A Small School and its fledgling bureaucracy

My 7-year old beats me consistently at checkers, and the odds are it would take him even less time to beat his elementary school teacher/critics. Thus, I’m not too worried about their occasional view that he is a dunce and unable to focus.

IMHO, the thing to be gained from elementary school is an introduction to politics. As I observe those little buggers on the playground, their interaction is evidence of things to come. Fist fights may change to debates and teachers may turn into bosses but the process of conflict with others who are self-serving, aggressive, violent or stupid begins in kindergarten and goes on from there.

If the boy passes the school’s tests, that will be the State’s success. If he gains some vague sense of what is right and can view his fellows with benevolence at least part of the time, that success will be his.
 
Remember, for my boys, this 'real' school is their first exposure to the larger school in the large (3000 pop) town. They've been schooled in a one room schoolhouse in the mountains.

Two or three boys can throw the football better than the rest. They are not the quarterback. The quarterback is chosen socially and his friends get the ball. This is established in a school of 300 kids. It's not that the quarterback can't throw; he can. But so can others.

'That is what life is like all too often." I laughed, telling my oldest.

He understands. He is a small boy, because he started school early and is younger than the rest, and also wiry in build. He is passive and exudes calm and peace. There is an assurance about him that is unusual for his age. His day will come. But it might take a while.


munk
 
I am happy to see your post, welcome back munk
 
Munk, glad to see you writing. Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond 'till now - it's been bedlam.

Yeah, bureaucracies are ridiculous - and become the more so I think directly in relation to the power discrepancy between the top and bottom dogs. Pretty big power differential between the district superintendant and a grade 2 kid.

I'm very glad that your lad's got his presentation, and is getting a ribbon. It's ridiculous that you needed to go to bat to get that much. And it's gratifying as hell that, unlike many of the kids in that school, at least your boys have parents who'll do so.

Best, good sir.

t.
 
I agree with Jake, it's become like little prisons. I've got an 8 year old and a 5 year old who is about to start school. When my daughter was 5 years old, she had homework...
When are they supposed to be kids?

My daughter is the only Indian in the school, she is perfectly content to sit by herself sometimes. She is content to entertain herself, doing art or enjoying the outside. I've noticed that having a child that is at ease with themselves, and not needing outside approval is hard to accept in the schools! They want the kids to act a certain way, participate a certain way, a cookie cutter approach that drives me crazy sometimes.

I've never heard of anything as stern as walking on the grass rules or taking off sweaters. Not in this decade, it's reminiscent of stories I've heard about Indian schools. They couldn't break our people's spirit, as much as they tried. They won't effect your childrens' spirits either. They just aren't as strong as they believe themselves to be.
 
why do we hire these idiots to supervise and micro-manage the teaching of our children? those teachers who actually want to teach and help kids prepare for reality are prevented from encouraging thought by the administrative minds above them in the pecking order. these people work for us, and get paid out of our pockets, why are they not accountable. it is up to us, YOU, to make them so. complacency by US is the cause. those who can teach aren't allowed to because those who can't teach become administrators. do something, only you (we) can.

There are a number of new books discussing the possibility that americans are becoming hostile to factual knowledge. a large and growing number of americans reject evolutionary evidence for the faith based creation mythology. while they are in the news constantly, over three quarters of college educated americans cannot locate saudi arabia, iran, iraq or israel on a map. international comparisons show america falling behind rapidly in math, basic science and reading comprehension. in spite of our children spending more and more time in schools with heavier work loads there is no evidence they are learning more. obviously from the above comments, the pencil pushers, bean counters and ZT rulers who we somehow have let run our schools will not read those books. they are more concerned with turning out good socially aware touchy feely clones who are all at the norm, those who are above the norm must be beaten back and hammered down, those below the norm must be given a free pass to elevate them without effort.

another thing these holier than thou school officials is doing is raising money by selling off school assets like playing fields, future bean counters do not need to learn how to play vicious confrontational sports that teach that there may be winners and losers. all they need is to be able to sit in front of a screen and eat hamburgers and drool. once you sell off the baseball diamond to the commercial interests, who i am sure have not 'encouraged' the officials with other incentives, they are gone forever.

it's also happening over here, a recent poll in the UK found that Winston Churchill was the greatest brit of all times (he was half american & had dual citizenship). they had another study to see what brits thought of him and other famous figures. results were that 25% thought churchill was a fictional character, and a large number thought mahatma ghandi, charles dickens, and the duke of wellington were also. they made up for it by thinking sherlock holmes, the three musketeers and the beatles 'eleanor rigby' were real people.
 
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