A few months ago, I wrote about my frustration with homework and relentlessly paced "learning" which sucks the joy out of actual learning. I received quite a few private e-mails about that post and a comment or two which suggested that I'm not the only parent who feels this way.
This week, I read about another parent who's doing a lot more than whining on her personal blog. Pop on over to Slate and read about Vicky Abeles' film "Race to Nowhere." It sounds like a powerful endorsement of the notion that we owe our children more than standardized tests, piles of homework, and more and more assignments. We owe them a childhood. And as Abeles suggests, we may be falling well short of that goal.
The habits we start with our children will continue for their whole lives, for better or for worse. We start so young filling their lives with the same crap we HATE as adults. My kids may have messy rooms, but that just means they are playing with their toys.
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ReplyDeleteI watched the documentary last week. I agree with the filmmaker's larger argument, but unfortunately, she makes that argument almost entirely based on pathos and anecdote and not on other types of evidence that might have had more staying power. As it was, I was moved by the pathos during the film (I'm only human, after all!), and then was frustrated by the film in reflection afterward. Disappointing.
ReplyDeleteLast week my son had state tests (thank you, NCLB) every day at school. The irony: it meant no homework all week. Every evening was a pleasure, filled with liesurely trumpet and piano practice, assisting me with a 1,000 piece puzzle, listening to my partner read from the third book in the Borrowers series,learning new knots and card tricks from the internet and plotting how to put said knots to use climbing the large tree in our front yard.
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