Ruminations of a Dinosaur

Day 3 (3/25/19)

I started my first teaching job in 1981. Since that time I have taught at many levels and under many circumstances. Over the next year I would like to reflect on some of the things that have changed in education and some of the things that have remained the same. This is not a doctoral thesis, by any means, but the ponderings of a dinosaur.

 I did not go to Kindergarten. It was available but for whatever reason our mother decided not to send us so I was six when I started first grade. I sometimes wonder if we are doing the right thing by starting children in school so early. My grandson will be six this summer and already has two years under his belt, although one of those was only half days. I realize the economic reality of sending to children to school so early but wonder if it is best for their development. My brother and I spent our days building forts in the woods and pretending we were the latest TV characters or even the neighbor boys Richard and David, who were in High School and had horses. They were pretty much the coolest people we knew. When we were older we were Brains Benton and converted our woodshed into a crime lab. Now days it seems like even playtime is structured. I follow a Facebook page called “Play based Art” which is great but what about play based play. Play has become athletics and yet another structured activity. We seem to be in such a hurry to rush our children into the future. Currently there is a big push in schools to offer more and more college classes. In some cases students have many of their first year of college general studies done before graduating from High School. Again what is our big hurry? Many of the skills I learned for life came from my elective classes. Now, with all the required classes and Advanced Placement classes there is little room for electives. In many cases the elective classes that are available are so focused on specific technologies that they do little to teach the basics. Although we have children who are prepared for college, few are prepared for life. It doesn’t take a PhD to see that many of our students lack valuable everyday coping skills. As I said in the beginning I don’t have all the answers. If I did I wouldn’t be in the classroom, I would be inventing acronyms, writing books, collecting data and making all sorts of money. These are just the ruminations of dinosaur.