I have two children. Both are boys, ages 11 and 13, and in middle school.
Lately in Texas education has made the debate world liven up exponentially. They have elected to remove historical figures and replace them with others. Why not just add to the curriculum, so they have a balanced education, instead of making it political. When I think of school, I have certain expectations that I would love my kids to have a grasp of.
Kids aren't going to remember everything, to repeat on command years later, but the knowledge they get will determine how well their future school endeavors are accomplished. It will also allow them to develop greater loves of certain subjects. Below are just some of my thoughts on what I wish for my kids in school.
Math
I want my kids to have an understanding of basic math and from there move to harder math topics. Having kids take algebra in 6th and 7th grade is great if the kid understands everything before that and can do it with ease. If a child is having a hard time with fractions how are you going to explain C=A+B without blowing their mind?
Math was never a subject I grasped very well and the notion of adding letters and numbers in the 8th grade blew my mind. It wasn't until years later in college that I actually learned algebra (somewhat) and only then because I went back through basic math courses under a teacher that went over and over anything her students didn't get.
My youngest son would be failing math right now if not for a Mother, Brother, and a grandmother (who is a math professor) available to him when he doesn't understand something.
English
I want them to understand how to write a sentence and the punctuation needed. I enjoy writing but honestly I don't write with proper punctuation much of the time. My imagination is what got me through English in college and High School. I write for me, and while I would love to write professionally, I never learned the rules I needed to be able to do so.
Its the same now. Thankfully, I can help with wording with my kids and for everything else, my kids can call their Aunt who is an English major.
Reading
You can't force a kid to love reading but you can make sure they are able to do it. I have sat and listened to kids that are 13 stumble across simple words because they were never taught how to sound them out when they were in elementary school. For goodness sake.
Isn't that what elementary school is supposed to be for... To teach them the basics? It was always my understanding that Elementary school reading was to prepare the student to advance into literature. How can a teacher expect a child to be able to read much less understand Shakespeare if that kid has a problem reading simple words aloud?
Books are a staple in this house. We push our kids to read. It might be a comic book or it might be a Harry Potter book but as long as they have parents willing to buy them reading material they are interested in, they will always have the opportunity to excel as far as they wish in reading.
Reading to me is the major subject a student should be taught because without it understanding any of the other subjects will be a struggle and/or fruitless.
Science, Social Studies, and History
Kids need to know the history of where they came from. The need to know the U.S. Constitution, Who are founding fathers were, why they thought the way they thought, and what led us to be the nation we are today. From the discovery of America to 9-11 kids need to be learning this stuff until they get out of school.
Some of these kids in middle school cant point out their own state on a map. That's simple social studies! At the beginning of this year, we were watching a night time game show and my youngest kid answered a particularly hard question on history about Thomas Jefferson. I didnt know the answer to this and when I asked him how he knew it he said "We learned that at the beginning of the year Dad." and smiled.
When asked to do a Biographical book report, he chose Thomas Jefferson over people like John Cena the Wrestler or some other sports figure even though sports is this kids life. I didn't question why, but instead let him roll with it. He made a 100 on it.
As far as science, I want them to have an understanding of the earth and space that will allow them if interested in a particular topic of science, to understand enough that they will be able to learn about those advanced topics. Science is important and should be treated as such.
While I am a Christian, I think leaving the study of God's role in creation should be left to the church and parents. Opening the study of God's role in Creation in Public schools opens the can of worms that if we allow that study to happen then we have to allow the study of other religion's creation theories into school.
That's just too much time wasted when teachers have limited time to teach a topic before they have to move to another. I took a Mythology course in college that discussed creation myths and theories concerning the religions of the world. I was an adult and learning about the things I chose to learn about.
That's what college is for. What do you say we leave that there and in the hand of what ever religious leaders and religions we subscribe to.
Like I said these are just some of my thoughts. I have great expectations for my kids. I want them to feel, as well as be, successful in what ever they choose to be and do. If you have any queries concerning the place and how to use kids for learning, you can make contact with us at our own web page. However without the right training and motivation both at home and in school they wont be. I plan to do my part and then some.
Whatever it takes.