Alice Cooper on the school board? Nah. That really would be
too cool for school. But here are a few thoughts on what it might mean to be in
school these days. This may go astray a bit. Forgive me.
My son's been a third grade student here for one week. He should
be in fourth grade and, though he's happy to be on easy street, I'm very
worried and disappointed with the way things are going so far.
We've just come home after spending the last two school
years in Taiwan. Part of the reason we were there was to give him a chance to
learn about that part of who he is--Taiwanese. It was important to me that he
have some understanding of that side of himself. His father isn't in the
picture until he looks in the mirror; then there are lots of questions that I
felt would be better answered where they really all started.
Plus, it was important for me that he have a chance to learn
some Mandarin--and he did. My son did a GREAT job of learning a language that
he didn't speak a word of when we landed, and of learning subject material
through that language. I'm very proud of him!
But he should be in fourth grade this year. After spending
the last two years studying his tail off, he feels like he can almost sleep
through school. He told me, in fact, after the second day of school that he
thinks he'd be fine in sixth grade here. And he's right! I bet he really could
do it.
When I took him to Taiwan, two years ago, he had just
finished up with first grade here. In Taiwan, I chose to put him back into
first grade again because he was going to have to study through a language he
didn't speak. And in third grade, there's a big jump for Taiwanese students
because they have to learn about 3-5 thousand characters that year. If they
don't already have the spoken vocabulary for this, it's truly a daunting task!
Even for kids who've never been outside Taiwan, third grade is a tough year.
So, I put him first again to give him time to catch up. I
wasn't sure how long we'd be there, but I knew he needed a chance to learn to
speak before he had to write.
He did very well. He brought home straight "A"s.
But the school her wants him in third grade simply because he hasn't been to
third grade.
Come on. Is anyone home? He hasn't been to second either,
here. Second grade here and second grade in Taiwan aren't equal.
For one thing, in Taiwan first and second graders still only
attend school for half days. Full day school days don't begin until third
grade. Not that students don't study all day. Most study from sun up to sun
down. After school, there are any number of cram schools for Taiwanese students
to study in, and they do.
My son had 4 hours--that's FOUR hours--of homework every
night in first and second grade in Taiwan. That was working with the Taiwanese
tutor I hired to help him with his work because I couldn't read it. And that's
NOT including any cram school hours, which I didn't think he needed on top of
his regular school work.
These are only two simple examples of why it shouldn't mean
anything to the local administration here that he's been to second grade, but
not third. There are many other differences that I won't bother to type out.
You get the idea.
He's learning math here in third grade that he learned in
first grade there. All the books in his library are babyish books that he's too
advanced for. He's reading on a 6.5 grade level for me. When he was studying in
Taiwan, I didn't push spelling or writing in English, but I did encourage him
to read as much as possible. I knew (I thought I knew) that as long as he had
his reading skills, he'd do fine if we came back here.
So my child is now fully bilingual, and fully bi-literate,
but the school here won't allow him to study in fourth grade.
Why? He brings home one worksheet for homework. This one
worksheet has four questions. Stuff he learned two years ago. This is a total
joke.
Why indeed. When he came back here and I asked them to put
him in fourth grade, they insisted on testing him. They gave him a standardized
test that they use for end of year promotion to fourth grade. But he'd never
seen such a test before. He didn't fail, but he didn't do well enough to cause
them to allow him to study in fourth grade. He only spent twenty minutes on his
reading test--which most end of term third graders take in two hours. And he
still didn't fail it. He just rushed through it.
He took longer to take his math test, but was confused by
the questions and the vocabulary--most of which he knew only in Mandarin
because he'd learned his math overseas. And yet he still passed that test, too.
It was all format and unfamiliarity, plus a little boy's impatience with a
silly test that he knew was too easy for him.
So what do I do? I'm a teacher myself and I take my own
son's education very seriously. I'm quite frustrated with the local
administration's tick-the-box approach to this, with no real concern for
providing my son with the best education they could provide him with. But I
have no money, at the moment, for private instruction, and to homeschool him,
I'll have to have very flexible employment.
Really, the education system here is in more trouble than
most people likely realize. Where’re the critical thinking skills evident in
this situation? The child is not familiar with this testing procedure and
format = he's not ready to promote. It doesn't matter if he knows the material
or not, or if he has other knowledge that his peers don't, or if we're wasting
his time by not giving him access to new knowledge.
If the administrators can't think more critically than this,
the school's out forever, indeed. No point in thinking for yourself any longer
at all. Just learn to be a box ticker. Ugh.
2 comments:
School was like that when I was a kid too. He'll be fine. The ability to be graceful when bored is far more valuable a life skill than maths, and I'm only being just a tiny bit flippant, there ...
You are absolutly right! Love you, Jacks! Thanks for commenting.
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