For the past three years, my husband and I have engaged of the ritual of sitting down with our daughters' teachers and talking with them about our children's developmental progress, as observed at the cooperative preschool where they were enrolled. Through each of these meetings, we learned about to what kind of play and activities each daughter was drawn, how their fine and gross motor skills were developing, and, most importantly, what characterized their interpersonal interactions at school. When were they timid or shy about speaking up for themselves? Under what circumstances did conflict emerge with their peers? And how did they negotiate the sharing and turn taking that was required of them at school?
The report card I opened last Friday evening was a very different paradigm. Instead of focusing on the multiple aspects of our daughter's holistic development, my Darling Daughter 1 (DD1)'s first report card primarily chronicles her academic progress and performance through the first half of kindergarten. There are roughly 45 indicators in reading, math, science, and social studies, along with some 'personal and social development" and a few more "physical motor development" items. We now know that our daughter is "proficient" at retelling important details in stories and hearing and identifying sounds in words. She is also proficient at sorting objects, writing her numbers, and identifying patterns using concrete objects, even as our DD1 is "in progress" with modeling numbers in a variety of ways and in reading simple high frequency words.
In the summary comments, my older daughter's teacher clearly communicates her appreciation for our daughter's intelligence and her pleasant demeanor in class and with her peers, and her recognition of our DD1's emerging academic skill set in literacy and mathematics. I should probably be thrilled with these "results." And yet instead of being elated at the profile crafted of my DD1 from her first report card, I find myself dwelling on what is not included in this seemingly thorough description of my daughter's capacities. I find myself wondering: Is it enough to know my daughter as a reader and as a cooperative member of the class? What does it mean for my DD1's teacher not to know her more personally or individually?
Perhaps it is easy for me to be somewhat cavalier about my DD1's academic progress when I have always imagined my daughters doing well in school. Yet I do wish that my daughter's kindergarten teacher had more opportunity and capacity to tune into her particular interests and to help her develop more as an individual learner and person. My reaction to my DD1's first report card helps me to see more clearly that my aspirations for my daughter are not so well-aligned with the collection of 50+ benchmarked targets for kindergarteners across my daughter's school district.
So what is a parent like me to do? Blog and ask for my readers to share and comment regarding their reaction to their children's first report cards!
Here we start to confront the evil of age grade expectations. As parents we don't really give a rat's ass as to how our children are doing relative to the fantasy based age/grade standards made up by Horace Mann out of moon cheese in 1907. We want to know how they are doing relative to their current developmental level. Both nature and nurture are in play, and no child is either advanced or behind. Yet we honor those who are "ahead" and send them to student council and pathologize those who are "behind". Both are damaged in the process. Is it any wonder that those who are not reading at "grade level" by age 8 never catch up? We spent three years telling them they are damaged goods! Is it any wonder that a top SAT score does not predict collegiate success? Most of these kids have been on cruise control for 12 years! Educators always act so stunned when the home school kids do so well. But it is really really simple. If Mikey is home schooled, his curriculum is never too hard or too easy. It is always just right. Mikey does not know if he is ahead or behind. He is just enjoying learning.
ReplyDeleteI love your notion, Jack, of a curriculum that is never "too hard" or "too easy" but always "just right" because it is tailored to the individual child -- music to my ears, indeed! I do wonder about how all of these tightly controlled academic benchmarks, that have now made their way into kindergarten will impact my daughter's enjoyment of learning. Once "lost," it must be a real fight to re-engage a disenfranchised school learner.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more from you, Jack, about the home schooling alternative, and how you engaged with parents over your years in your numerous roles with numerous school districts, about how to imagine a way to participate in home schooling with their children, if they believed such an educational path could serve their child well or best? Living in the land of two career families, how have families organized themselves to make this option a viable alternative? And what have you learned about who is cut out to serve as a home school parent and who is not?
Wow! That's a big assignment! Essay to follow.
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