Mom gets note. Her 6 yr old daughter plays with blocks on desk meant only for math problems.

[madfloridian]

I like the way the Mom wrote this up, she shows respect for the teacher in a difficult situation. She recognizes the new testing for what it is becoming.

Oh no! My 6 year old is playing with blocks! What do I say to the teacher?

I'm a mother of a 6 year old. She is fun. She is physically active. She asks questions and she likes to talk. She also enjoys learning things and figuring out how to master things. She's very good at some things, average at many things, and has to struggle with other things before she gets it right. She's 6. She likes to play. She's a girl. She likes making friends and being around peers. She isn't a genius. She isn't a behavior problem. She's just beautiful, average and growing up before my eyes.

As her mother, I struggle when she tells me she wishes she could play in the playground built for kindergartners at her school. She attends one of the magnet school in Lakeland. When she told me that, I thought, "Of course, she does. She's 6!" It was harder to hear that there is only play time if they can fit it in around the school work. She hasn't had playtime in awhile.

However, a note that was in her agenda this week has me so frustrated. Now, let me start by saying that I review my little one's agenda every night. Every now and then, I get a message that we have to discuss. It is rare, but we get a message that I know needs to be addressed. I stress to my daughter the importance of listening to her teachers, be kind to her classmates, do her work. Sometimes, it is a struggle. When a rare note comes that looks like it may violate these rules, we address it with consequences, talks, etc at the house. I try to think through these situations carefully, though. I don't want to give my daughter the impression that she can do whatever she wants in school without consequences, but I've had a growing frustration that my child....have I mentioned that she is 6?.... having no time to use or deal with the healthy, vibrant energy that I love about her.

So when I learned that she was concerned about a note she had received in her agenda this week, I wanted to cry. I'm furious and have determined that something has to change. I received a note from her teacher that she was playing with blocks on her desk. The blocks were there for her math lesson. I was told that she was playing with them instead of using them to complete her math work.

Now, having just received report cards, I happen to know my daughter at a A in math, so she wasn't failing the class. She wasn't throwing the blocks or yelling...or even playing loudly, so she wasn't a behavior problem. She wasn't trying to eat them or try to engage with the blocks in a way that indicated a biological or mental health issue (I'm a therapist, we look at these things.) She was just not using them for math.

I taught 1st grade only one year, but the other grade level teachers and I worked our kids very hard and demanded a lot from them. But we also realized they were just kids. They needed some down time, and they needed to wiggle a lot.

We've known this was coming. I remember in 2010 the principal at Eve Moskowitz's Harlem Success Academy set forth his goals.

“We have a gap to close, so I want the kids on edge, constantly,” Fucaloro adds. “By the time test day came, they were like little test-taking machines.”

That school was geared to testing.

They actually have a so-called Kindergarten boot camp.

New students are initiated at “kindergarten boot camp,” where they get drilled for two weeks on how to behave in the “zero noise” corridors (straight lines, mouths shut, arms at one’s sides) and the art of active listening (legs crossed, hands folded, eyes tracking the speaker). Life at Harlem Success, the teacher says, is “very, very structured,” even the twenty-minute recess. Lunches are rushed and hushed, leaving little downtime to build social skills. Many children appear fried by two o’clock, particularly in weeks with heavy testing. “We test constantly, all grades,” the teacher says. During the TerraNova, a mini-SAT bubble test over four consecutive mornings, three students threw up. “I just don’t feel that kids have a chance to be kids,” she laments.

They do have high test scores, there's a high price for that.

[magical thyme]

1. what the goddam fuck are they doing to kids these days?

[Warpy]

2. I find myself getting much friendlier toward home schooling

as long as the curriculum is secular instead of written by some semiliterate religious nutbag.

[leftofcool]

14. This is a fast growing trend.

There are a ton of lesson plans out there that are secular and as I understand it, you can make up your own (depending on what your state allows). There is also something called "virtual high school" but I have not looked into it.

[Nay]

18. Calvert School curricula are secular and very good -- at least they used to be.

I used them 20 years ago.

[BrotherIvan]

19. I don't think that's the answer

Parents need to get active and try to get rid of this awful testing. I know very, very few parents who would be qualified to teach past second grade. Following a lesson plan and learning with your child as you go is not as effective as someone with a deep knowledge and experience of the subject matter.

I also think it's good for children to meet many different kinds of adults and authority figures besides parents and relatives. They also need to meet other children who may have different ideas or experiences to share. Also, many, many families do not have the luxury for one parent to stay home for homeschool, why do we want to cheat those students.

We used to have excellent schools that produced well-rounded students. Our challenges are very different now, but we need to find something that works. Testing is NOT it.

[mountain grammy]

32. Agree, I don't think home schooling is the answer either and neither is testing.

I think standardized testing is one of the worst ideas anyone ever had. Teachers are quite capable of testing and grading students progress. I don't think my kids education was improved by standardized tests, in fact I saw far too much reliance on testing and less emphasis on research and creative thinking and attended many school board meetings about standardized testing.

After years of trying, the powers that be are finally destroying America's public school system and, instead of fighting to stop it, parents are home schooling and schooling kids on the internet. I hate to see this happen.

[BrotherIvan]

42. Totally agree

It's also creating segregation for economics and race because those that can are putting their children in private school or home schooling. The destruction of public education is something we should all fight against. I think it starts with what being "educated" means in this modern age. We don't have that answer. We also don't have an answer for what to do with students who do not want or need to go to college.

And we need to reduce class size and give teachers the tools to succeed (notice I didn't say students and leave teachers out of the equation). A teacher with a large class doesn't have time to deal with a student who is not following the lesson and playing with the blocks. That student, whether she is six or not, is disrupting the class and taking away from the other students.

[Warpy]

53. No, but childhood is short

and kids need to get away from corporate/military regimentation now.

Most home schooled kids aren't hermetically sealed in bell jars.

[BrotherIvan]

57. I don't disagree that the prole indoctrination is bad news

Every teacher I have known fought against it. I assume there is far more to this note than the mother's side of the story and that "just playing with blocks" means something more, such as not following directions (no doubt she was told to stop), disobeying the teacher, or disrupting the class. A teacher with thirty or more students just doesn't have the time to deal with every child's needs at every moment. So it is up to mum to supplement school with lots of creativity and play because that has been methodically removed from the curriculum. But now the child has learned that she doesn't have to listen to the teacher or follow along because mom thinks she's too special. If she is a gifted child and there is no gifted program, then mom should go to school and work out some kind of solution with her teachers. There are plenty of good solutions for advanced students that doesn't take away from every other child in the class.

I have met more than a few homeschooled families. And sadly, they were hermetically sealed. Whether it was for religious reasons or a family wanting to control their child's education, what happened is that the children did not know how to interact with adults and had a very difficult time with anyone outside of their very small circle. The parent was given the extra burden of being teacher as well as parent and one role (or both) definitely suffered. A parent who undoubtedly loves her child and think the sun rises and sets on her will not have the objectivity to discern her academic and social challenges. It would take a very strong will to flunk your own child or even give her a C, but sometimes that is what is necessary.

Some of the children did not do lessons or homework for more than a couple of hours a day because they were doing errands or activities and the school schedule was not rigid. Mom would take them to the movies or the park or whatever whenever and school time always suffered. There was also a problem because every child was a different age so usually each one was independently working though a lesson or a workbook while all of mom's attention was taken by the youngest. If a baby was added into the mix it all went to hell. And as I said, I don't think many people are qualified to teach any subject past second or third grade. Just doing lessons in a workbook is not the best way to learn anything.

When is it time for a child to go to public school? Anytime they do go they will meet with the same circumstances. So we should fix this for everyone. We should make sure our schools are well equipped and class sizes are small. We should have a rigorous curriculum that teaches useful and broad knowledge so students are well prepared to dive into college and acquire deep knowledge in their chosen field. We require too much of students and too little. The myth that a student will get into a better college if they do tons of after-school activities has led to children who are completely overscheduled and school is an afterthought. This is not the case in Europe in which many countries require a 6 day school week and their students are far better educated. We don't value education for anything other than a future paycheck. And we treat and pay teachers like shit so no one but saints or martyrs wants to do it. There are quite a few problems in education, but privatizing it or turning it into a testing mill is not the answer. Homeschooling is definitely not either.

[tonedevil]

65. Supplement...

school with creativity and play. I Don't think you know modern US primary schools. My nieces and nephew have always had 3 hours of homework a night from first grade on. They don't have any free time compared to what my children had and they are only 10 years older. I don't know when this mythical mum is going to have a chance to supply any creativity or play, but it sure doesn't happen much for my Brother and Sister. This should no be read as an endorsement of homeschooling. I agree with your assessment of that situation completely.

[BrotherIvan]

70. You're right, I haven't taught for at least a decade

I taught for a while to put myself through graduate school. I found that teaching definitely wasn't for me. But I grew up with a mom who taught 5th & 6th grade for forty years and all of her friends and our neighbors were teachers and professors as I come from a college town. All of them say they would not be teachers today. I hated the testing and the standards and expressed to every administrator that I could find that it was a substandard education. But what I find is happening is that people are blaming and fighting the teachers rather than the system itself. Teachers hate all the crap that is going on in public education; trust me, no one dreams of becoming a teacher just to teach to the test every day.

I also experienced the "special snowflake" helicopter parent who thought their child didn't have to follow the rules or could be totally selfish towards the rest of the class. I think this is what is driving the anti-vax movement as well: don't care about anyone else's child, just your own. I must say that when I was growing up, I don't know that any of my peers were allowed to disrespect the teacher or not follow directions. I don't know any parent who would go and confront a teacher because their child was not allowed to play during a lesson and thereby deprive other students of their education. Not a single one.

As an advanced student, I always finished my assignment before my classmates but I learned very quickly not to disrupt the class because I was bored. There is an old saying that if you want to find the gifted student in class, just look at who is cleaning the hamster cage. Experienced, smart teachers and parents can work out solutions for advanced children including extra credit, being a teacher's helper, a peer tutor, or even watering the plants and classroom duties (which children often like). It's not fair though for this mom to expect that her child can play while other children are supposed to be learning and paying attention to the teacher.

[quakerboy]

74. Childhood is too short for many.

But my observation is the opposite. In my experience, home schooled kids are generally far more "hermetically sealed" away than public school kids. Granted there seems to be more infrastructure to support home schoolers now than there was even 10 years ago, but I'd be surprised if that wasn't still the case, especially given the large number of home schooler's who are denied education for religious reasons.

[Warpy]

76. Note that I specified secular curriculum, only

Religious nutballs do keep the kiddies sealed away because that's the only way they can keep them believing utter nonsense.

Those kids get out and talk about things with kids getting a real education, they start to ask questions and once the questions start, it's all over.

[PADemD]

5. They'll be so burnt out by the time they finish

high school, that they won't care if they go to college.

[Mariana]

33. That happened to my stepdaughter.

She put off going to college for a year and a half and got a full time job instead. She had been spending so much time on schoolwork in high school that working 40 hours a week felt like a vacation to her. When she went to college, she was refreshed and motivated and she did very well.

[RKP5637]

8. Apparently teaching them to adhere to the system with no deviation and to

follow orders to be citizen workers and soldiers adhering to the system with no deviation, right or wrong. This, is so totally F'ed up! I'm glad I was fortunate enough to go to school in the old days before all of this crap started.

[cui bono]

11. You said exactly what I was thinking!

Welcome to the United Corporations of America.

[Hestia]

27. Since testing starting in 1990 (Clinton started the trend) there has been something called

a Creativity Crisis - http://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis-74665

“For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining.”

Thus begins a recent cover story by Newsweek reporting the latest results from tests of our nation’s “creativity quotient” (CQ). The tests were designed by E. Alfred Torrence and are widely accepted as the best way to measure CQ. Children who have scored highly on the Torrence test in years past have become innovators, authors, entrepreneurs, software developers, diplomats, and college presidents.

In May, however, a researcher at William and Mary analyzed over 300,000 Torrence scores and observed that creativity has been steadily on the rise. That is, until 1990. Over the last 20 years, CQ scores have tumbled.

“With intelligence, there is a phenomenon called the Flynn effect—each generation, scores go up about 10 points. Enriched environments are making kids smarter,” Newsweek informs. “With creativity, a reverse trend has just been identified and is being reported for the first time here: American creativity scores are falling.”

more at: http://qideas.org/articles/the-creativity-crisis/

Children aren't supposed to be going under that type of regime at age 6! Talking about hating school...It seems with the emphasis on testing, there is no room for any type of creativity. Very interesting report

[roguevalley]

22. try teaching 25-30 six year olds at all levels for years. I see

that the problem should be the child doesn't need blocks now. I taught first grade for eleven years and used this method. At some point the kids progress beyond them and that's what probably should have them removed.

[chrisa]

37. To fill in little bubbles and make school administrators look good.

[LWolf]

67. "They"

are the fucking general public who enables this shit by voting for politicians who create and/or support high-stakes testing mandates and privatization schemes. Every single voter who voted for the Republicans and Democrats who promote this shit, including Barack Obama, are the people guilty of doing this to kids these days.

[pnwmom]

3. She has an A in math, but her teacher is worried about what she's doing with the blocks.

Of course it would be better if she were bored to tears in math class, doing assignments well below her ability.



As the mother of a Phd engineer -- who played with blocks and EVEN counted on her fingers -- stories like this make me CRAZY.

[elleng]

6. Yes,

she's doing MATH with her blocks!!!

[roguevalley]

25. MAY I SAY SOMETHING HERE!

she was probably using them to solve problems. It is a technique. She is obviously past the point of needing them to compute. I taught 1st grade for 11 years and used this technique and yes, some played with them during math.

Kill me.

[elleng]

26. ABSOLUTELY!

You should (PLEASE) go and teach her teacher a thing or two or three or four or . . . .

[roguevalley]

29. I would. Sometimes you don't have eyes in the back of your head.

Teaching is tough. It always isn't perfect. People should try it sometimes. And yes, I am giving your comments the benefit of the doubt. Walk a mile sometime.

[Laffy Kat]

30. That's what I was going to say.

Playing with blocks IS DOING MATH.

[RKP5637]

9. Agree sooo much! This, IMO, stifles creativity right out of a kid. n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

47. I hear ya. The 'stupid teacher' is probably trying to hold on to her job and has

been compelled to teach to the tests and lower the boom on play.

Everyone who considers him- or herself an educator should be required to read Dickens' Hard Times to see him take down Victorian England's version of this shit:

'NOW, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing
but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else,
and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of
reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any
service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own
children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these
children. Stick to Facts, sir!'

The speaker of these words, schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, has a severe crisis of conscience during the course of the novel and emerges at its end a profoundly changed man.

[pnwmom]

49. Yes -- the pressure on teachers these days is constant, and wrong.

I fully understand why they are desperately trying to get students to fill out work sheets, instead of "playing" with blocks.

I'm going to edit out the "stupid" part even though I had my share of working with inflexible teachers over the years.

[SummerSnow]

4. This is just nagging nitpicking from the teacher.

Next, she'll send you a notice that your daughter can't stay in cue or isn't focused enough.Watch the signs and patterns of the teacher.

[elleng]

7. Some things to learn from the new NYC school chancellor???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11249920

[madfloridian]

12. That is so great to read. Good for her.

Those are positive changes for sure.

[madfloridian]

64. I just reread that. These 2 paragraphs are just great.

Where the Bloomberg administration was at war with the United Federation of Teachers, Ms. Fariña has, with the help of a labor-friendly mayor, turned the union into a close ally, giving teachers more time for training and appearing less zealous about firing subpar teachers.

Instead of the previous administration’s technocratic, sometimes corporate language — full of terms like “accountability” and “competition” — her speeches are peppered with a new set of buzzwords, like “collaboration” and “trust.”

That gives me some hope for other areas maybe someday.

[Brigid]

10. I have an eight-year-old nephew.

He'd be a neurotic mess if he had to deal with that day in and day out.

[DeadLetterOffice]

20. My 10 year old is well on his way to becoming just that.

He's bright and funny and stubborn and compassionate and creative and wiggly and he FUCKING HATES SCHOOL with a passion I personally never conceived of (and I disliked high school enough to not finish it, mind you).

It is, in fact, turning him into a neurotic mess. And no matter how much we tell him that we don't give a damn what he gets on any standardized test, ever, and that we will love him always and forever no matter his grades, period, it doesn't change the fact that he spends 6 1/2 hours a day in a pressure cooker where the focus is on creating good test takers instead of enthusiastic learners.

It breaks my heart.

[lostnfound]

13. Testing craziness

I just read the local paper about the new common core testing was going to take 13-16 hours of school time and has to be done on a computer and requires 3 hours of training and practice to learn how to use he tool for taking the test. Every year.

Then I read that this means that the technology lab will have to be CLOSED for 8 weeks so that they can rotate the classes through to take the test. That's like a quarter of the year. Parents funded those computers through donations, and they will now be co-opted by the testing industry.

[madfloridian]

61. Kids love computer lab time. That's such a shame.

And I bet that 13-15 hours of testing doesn't include all the hours of test practice.

Tech lab was always such a favorite. I can't imagine taking it away for testing.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. bad bad kid. playing blocks

[Journeyman]

16. From the description, magnet schools seem even more boneheaded than the regular schools . . .

I attended in the '50s and '60s.

[madfloridian]

56. The ones here live and die on test scores.

They usually score high because they send low performers back to public schools.

[cwydro]

17. When I was 6,

way way way back in the day, my teacher told my mom that I was "immature."

This was in the early 60's. My mom went off on one of her redheaded Welsh tirades: "Immature? She is 6!!! What?!"

I'm sure other words were exchanged lol.

That teacher's name was Mrs. Martin. She pulled the students' hair (including mine) if we spoke out of turn.

Never will I forget her lol.

[KingCharlemagne]

48. I'm glad you are able to laugh about what is commonly considered physical assault

nowadays (and rightly so, I might add). God knows how many intellects your illustrious Mrs. Martin managed to damage with her imperious ways.

[cwydro]

50. I remember how she treated one boy who was left handed.

It still makes me cringe.

She was a scary lady.

[GeorgeGist]

21. Agenda? I'm gobsmacked.

However, a note that was in her agenda this week has me so frustrated. Now, let me start by saying that I review my little one's agenda every night.

[Paulie]

44. Yes. My 2nd grader has an HO, or homework organizer

Each day has about 3 things to do. Anything from an hour to two hours a night (though 15-30min of that is reading/retelling) with paper/online math and journal writing (single topic) Time is a little tight with two parents working. Get home, make and eat dinner, homework, baths, some play and it's like 9:30/10pm. Having to work late or miss a train and it's even worse. I Never worked that hard growing up baby of six (three at home) to a single mom who worked a good job with lots of overtime.

[AwakeAtLast]

23. I am their salvation

I am a Music Teacher. I teach 1400 kids. In my classes they get to move, dance, sing and PLAY!

I see the effects of our testing culture on them every day. And yet, I am made to fear for my job because of budget cuts.

Please DUers, advocate for more Arts teachers in our schools!

[madfloridian]

31. AND you might get graded on science, math teachers' grades. It's happening already.

There's a lawsuit been filed in one county by a teacher who was graded by test scores of kids she never taught.

[AwakeAtLast]

38. As of this year, I am

Our school grade has to be a B or higher. If it is lower it counts against our evaluation and raise. Test scores figure in to the grades.

[madfloridian]

39. That should not be allowed to happen.

How they are getting away with it I don't understand. Maybe if some of the lawsuits go forward successfully, it will clear the way for others.

[Thespian2]

41. Indeed you are.

the last years of my career, I was the chairman of the Visual and Performing Arts Department at a magnet school for the visual and performing arts. The teachers in math, science, language, etc. were usually rather angry at us "arty-farts." Our students loved coming to our classes because they were actively involved in their learning. What other teachers could get students and parents to work extra hours after school, weekends, holidays? They worked for us. Our nine performing groups did shows all over the eastern part of the US. Our orchestra even played to audiences in Moscow, Russia. Oh, we never gave our students in the arts any written tests. Their tests were how well they could perform in any area they loved. Much better learning than the straight-jack approach so beloved by folks like Arne Duncan. Ever watch a Broadway musical, such as West Side Story, performed by 12 through 14 year olds with NO adult supervision (aside from the music teacher who conducted the orchestra) once the curtains opened on the first performance? That is one hell of a lot of learning for every kid involved. After I retired, Republicans took control of the school system and destroyed our entire Arts program, changed the school completely.

[eridani]

81. Music--part of a sound education

PSA slogan on a local radio station. Given all the benefits of music study on the developing brain, it really pisses me off that it is being downgraded in fafor or more testing.

[WinkyDink]

24. The emperor has no clothes, but he does have a boodle of moolah FROM THE TESTS.

[madfloridian]

66. The testing companies like Pearson are raking in the big money.

And yet Arne and his policies that are more stringent than those of GWB remain. Drives me crazy.

[Ramses]

28. The privateers and education deformists want compliant little robots

requiring conformity, lack of critical thinking skills, and unquestioning loyal to authority make slaves that are easily misled and will take abuse without complaining. People better wake the fuck up in this country before its too late.

The police state is already in full force, now they are coming after our children.

[Ms. Toad]

34. Perhaps the magnet school is not the right one for her daughter.

She attends one of the magnet school in Lakeland

Magnet schools are generally by choice. Perhaps mom made the wrong choice for her daughter. It certainly would have been the wrong choice for my child - and as an educator I would (at a minimum) not want to teach there, and might even go so far as to say it is an unhealthy choice for most children.

But mom chose to send her child there. Perhaps it is time for a change, and if enough parents feel that way the school may be forced to shut down or change.

[madfloridian]

63. That's a good thought.

It may not be what the child needs.

[MyOwnPeace]

35. Two points:

1. An entire "math" system based on "blocks" - http://www.digiblock.com/
Read about it - you'll be amazed!

2. Harry Chapin - rest in peace

FLOWERS ARE RED

The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man
I'm paintin' flowers he said
She said... It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said.. You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me.....

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. It's for your own good..
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And all responding like you should
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin'
She said...Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.

[Thespian2]

43. Thank you

The poem sees all the wonderful possibilities, and how the modern system beats the possibilities out of kids.

[DreamGypsy]

45. I am always delighted to find a great song I've missed...

... from an artist who, for whatever reason, didn't make it on my 'need every album' list. Harry Chapin was always just Taxi and Cats in the Cradle to me. Thanks, MyOwnPeace, for pointing out this gem...

Oh, and so I won't appear to be derailing the thread: The future of humanity lies with children who are encouraged to follow their own paths of thought, creativity, investigation, and wonder. We as a species are dead when there are no more Galileos, no Newtons, no Madame Curies, no Van Goghs, no Ada Lovelaces, no Einsteins, no Rachel Carsons, no Degrasse-Tysons, no Gianottis, no children who see flowers of any color, or use math blocks to create new architectural designs.

[madfloridian]

52. Never heard that. Love it. Found the lyrics. Thanks so much for sharing.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/flowers-are-red-lyrics-harry-chapin.html



The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and he started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw

And the teacher said, "What you doin' young man?"
"I'm paintin' flowers" he said
She said, "It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red"

"There's a time for everything young saw
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one"

And she said, "Flowers are red young man
And green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen"

But the little boy said
"There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one"

Well the teacher said, "You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me"

And she said, "Flowers are red, young man
And green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen"

But the little boy said
"There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one"

The teacher put him in a corner
She said, "It's for your own good
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should"

Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said

And he said
"Flowers are red, and green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found

The teacher there was smilin'
She said, "Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one"

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said

And he said
"Flowers are red, and green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"

Songwriters
CHAPIN, HARRY F.

[AllyCat]

36. I want my kids home again.

One refuses, the other is thinking about it. He HATES school for this reason.

[abelenkpe]

40. Kids are learning more, learning faster, being pushed to excel and test well

And after they jump through all the hoops, do well in school and want to go to college our society offers them loans because scholarships have not kept up with the insane increase in college education costs over the past 15 years. Yay! Your reward for all that hard work is debt.

[KingCharlemagne]

55. Debt that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy and for which there are few

jobs to repay it. Leaving only revolution as a way to rectify matters.

[MisterP]

46. who else got in trouble for stacking the "manipulatives"? *raises hand*

[madfloridian]

54. I used to get in trouble for asking too many questions.

My teachers did not like that.

[pnwmom]

59. My son had a 3rd grade math teacher who would pass out red cards (demerits) for questions

that he thought were stupid, or that the student should have known the answer to. On one day 12 out of 13 girls in the class got red cards -- just for asking questions. (And the cards carried real consequences -- two of them meant you missed recess.)

My son did okay that year but it was such a tough year for me to get through. The teacher was a former security guard who never should have become a teacher.

[madfloridian]

60. Oh, that's too bad. That would be stifling.

I would not have been able to keep my mouth shut to the teacher, I fear.

[MisterP]

68. actual questions or the sort of questions-that-prove-kids-are-tiny-stoners questions?

[madfloridian]

69. Ha...to me they were very serious questions

But some of them could have been considered arguing looking back.

[RandySF]

51. This teacher is a bit uptight.

[bobGandolf]

58. The same can be said about most early elementary grades.

There needs to be a middle ground in our expectations. In our reactionary governing the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other.

[Stellar]

62. My son had some of those issues when he was in kindergarten at age 5.

Now, having just received report cards, I happen to know my daughter at a A in math, so she wasn't failing the class. She wasn't throwing the blocks or yelling...or even playing loudly, so she wasn't a behavior problem. She wasn't trying to eat them or try to engage with the blocks in a way that indicated a biological or mental health issue (I'm a therapist, we look at these things.) She was just not using them for math.

My sons teacher tested him and found out that he was bored and they placed him in second grade classes. That helped a lot. He stopped playing and being a clown in class, thank goodness everything changed.

[madfloridian]

71. It's good the teacher took extra steps.

Some teachers won't unless urged to do so. I will never forget getting a call from my son's first grade teacher telling me he was acting up. I told her the books he was reading on 4th,5th grade level.....her first response was "what am I supposed to do with him".

I said you have to challenge him some way and gave suggestions. She was very cooperative after that and did work hard to challenge him.

[justiceischeap]

72. I'm so glad school is well behind me.

Math has never been nor will never be my "shining" star. I suck at the math... badly. I'd have built some interesting structures with those blocks though. The only thing that got me to graduate high school, and the one class that was my saving grace, was art class. I am no academic and would not flourish in today's school environments.

[gregcrawford]

73. My wife is a teacher...

... and I have extensive experience working with kids and mentoring. I cannot stress this strongly enough:

ALL THIS TESTING IS EVIL!

It has NOTHING to do with educating our children, but it has EVERYTHING to do with indoctrinating them to be good little corporate drones. Corporatism in all its malignant manifestations must - and WILL - be wiped off the face of the Earth, or there will BE no Earth, no humanity, no life. Corporatism is a cancer, and must be dealt with accordingly.

[madfloridian]

75. This overtesting is doing great harm.

And no, it has nothing to do with the needs of the students. It's about profits.

My best to your wife. I did 33 yrs, loved the kids...but then the changes began.

Teaching is a real challenge now.

[Are_grits_groceries]

77. Leave her alone!

She was probably figuring out string theory and the next step after that.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

78. Wow I remember my first assignment in 1st grade was to draw myself on a sheet of paper with crayons

Billie Fowler sat next to me and drew himself with the same colored clothes on that he had except for a big patch of yellow in the crotch of his jeans. I asked him "what's that?" He said "that's the big pee wad I just did in my pants."

It's first grade. Neither parents nor teachers should take it so seriously, except of course if the child wants to be a prodigy on the violin. That should start from about age 3, with constant and relentless serious work.

[madfloridian]

79. Your 1st paragraph cracked me up.

Yep, that would be a drawing you'd never forget.

[sabrina 1]

80. They may have high test scores, what they don't have is educated students, or happy students.

Thanks for the OP, MF.