Actor Crush of the Day: Pierce Brosnan
I'm nervous. I know the IEP we worked out last year has a goal date of this coming January, so I know she's going to get help and some Special Ed and won't be held to the same standard in Math as the other kids (since WHEN was doing Math a timed sport, anyway? I have HUGE problems with this potentially huge anxiety-causing feature of gradeschool, now. Heck, they started timing em in KINDERGARTEN!!) That's a big relief, because, last fall, it was ever-more difficult as fall wore on, to try various alternative ways of explaining and helping her understand the homework.
And since when did they expect First Graders to add 25 and 25? And add and subtract three numbers at once? And they keep pushing more and more into the first grade . . .
Anyway, now on to the 2nd grade. I AM worried about the homework issue, as far as how much time it's going to take her (not that she needs to meet a certain time, but last year they said it'd take 10-15 mins a night, and it was 30 mins or more . . .) . . . As well as new difficulties that may, and probably will, arise this year, given her problems with abstract concepts, and stuff. She's been reading since she was four, though, and is an excellent reader! She has three bookshelves full of books.
I'm also worried about the recess issue, they are going to be doing structured P.E. activities now during all recesses.
BONEHEAD move, that, IMHO. They say kids can have "free" play after school and on weekends, but c'mon! Isn't today's gradeschool child already got a fairly full slate anyway? There's barely enough time for free play as it is outside of school. What with homework taking alot of time, and that doesn't even count "reading" homework, ie, how much general reading for "enjoyment" kids are supposed to do nightly . . . and then, of course, there's helping out around the house, and keeping their room clean, and such.
It's already hard for her to stay focused that long during structured class time; now, she doesn't even get to "play" at recess, it's just going to be P.E.
There's a disctrict-wide directive that all schoolkids get an hour of physical activity a day, and I guess they are making em turn recess into PE . . .
When are kids s'posed to make friends, anyway? Sure, this new method might cut down on bullying, some, but . . . I'm not sure. Is one-two PE teachers supposed to be able to handle 2-3 classes full of children, all at once, through each recess period, throughout the whole day, plus the regular weekly P.E. session for each class? Or is the PE teacher even going to be involved, and will they just be marching in formation, around the perimeter of the building ten times? I don't see much benefit in THAT . . . besides teaching the kids to HATE PE, HATE exercise, and other negative effects.
Anyway, more on that another time.
Hopefully tomorrow will go well for my daughter, and we'll have a good meeting with the teacher, too.
1 comment:
I really hate how they keep pushing down the content that used to be learned in older grades to the lower grades. Children today are too stressed! When I was in a class discussing the foundations of different educational theories, my professor told us about an article that someone wrote about teaching a child to read in the womb. He used all the right psycho babble. People believed him. He was a big believer that if you wait until a child is ready(and that can vary from child to child) that teaching children who do not have a disability is very easy. If you try to teach them before they are ready, you set yourself up for a struggle.
Post a Comment