Some thoughts on school (now that it's out...)

Woohoo! School's out!

This summer, I want to have fun. I'm not going to be handing out worksheets. But wouldn't you be shocked if I didn't have some goals for the summer? Right. So, my goals are twofold: read more, and keep spending time outside. I want to get my kids (other than Ida who is a super awesome reader) into the habit of reading, since I have severely neglected that in the past few years. I also want to keep some form of daily structure going because Theo needs it (hence the "summer days series" which seems over the top but seriously, when we don't do it, the boy gets aggressive). I also plan to ride our bikes a whole lot, which we have been doing all spring.

On that note, I liked this article in the Atlantic from a few months ago, "How the New Preschool Is Crushing Kids" by Erika Christakis. I'm not too involved in the preschool scene, really (especially now that Lars is done and I won't get back in with Polly until she's 2 or 3) but I'm interested in education in general and I do have opinions about it, mainly because of my experiences with my oldest child and observing what circumstances I believe have helped him thrive in school. Granted, he has some special needs, but I think a lot of the time the things that help him would also help a "typical" child. Socialization (with some guidance) and time for active full-body play were the two most important provisions for him in preschool, and they remain that way in elementary school. I think my other kids need the same two things. And I think all kids and all people need them too.

And you can take that nonprofessional opinion for exactly what it's worth. :)

The real focus in the preschool years should be not just on vocabulary and reading, but on talking and listening. We forget how vital spontaneous, unstructured conversation is to young children’s understanding. By talking with adults, and one another, they pick up information. They learn how things work. They solve puzzles that trouble them.... 

[In some testing] Children are given a list of specific terms to learn, including exoskeleton, scallop shell, blubber, and tube feet. At first glance, this stuff seems fun and educational, but doesn’t this extremely narrow articulation of “key concepts” feel a little off? What’s so special about blubber, anyway? Might a young child not want to ponder bigger questions: What is water? Where do the blue and green come from? Could anything be more beautiful and more terrifying than an ocean? 

It’s become almost a cliché to look to Finland’s educational system for inspiration. As has been widely reported, the country began to radically professionalize its workforce in the 1970s and abandoned most of the performance standards endemic to American schooling. Today, Finland’s schools are consistently ranked among the world’s very best. This “Finnish miracle” sounds almost too good to be true. Surely the country must have a few dud teachers and slacker kids! 

Here’s what the Finns, who don’t begin formal reading instruction until around age 7, have to say about preparing preschoolers to read: “The basis for the beginnings of literacy is that children have heard and listened … They have spoken and been spoken to, people have discussed [things] with them … They have asked questions and received answers.” For our littlest learners, what could be more important than that?