Gifted teacher jumps through hoops

[Mermaid]

Ask yourself a question-
Of all the things covered throughout your years of schooling, what percentage have you actually used?

I think a very large problem with schooling in the US has to do with our outdated/standardized curriculum. We would be serving our students better if we placed more focus on life skills- e.g. students graduating from high school should already know about the pros/cons of credit cards, the simple but powerful lessons of compounded interest, mortgages, the stock market, etc.

And there should be greater focus on communication skills, persuasion, critical thinking, etc.

I'm thinking we should have core curriculum until middle school. Then we should allow students to "major" in areas of concentration that interest them. Let's say we have a seventh grader who has no interest whatsoever in science and math. It makes no sense to force them to study things like chemistry or geometry in high school, IMHO. They will just be going through the motions- memorizing the periodic table and theorems just to pass exams. They won't remember any of it and won't use any of it.

2 cents...

Geo! You can't be serious about that, not really. At least not all of it.

I like what you think about teaching life focus skills. It's a shame that home ec, for example, has taken such a bad rap as to be all but beaten out of the curriculum. It used to be that if you wanted to learn basic cooking and nutrition in high school, you could. Or if you wanted to learn how to sew. Those are excellent classes that are useful to life. When I was in high school I took a course my senior year (an elective) and learned business numbers--how to balance a check book, how to read the stock market page, etc. Those were good numbers to decipher! I had to teach all that to my kids, and not half as well as my teachers taught me.

But this idea of letting kids take the reins and design their own core curriculum suited to their own interests? In middle school? That's irresponsible. What kid wants to learn anything? I mean anything that is not directly and intimately connected to their own lives. I'm sure chemistry and algebra wouldn't make the cut. Would English? Would a foreign language?

You say--and correctly too--that a lot of the things learned in school, the periodic table among them--you can't remember. Most of us can't. But that's not really the point. The point is this: some people do remember stuff they didn't want to learn at the time, and they've parlayed that knowledge into careers. If we had listened to the kid, who like you, said "I hate algebra and I'm not taking it!" would that kid have discovered that indeed, he DID like algebra, and he kept taking more and more of it until he ended up at MIT on a scholarship and became a scientist who helped design the shuttle that SWGB saw at the beach this week?

Another thing about learning seemingly useless information is that it teaches us how to learn. I might not remember much of geometry, but it taught me patience, it taught me logic, and it gave me an infinite and lifelong admiration for people for whom geometry is a piece of cake. I'd have been sad if no one had ever exposed me to the Law of Euclid.

 

[Geo]

Geo! You can't be serious about that, not really. At least not all of it.

I like what you think about teaching life focus skills. It's a shame that home ec, for example, has taken such a bad rap as to be all but beaten out of the curriculum. It used to be that if you wanted to learn basic cooking and nutrition in high school, you could. Or if you wanted to learn how to sew. Those are excellent classes that are useful to life. When I was in high school I took a course my senior year (an elective) and learned business numbers--how to balance a check book, how to read the stock market page, etc. Those were good numbers to decipher! I had to teach all that to my kids, and not half as well as my teachers taught me.

But this idea of letting kids take the reins and design their own core curriculum suited to their own interests? In middle school? That's irresponsible. What kid wants to learn anything? I mean anything that is not directly and intimately connected to their own lives. I'm sure chemistry and algebra wouldn't make the cut. Would English? Would a foreign language?

You say--and correctly too--that a lot of the things learned in school, the periodic table among them--you can't remember. Most of us can't. But that's not really the point. The point is this: some people do remember stuff they didn't want to learn at the time, and they've parlayed that knowledge into careers. If we had listened to the kid, who like you, said "I hate algebra and I'm not taking it!" would that kid have discovered that indeed, he DID like algebra, and he kept taking more and more of it until he ended up at MIT on a scholarship and became a scientist who helped design the shuttle that SWGB saw at the beach this week?

Another thing about learning seemingly useless information is that it teaches us how to learn. I might not remember much of geometry, but it taught me patience, it taught me logic, and it gave me an infinite and lifelong admiration for people for whom geometry is a piece of cake. I'd have been sad if no one had ever exposed me to the Law of Euclid.

I'm totally serious.

I'm not saying sixth graders are in charge. We would need good experienced counselors who can gauge their interests and assist them in developing a more relevant and focused learning plan. Expose them to some of the more advanced science, math courses, etc. so they can make an informed decision on what interests them and so they don't miss out on something they thought they might have ended up liking after all. But it doesn't take a year of chemistry for one to determine they don't want more. English Lit- how much Shakespeare do they need to suffer through before they know it doesn't suit them?

If someone would have required a basic business class in my grade school I would have learned very early in life what I am passionate about.

You nailed it in your last paragraph. The value in education is learning how to learn.

 

[Geo]

I have friends who homeschool their kids. They opened my eyes. Their kids takeaway more in one day at a museum or an aquarium than mine do in a month studying the associated traditional subject matter in school.

Their approach seems to be more about exposure and learning (I'm talking knowledge absorption, retention and application) than our school system's which seems to be more focused on passing assessments and checking things off lists...

Edit- I am pleased with the public school my child attends. Very impressed with his teachers and the operation they run. My commentary is more about the larger system and approach...