Tests 'stopping children playing'
With lessons geared towards assessment, children are bored from the moment they begin formal schooling, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers warned.
Traditional play with sand and water was being replaced with work, it added.
I remember when kindergarten was fun.
Earlier this week, ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said primary school had become a "boot camp" for 10-year-olds as teachers prepared them for tests.
I also remember when 4th grade was fun. I remember looking forward to the first day of school, the excitement of new notebooks and pencils.
I don't remember any homework before 7th grade. Those days are gone.
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Related Tags: Student performance, standardized testing, primary school, secondard school, homeschool
2 comments:
Janine, I remember how excited I used to get about school, too. I used to daydream about what I was going to wear the first day and which lunchbox I was going to bring my lunch in. I did have some rude teachers, but I looked forward to school for the teachers who did all that they could to be positive with the students, using humor and wit to make us think for ourselves.
I do remember having homework, but it was never so much (all classes combined) that it took me the entire night or entire weekend to finish (until high school of course, but then I had three jobs, too).
Forget standardized testing...that happened once a year and there was no drill or "training" for it or even warning. One day we got to class and found out that our grade was doing a "fill in the bubble test". "Just do your best" we were told. The weight of the school board was never brought down on us, the responsibility to make sure our school maintained proper funding was never our problem.
It is so funny to watch my kids get so excited over a new reader or new workbook. You would think it was Christmas the way they behave. It cracks me up that even if it's close to bedtime, my kids are nose-deep in a book or workbook or learning program. You hate to break up the fun, but they need their rest. But, it's refreshing to see they actually have the joy of learning and that I don't need to force that on them.
The only time I get seriously anal about their lessons is once every other year, when it's time to get them evaluated by a certified teacher as required by state law...and then I only go to those who are homeschoolers themselves or who support the homeschool movement.
Another great post.
I had the same experience with testing as a child. It was never a big deal. Teachers administered it and no body ever talked about it later.
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