I just viewed a video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8limRtHZPs which I learned about through Sharon Rose of Channel 6 News in Portland Maine through my facebook account. I will make the same disclaimer that she did about the video, I don't know anything about the group that posted the video, but I do like the video, as it makes you think about our educational system in this country. We expect our kids to learn in cookie cutter fashion everyone being the same, however no two children are exactly alike, they have their strengths and their weaknesses. We have to learn to play up those strengths and figure out how to strengthen the weaknesses within the child's interest level in order to keep them engaged and interested. If we tell a fish it has to learn how to climb a tree because all the other animals have to know how to climb a tree the fish is going to become frustrated and discouraged. We also have to learn how to let the child reach the desired goal in their own way. It may not be the same way everyone else learns how to do, but it may be the way the child is most comfortable in doing it. If the objective is to get to the top of a tree, the raccoon, the cat, and the squirrel are going to use their claws and climb to the top by going up the trunk, however the eagle is going to use his wings and fly into the sky and then perch at the top. If the subject is swimming the duck and the fish are going to excel in the subject, but the cat is going to rebel like crazy. It is the same with our children, I see it in all three of mine, they learn differently and all have different ways of getting there. They rebel at different subjects, Anya hates math but she enjoyed more social group types of learning, Khrys hates to write just to write but excels in business related classes, and computer related subjects. Grace says she hates math but she is the one her classmates used to call to explain how to do the homework. We have a tendency to put labels on kids because they are slow in this subject or that, or they excel overall. I know kids I went to school with that were tremendous in book smarts and learned just about everything you put in front of them, but I wouldn't trust them to build a house for me. Just as I know carpenters that could take a pile of lumber and create a work of art, but I wouldn't give them my taxes to do.
If you look at sporting events, what does a coach do, he takes the strengths of the players he has and designs his play book around those strengths. He downplays the weakness and tries not to focus on those. You make the team as strong as you can by getting every one to play to the best of their ability. If Johnny couldn't kick a field goal to save his life, you don't have him kick the field goal, you have him block which he is good at. If Susan can't throw a pitch and make it over the plate, it would do no good to require her to be the pitcher but maybe she has a nack for knowing exactly where the fly ball is going to come down and the speed to get her there, then you play Susan in the outfield. It is the same with learning Joey can write very creatively but is totally lost in algebra is it going to do any good to require him to learn trig. Play to his strengths get him immersed in creative writing, and teach him enough math so he can be functional but does he have to be conversant in mathematical theory to be an effective person in society?
I think it is time to revamp our educational system and make it useful for everyone. What do you think?
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