Sometimes we do need to retalk and think about these things.
When my Dad was in school his graduating class was 12. They didn't get to learn Russian but anyone who wanted to could play in the band or on a sports team or sing in the choir. Older students mentored younger students. I had the rare opportunity in the 1960's to be in a 3rd & 4th grade group combined. They put the best 10 students in a class with 12 fourth graders. Of course I had the same teacher for fourth grade and she found it was best to send the 10 of us off to learn things like shelving library books, making dittos, wiping down lunch tables putting up bulletin boards because we already knew 95% of what she was teaching, aced the tests without further study and she really didn't want to teach another 2 separate classes. We all rejoined 5th grade. As far as I know, my youngest sister was 17 years younger than I was, they never did that in that school district again and my oldest son attended that school district before she graduated..
Regimentation is needed to allow learning but in some cases regimentation has replaced learning so this always needs to be tweaked.
I have one grandson who's Mom is a public School Teacher is in a stand alone Charter School a couple blocks away from home and his original daycare mainly because they offered him free preschool and then she got to trust that school. I have another in the same Public Elementary School his Dad went to and he is doing good too.
It is wrong to say that all Public Schools are failing. It is wrong to say all charter schools are bad things. And is that another can of worms discussion or what?
Excluding public school teachers from this debate at the national level is an extremely unthought through bad decision by this administration for those who want the best education, most cost effective education( and do not have another agenda.)
The reactions to the prank at the hospital in England here on DU leave me wondering what kind of experience people had in schools that they would think that that was OK and moreover anyone who didn't was in need of psychiatric treatment. Maybe that explains our current foreign policy eh?
So thanks for posting this and allowing people to be honest about the ideas involved here.
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