My kindergartner is bored with school. She complains that she already knows everything they are trying to teach her. After talking to the teacher, it is decided that she is not far off and that she will be getting alternate assignments in class. The teacher also tested her for the accelerated reading program. She didn't pass the test, but didn't fail it by much, so she sent home some books for us to work on and she will be re-tested in a couple of weeks.
Here are my complaints: 1. What happens to all the kids that are smart enough to be ahead of the program but not quite smart enough to be in accelerated reading program. Are they doomed to boredom as the teacher is forced to teach to the lowest common denominator. My daughter says that there are some kids that still can't write their names.
2. Is there an accelerated math and science program as well? Some kids get numbers, why shouldn't they be doing harder problems and getting smarter? We focus a lot on reading and it is important, but it is not the only area a child can excell at.
3. Why do I have to request testing for the accelerated reading program? Shouldn't this be standard? Is the test on a gradient as the year goes on? I imagine the testing checks to see if she is up to par with were the program is now. Maybe 3 months ago she was on par, but as the classroom caught up with her the program surpassed her. Maybe if the school wasn't overcrowded and my daughter's classroom didn't have 20+ kids, it would have been caught.
Don't get me wrong, I am glad they have the program, but I wonder why I have not heard about it until now. The teacher knew that we worked with her on her reading at home. I know they can't split classes up by how smart the kids are because it is unfair, but I wonder who it is really unfair to. The slower kids are going to need extra time, why do we, as Americans, feel it necessary to keep our faster children in a slower environment and on a slower curriculum?
5 comments:
when i was in school, they had 3 different classes per grade. a remedial class, the normal class and the accelerated class. i think they should do that everywhere....
My sister ran into this with her son. He was so far ahead of the other kids he was doing puzzles while they learned stuff he'd known for a while. The teacher really wasn't inclined to help him, it seemed. He's homeschooled now.
Unfortunately, kids that are smart enough to be ahead of the program but not quite smart enough to be in accelerated classes are indeed doomed to endless boredom in class, unless their teacher is motivated enough to give them extra-credit work that challenges them (and most teachers won't be). I speak from personal experience as a student (who read encyclopedias in class for fun daily, since I zipped through the assignments with straight A's in half the time of the other students) and as a mother of bright (but certainly not genius) kids. Teachers are simply too overworked & underpaid for most of them to go the extra mile with an exceptional (or even slightly above-average) kid, especially considering that their hands are largely tied when it comes to classroom discipline (my 8th-grader complains constantly that her class is too chaotic, and this is not the first year she's made those complaints - but nothing is ever done when I complain to the school!).The problem I see is that most adults have become indoctrinated with the idea that anything which could threaten any child's self-esteem is Bad. That includes grouping children by ability (which was standard practice up until about the 1980's), holding children back a grade when they have not met the learning requirements, requiring extra tutoring or afterschool classes for struggling kids, and in some cases even giving out letter grades instead of pass/fail -- or even only giving grades which strictly reflect effort instead of accomplishment!I wish I had better advice to give, but as far as I can see, the only options for truly bright kids are homeschooling or private schools (where the parents have a much more direct say over the curriculum & requirements). Some cities have magnet-school programs where kids can apply to a different public school in the district which may have more challenging curriculum options -- I'm currently waiting to find out if my daughter has gotten a spot at the local polytechnic high school, which has a 3% drop-out rate and almost an 80% rate of graduates going on to higher education. Many of these magnet school programs are only available to middle & high school students, but if you can get into one, it's worth it.
grrrace-Where did you go to school?Sci-fi chics- Homeschooling. . . I have thought about it, but I have a hard time teaching myself outside of a classroom environment.cosmicbabe- The magnet school for my county doesn't start until 2nd grade. I sat bored in class throughout most of highschool. I got in trouble for talking a lot.
i went to elementary school in NY.
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