One of the main reasons I stayed home (besides getting our sick baby out of daycare), was so that I could spend more time with our older child and pay closer attention to his schoolwork. To provide some background, neither my husband nor I grew up in the US, and each of us is from a different country, so we have differing perspectives on education. Our older child is now in Grade 1 and one month into it, I am a little disturbed by some of what I see.
He doesn't remember what work he did during the day- I understand that to mean he is not interested enough in what is going on.
He says that he is still doing revision of Kindergarten work - ahhh...that could explain it, because he did Kinder in daycare and then again when we moved him to public school.
One time he was not clear on what his homework was - I understand that to mean that the teacher didn't explain it fully or he was distracted. Usually if it is something new, Lucas is all over it.
The first book he brought home to read had pictures substituted for words - That was the first and last time. It encourages his laziness and it lowers expectations for his reading ability. Are children better off with these types of books? Or just reading simpler books with words? I never had books with pictures instead of words.
My observations have led me to conclude that the academic expectations for children here are lower compared to my home country. For example, my niece back home is Lucas' age has to write her homework down herself, and apparently they only start doing that in Grade 3 (in Lucas' school). My son gets Math worksheets twice a week instead of more frequently.
I guess in a society where every child has to be treated equally (despite the fact that there may be academic differences between them), it makes it very difficult to truly differentiate the ones who would benefit from more challenging work in a classroom setting. Mind you, my son goes to a good public school which has a Gifted and Talented program (though I have yet to see evidence of this in action - yet another story). I am quite sure that I will alienate his teacher before the year is out (in fact by the first parent-teacher conference). I truly appreciate the difficulties they face - having to teach to a large number of kids of all abilities including special needs. I think to succeed each teacher would have to be "Teacher of the Year" material with a class size of 10!
So the dilemma is how do I reset my son's frame of reference of what we expect of him, when his school (and teacher) expect something else.
To this end I have been consuming homeschooling books, reviewing the AISD curriculum and doing an endless search for learning opportunities disguised as games, puzzles, projects etc. It is an uphill battle since I am in a no-man's land of not homeschooling but trying to supplement after school (when he thinks he should be playing anyway).
I spoke to someone with a child in private school who remarked that her child is doing and learning so much, that she is amazed. The funny thing is, they don't know that it is remarkable, and they don't know any different. That is just what is expected of them.
That is what I hope to achieve - let Lucas know what our expectations are for him. We have high expectations for him and he should too.
He doesn't remember what work he did during the day- I understand that to mean he is not interested enough in what is going on.
He says that he is still doing revision of Kindergarten work - ahhh...that could explain it, because he did Kinder in daycare and then again when we moved him to public school.
One time he was not clear on what his homework was - I understand that to mean that the teacher didn't explain it fully or he was distracted. Usually if it is something new, Lucas is all over it.
The first book he brought home to read had pictures substituted for words - That was the first and last time. It encourages his laziness and it lowers expectations for his reading ability. Are children better off with these types of books? Or just reading simpler books with words? I never had books with pictures instead of words.
My observations have led me to conclude that the academic expectations for children here are lower compared to my home country. For example, my niece back home is Lucas' age has to write her homework down herself, and apparently they only start doing that in Grade 3 (in Lucas' school). My son gets Math worksheets twice a week instead of more frequently.
I guess in a society where every child has to be treated equally (despite the fact that there may be academic differences between them), it makes it very difficult to truly differentiate the ones who would benefit from more challenging work in a classroom setting. Mind you, my son goes to a good public school which has a Gifted and Talented program (though I have yet to see evidence of this in action - yet another story). I am quite sure that I will alienate his teacher before the year is out (in fact by the first parent-teacher conference). I truly appreciate the difficulties they face - having to teach to a large number of kids of all abilities including special needs. I think to succeed each teacher would have to be "Teacher of the Year" material with a class size of 10!
So the dilemma is how do I reset my son's frame of reference of what we expect of him, when his school (and teacher) expect something else.
To this end I have been consuming homeschooling books, reviewing the AISD curriculum and doing an endless search for learning opportunities disguised as games, puzzles, projects etc. It is an uphill battle since I am in a no-man's land of not homeschooling but trying to supplement after school (when he thinks he should be playing anyway).
I spoke to someone with a child in private school who remarked that her child is doing and learning so much, that she is amazed. The funny thing is, they don't know that it is remarkable, and they don't know any different. That is just what is expected of them.
That is what I hope to achieve - let Lucas know what our expectations are for him. We have high expectations for him and he should too.
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