The quote I live by comes from my dad. He approached life with the idea of “there has to be a better way“. I try to have this idea as well by learning new ways of working with people. Learning about communication, ethnicity, religious beliefs, neurodiversity and ways people comprehend language all ties in with my work. Our understanding of child development has evolved over the years and that also is closely tied in with my work with families with young children.
Recently, I have become interested in schools in other countries. There is so much pressure on American kids in school to get high scores on tests. They are tested frequently and feel their value as a person is connected to that score. This greatly impacts their mental health. A lot of time and money are spent on testing. The more time spent testing is less time for learning. Recess time is being reduced and that impacts physical health and mental health.
There has to be a better way. We know children learn more when they are able to use as many senses as possible and are actively participating rather than passively watching. Yet, we continue to have them practice for taking tests, sit in their seats, staring at the chrome book screen. Instead, they should be up working in small groups, problem solving, using communication skills to actively participate in learning. Kids are worried about what their score will be that day on the summative and cumulative tests taken on the computer. Many of the kids I work with call themselves stupid and say they hate school, hate math and hate reading. I see kids starting to dread going to school in early elementary. Something is wrong.
We know the system is broken, how do we begin to change it? What would happen if we started to demand more recess time for kids? What would happen if parents refused to have their children take standardized tests? There has to be a better way.
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