I love my school

Or, rather, my kids' school.

Now, to be fair, it has it's ups and downs. I have not been uniformly pleased with everything that has ever happened there, and in fact there have been times when I've been quite distressed about things.

But overall, it's a good school.

Here's an article in Newsweek on "America's struggling boys". Now, to be fair, magazines have to sell to continue to exist, and to sell they tend to, shall we say, exaggerate some things. AND this is an op-ed piece.

But it raises some valid, and scary for those of us who have children, points. And, yes, I did deliberately say children, not boys, because I believe that girls are just as affected by these trends, but it manifests differently in girls.

Anyway, the point of the article is that the recent high incidence of behavioral problems in children, which affect boys to a much larger degree, may have as much to do with ourselves as parents and our society as anything.

To wit: Boys are active. They need to move, they need to yell, they are loud, mobile, energetic creatures. Duh, to anyone who's ever spent more than about 2 seconds with one.

But here's what's happening in our schools and our society:

• Children are sent to 'academic' pre-schools, where they are not simply socialized and taught how to get along in a group, but drilled in academics
• Children are enrolled in structured activities to the point of never having any free time to do what they want, or to learn how to entertain themselves
• Schools have cut recess and PE across the board, and have also cut programs such as music, art and science that can provide a tactile, hands on learning environment
• These cuts have been in favor of more rote learning in order to pass the dreaded EOGs (End Of Grade tests)

Now, I will admit, my children do have a pretty scheduled life. But I'm (reasonably) careful about what I schedule them in; and I wouldn't do it if they didn't have some outlet for free play. They're in an afterschool program that does provide for free play; this certainly makes it easier for me to put them into their activities (which they choose, incidentally). Their Dad and I have also begun, for the past two summers, using a babysitter in the summer rather than camps, at least partially to give them down-time.

And, yes, for the record, in their pre-school, there were parents who brought in workbooks that they expected the teachers to use with their kids. The teacher in question adamantly refused, which is one reason I requested her for both my kids (and continue to think she may be the greatest pre-school teacher in the world!).

But back to my school. Here's why I love it, in relation to this article:

• The kids get two half hour PE periods a week. That's twice what the State requires
• In addition, they get a recess period daily. There's a teacher around to monitor for safety, but during recess the kids decide what and how to play.
• We have a science lab, and a dedicated Science teacher. In an elementary school. Depending on their age, the kids go for an hour either weekly or bi-weekly; they do experiments, make use of the creek that runs through the school property, or work in the garden
• The school also has a resident Arts program for 4th graders, where they learn dance, as well as strong music and visual arts programs
• The kids are given plenty of projects that do NOT fall into the category of rote learning

Now, in the interests of full disclosure, we have also not met our No Child Left Behind goals the past two years. We missed one goal out of 22. For those of you without kids, to be considered "passing", a school must meet 100% of it's goals. Nice and realistic....

Anyway, to be fair, we are not a School of Excellence.

But given the option, I'd rather be a less than excellent school that actually gives a damn about the minds of the children who attend, not just their test scores.