Uncertainties

Today has been a hard day. I am dealing with the uncertainties of my first kid is going to kindergarten part of my life. We went to take a walk around the school and meet his teacher. I have to tell you I feel worse now than I did before. It is like I want to yank him out of school and home school him. My fanciful self dreams about how much fun we would have going on field trips and learning while we play.

This year with the budget cuts all kindergarten classes have changed to full day instead of half day. I don't really see how it helps save money. It is not so much a problem as I went to all day kindergarten when I was a kid. Thing is, we had naps, recess and centers. Not today or at least not where we live. So I ask what are you going to be doing for 6 hours? The children will have two 15 minute recess periods. The play kitchen is reserved for Friday's only and centers consist of 4 medium sized boxes of legos and one large wagon of wooden blocks. In my day daily centers consisted of a large kitchen area, blocks, a reading area and science area. We took naps and had a decent 45 minutes of playground time. My worse fear is Mason hates school. Boys failure in school has been a growing concern in the Unites States for at least the last decade. Psychologists and politicians are aware of the bias in the educational system yet nothing has been done to stave off the adverse effects the current model has on boys. Programs such as No Child Left Behind that require teachers to teach to the test rather than the kid only contributes to the problem.
Our little boys are not made to sit and listen or work on worksheets for hours at a time. They need hands on learning. They need to be able to explore, run and play.

We need a school of thought that accepts individuality rather than curses those who do not conform. Less drugs and government involvement and more teaching. I used to beat myself up because my kids have spunk and can think outside the box. They may not sit quietly for hours on end but they are happy and they are creative. I'd rather be subject to that than have three little robots.