't take the whole problem upon themselves and expect to solve it. School can't give up homework thinking it solves everything (parents can easily fill that time with video games or more structured activities). Parents have to take the message to heart and not just enjoy less homework, but look at how their child's time outside of school is scheduled (or overscheduled) and make sure to carve out some time for kids to just be kids on their own without parent interference. I haven't posted in a while so maybe this makes up for it. Not perfectly written but at least I wrote something finally. love and hugs and have a beautiful weekend, B