As I sit here at 10:00 PM, babysitting an 8-year-old who will not go to sleep, I ponder why children are learning such difficult concepts at an exponentially younger and younger age. This little boy is eight years old and learning the author’s viewpoint, audience, and personal viewpoint. Today my sister was explaining this new type of testing called star testing where the questions get progressively harder the more you get correct. Keep in mind that my sister is in 7th grade-- she got questions pertaining to theorems within geometric proofs. I am continuously mind blown by the things my sister brings home and the sheer intensity of her workload.
Driving into the neighborhood where I am currently babysitting, I asked this family if there are a lot of kids in the area. They said yes, but most of them are inside playing video games and that they rarely wander outside. With a shrug and no surprise, I found myself not questioning this notion. But then I reminisced back to my childhood and recalled that I never spent an afternoon indoors-- every day after school I would head inside, quickly do my one sheet of homework if I hadn’t already finished it in school, and run outside to play on the playset or make “soup” with grass and mud and water, sprinkling honeysuckle on top as “seasoning.” And looking back, I truly do miss this sense of imagination. But at least we can look back on memories and revel in their lingering sweetness. Most children today will never get the chance to even do this, let alone actually live through it.
And even though we have advanced in other ways, we have not made so much as a footstep in preserving the innocence of our children. Of course, while we want the next generation to be faster, better, and stronger than ever before, we must not neglect the importance of health and joy in the midst of success.
You bring up such a good point! Right now, my little brother is doing a career project. In it, he has to talk about salary, college, pros and cons, etc. It didn't take me long to realize that this was almost the exact same project I'm doing in junior seminar! It's crazy how much the school system is forcing kids to grow up. I completely agree that when I was in the third grade, I wasn't worrying about what college I had to go to in order to become a successful doctor, I was playing doctor. I wasn't cooped up doing schoolwork until I despised the idea of school, I was playing teacher. Similar to you, I understand why they want to do this (they want a smarter, stronger generation) but at the same time, they're losing valuable life experience. Does common core hope to have kids look back at their childhoods only to have PTSD flashbacks of homework?
ReplyDeleteI agree with all your points. It is important for children to be able to learn from their imaginations before being forced required knowledge. When I was a child, I never had this chance to learn from my imagination as I was always working on school work or with a tutor perfecting my school work. I can tell you from this type of childhood I have become a very uncreative person who lacks (in my opinion) a proper imagination. With the increased workload we are giving our younger generations we are taking away their childhoods and making them young adults by the age of 10(slight exaggeration).
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