Is it just me, or does the educational system just suck?
Now before I start my ramble, I do want to say first that my beautiful, intelligent, kind-hearted daughter is just amazing. She has a beautiful singing voice; we have no idea where she gets it from, because while we have musicians in the family there’s not a single vocalist. My daughter is a petite vocal powerhouse who has beautiful daydreams and a kick-butt imagination.
It is my belief that all of her talents and her personality will serve her well in the future. However, (yes, here it comes, the big BUT) over the last two years, more so this year we are constantly hearing from her teachers.“Your daughter forgets her homework all the time, she’s daydreaming in class (okay maybe class time is not the best time to be a daydreamer), she’s disorganized, her desk is a mess. Yada yada”.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take these things lightly but here’s my question (well, one of many, but let’s start with this): why do we hear this more from some teachers and not as much as others? Some teachers just “got” my daughter and knew how to capture her attention and her interest. They were in communication with us only when she need an extra push or reminder. She has struggled with organization for a while now, and we’ve noticed. We’ve tried different strategies, cajoled, rewarded. It’s an ongoing process that we know will only change a bit at a time, but there is change.
This year we are hearing, “have you had her tested for ADD?” While I don’t think she has ADD, I admit I’m not the expert, so we are currently in discussions with our doctor and a specialist. We’ll see how that goes. However, sometimes the educational system just sucks.
It’s a set curriculum that is mostly lecture-based, even though studies do show that the majority of children do well with tactile learning, are visual learners and hands-on.
So why is the curriculum set up to be lecture based, which is auditory learning? Now please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s the teachers; I have the utmost respect for all the wonderful teachers out there, some whom have taught my daughter. These are the ones who, wherever they can, incorporate different learning tools such as visual cues, hands on projects, artistic projects and more. They’re usually the teachers all the students want because they are cool. However, all the teachers, good and bad (and yes there are bad ones just like with any profession), are restricted as they still have to adhere to the curriculum.
It’s such curriculum that has daydreaming, musically inclined, organizationally challenged art loving, but not liking math or science so much students such as my daughter struggling. It has teachers and administrators suggesting that have her tested for ADD and see a paediatrician so she can have a ministry tag, etc. Really? So a disorganized child who daydreams must be ADD?
So we continue our journey to help my daughter be more organized and find out if she’s ADD. We will converse and sometimes fight with the school to adapt to different learning styles. I’m curious as to what others experience, and how they work with the school system, especially if they have day dreaming, imaginative, soulful children who struggle as our does. I’d love to hear about it and see if we’re not alone.
Michelle Sutter
Owner, Powered by Mom
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