MY VIEW OF SOME COMMON SENSE ON K-12 EDUCATION
- Classes are from 8:30 AM to 6 PM – (A snack break in mid-afternoon.)
- Extra time used for study hall for finishing homework and one hour of organized physical activity (gym class)
- Year round school, no summers off, students take vacations when parents get them; make-up upon return.
- Checkbook Accounting, Family Raising, The Authentic Constitution and Authentic History are required courses
- Algebra, Chemistry and Foreign Language are strictly electives and some trade classes should be offered.
- Education would benefit from on-going teacher accountability exams measuring effectiveness
BENEFITS
- Obviously kids are free from the lurking burden of homework looming over them after school every night.
- Our little overweight earth muffins direly need the physical activity after too much sitting/’computerism.’
- Kids are not ‘unsupervised’ before parents get home from work. Cuts down on wrong and bad exposure.
- Evenings becomes more focused on family due to the absence of heretofore wrong influences after school.
- And just maybe our little darlings might get smitten in that gym class to crave more physical activity.
- Teachers would benefit from increased support from more highly qualified peers
TEACHERS’ TAKE ON THIS
Roundly, there has been a thumbs down from the teachers I’ve mentioned this to. I suppose if we all had summers off with pay and were asked to give it up, and then asked to work a couple extra hours a day, we’d balk also.
Actually, what I really remember when I mentioned this to some teachers is hearing a hissing sound and a falling off of a conversation after hearing strong comments like they are not going to be baby sitters.
I really believe these were really blunt reactions to something not yet thought out and when everything is considered, support might be forthcoming from caring educators who are mission driven. Teachers also can benefit from the new time at school for grading papers and freeing their evenings at home.
Obviously, some extra teachers will be required and a new mindset on funding it all.
COST/BENEFITS
Nothing is more important than the future of our children and the continuation of our free society in which they can flourish. An argument could be made for supporting these changes in education by acknowledging the offset from the savings in reduced criminal activity and increased productivity of our young Americans. Hey, maybe a small tax could be justified for keeping the little curmudgeons off the streets and out of trouble.
Kids surely aren’t needed on the farms in the summer any longer, and they sure have a lot more to learn to advance in this increasingly competitive world.
I believe that where there is a will there is a way. If not a way right now there is a way to begin.
