As I have watched the news unfold about education - I have become even less detached with the idea of standardizing education. Many parents look to the schools to set standards for education. What I have noticed now more than ever is that students are becoming less and less prepared for the world that they will be living in when they are done with college.
Unlike today's generation - our generation has been raised with the idea that when you give students a template of ideas and concepts to learn from - they will use those skills to build something even more comprehensive. The system as I have seen it has been more tactical in the approach to help students rather than strategic. Focusing on test-taking is not as important as understanding the subject material. Having good grades is futile if application is not part of the process. Shifting blame rather than taking personal responsibility shows lack of determination and interest in what is truly important.
The bottom line is that as a parent - it is ultimately you that determines how successful your child is both in and out of the classroom. Good grades are great in showing how your child navigated through the curriculum during a certain time frame, however, isn't it more important to show how they are able to apply the information that they have accumulated through the years. What benefit is it for your sixth grader to be a straight A student in math if they are unable to apply a real-life word problem to see how many invitations they will need to buy for a birthday party? Or how a kindergarten child is able to go through five study guides in math but cannot articulate what those numbers actually mean. In the words of a very close family member: "Set expectations higher than what is expected. You will never feel disappointed when you reach them."
Unlike today's generation - our generation has been raised with the idea that when you give students a template of ideas and concepts to learn from - they will use those skills to build something even more comprehensive. The system as I have seen it has been more tactical in the approach to help students rather than strategic. Focusing on test-taking is not as important as understanding the subject material. Having good grades is futile if application is not part of the process. Shifting blame rather than taking personal responsibility shows lack of determination and interest in what is truly important.
The bottom line is that as a parent - it is ultimately you that determines how successful your child is both in and out of the classroom. Good grades are great in showing how your child navigated through the curriculum during a certain time frame, however, isn't it more important to show how they are able to apply the information that they have accumulated through the years. What benefit is it for your sixth grader to be a straight A student in math if they are unable to apply a real-life word problem to see how many invitations they will need to buy for a birthday party? Or how a kindergarten child is able to go through five study guides in math but cannot articulate what those numbers actually mean. In the words of a very close family member: "Set expectations higher than what is expected. You will never feel disappointed when you reach them."
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