Does school last too many years?? (university, kindergarten, high school, grade)
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Reading some of these threads, esp the one on home schooling, and looking back at mine and my kids experiences, I have to wonder, is the last year or two of high school really value added or cause more harm than good? Or perhaps I'm not stating that well, so many kids are chafing under the structure and restrictions of high school when they either are looking to learn a skill or to really dive into getting an education. I know that for me, and now my kids, we were so ready to get out of school and enter college. When I, for myself, and DD, for her, finally got there, it was so mind opening to finally be in an environment where learning was expected and education was the goal.
I'm not suggesting we get rid of it, but perhaps change the mindset of the senior year, and perhaps junior, from being the last year of an educational structure that treats 18 year olds in the same manner as 13 year olds, or 6 year olds for that matter. What if we took 12th grade and structured it like pre-college (since by this time many students who have the option available to them are already taking college courses). Suppose we actually treated them like they were in college. Attend class three-four hours a day, and each class only three times a week. You can leave campus when you're done. You are responsible for your own learning. Because that's how college works.
It seems many kids are exploding to get out of the childish restrictions of high school and enter college, yet when they get there, have never been taught how to "college." The same things could be said for how to "work."
I know there are many calls to add more hours to the day, more days to the year, and more years (in the form of pre-k and pre-pre-something), as a solution, but really, is doing more of what isn't working going to fix the problem? Nope. That's why I'm suggesting doing less of traditional school and changing the last year or two into something new.
I think school begins too young. If we started them at age 7 or 8, they'd still learn all they need to by the time they turned 18.
I will say, though, that the exchange students we've hosted from Europe have all been surprised at how simple and surface-level our high school curriculum is. There's very little high-level thinking involved. Most of them, including our current student, did things like word searches for homework and classwork. These are 16/17 year olds I'm talking about. I do think that the last couple years of high school should function more like the first two years of college.
Yes, it does. It is too many years, much of it is also about teaching conformity and rule following rather than academics. Kids have a short attention span, the only point of having them in school for 8hr day is childcare.
Also high school classes are a bit ridiculous. It does not take a whole year to learn Algebra I or II. In college they manage to fit a whole CALCULUS class into one semester, which is conceptually much more difficult.
Also high school classes are a bit ridiculous. It does not take a whole year to learn Algebra I or II. In college they manage to fit a whole CALCULUS class into one semester, which is conceptually much more difficult.
It's funny you should say that because it's so true. In my HS, tThere were several kids who made a game out of how many times they could derail the teacher and have him repeat the same material several times. They had it down to such an art they could not only derail today's lesson, but take him back two or three lessons and have him reteach all that -- and then do it again tomorrow. Thing was, these students fully understood the material; it was just a game to them to see who could get him to back up the furthest each day. By the end of the year we usually covered less than half the intended material which really irritated me when I got to college and was expected to know stuff we had never covered in HS. So teachers, please don't fall for this trick.
I think school begins too young. If we started them at age 7 or 8, they'd still learn all they need to by the time they turned 18.
I will say, though, that the exchange students we've hosted from Europe have all been surprised at how simple and surface-level our high school curriculum is. There's very little high-level thinking involved. Most of them, including our current student, did things like word searches for homework and classwork. These are 16/17 year olds I'm talking about. I do think that the last couple years of high school should function more like the first two years of college.
I agree. There is no reason for academic school to start before the age of 7. We keep starting our kids earlier and earlier and we're no further ahead for doing it. Skip kindergarten all together and start kids in 1st grade at 7 when they're ready to start learning reading and math. Early teaching doesn't result in better results.
The prep school here does that with their senior year. The seniors have to fulfill a few requirements and get some signatures, and then they get what they call "senior privileges". They can come and go from the campus when they don't have classes, and their schedule is structured more like college. It seems to work really well for them.
More and more schools these days are combining the senior year with community college work or university enrollment. There must be a way to do that for home-schoolers, too. You could look into it. You could also network in your community to see if you could work out a senior-year internship for your kids.
I agree. There is no reason for academic school to start before the age of 7. We keep starting our kids earlier and earlier and we're no further ahead for doing it. Skip kindergarten all together and start kids in 1st grade at 7 when they're ready to start learning reading and math. Early teaching doesn't result in better results.
This assumes that the child will be learning at an age-appropriate level before beginning school. Where I live, it's not unusual for 5-year-olds to arrive in kindergarten with the vocabulary more typical of a 2-year-old toddler. These children often have nutritional and health issues as well. In such areas, early childhood education is crucial for helping the children narrow the gap that otherwise keeps growing with every year of age.
My last two years of high school were the most important of all 13 years - I got the best education then in my college-level classes like college chemistry, calculus, English, and so on - and the other experiences like clubs and sports were also very important to the overall experience. Not everyone may need the same things those last two years, but they were essential and great for me. I agree with others that if I were to forego years, I would opt on the other end - we don't need academic kindergarten. Kids at that age learn best through play.
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