The weekly Friday night recreational fire took place again last night. Prior to igniting the wood we did check with the local fire crew to determine if any fire ban was in place. The only restrictions was to keep it to 2x2. Not a big deal for us since our fire rarely gets larger then that. Just in case, the hose was primed and ready. The wind was very still, evident by the smoking escaping the flames going straight upward.
The usual suspects appeared and discussion of the week events ensued. As the fire dwindled down conversation switched to ADD children and teachers. While the conversation intesified at times, decorum remaind respectful.
All to often "trouble" children get labeled with ADD and teachers push them off onto others to assist. The problem, in most cases, is not the child nor does the child have ADD. The trouble falls on the education system and the teachers that allow it to continue. Most children with ADD are bored with school because it does not offer the challenge they seek.
America already spends more money per capita then any other industrialized nation. Why? It is not that we do not spend enough; rather how we allocate it. Smaller class sizes and more teachers is not the answer either. Recognition is the answer. We all learn at different rates and absorb information differently. Why is it then that our educational system is not geared toward that.
Teacher's Union is the stumbling block. Don't get me wrong, unions have their purpose while at the same time create bureaucracy that stifles change in our educational system. Charter schools are slowly getting on the right track to educating our youth. More effort needs to be made in the acceleration of learning of kids deemed "ADD".
If Albert Einstein started school today he would be quickly labeled a trouble children and been sent down the road of ADD. Imagine the loss to science and the world. Now this does not mean all children with ADD will become Einstein. What it means is that they will not be encourage to become Einstein.
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I think that the rapid pace of technology is way overwhelming for children to absorb. So what happens, the mind just shuts down. At that point, they can't stay focussed on any one task. And the process of ADD continues. I believe many adults are caught up in that same situation but they just call it "aging". An example: Open just your homepage, and you have hundreds of article that the brain is trying to process at one time. I think we need to train ourselves and children to take a "break" a few times a day and allow ourselves to think about nothing which is probably almost impossible.
ReplyDeleteThe depth the brain is able to absorb multitude of data is not exactly known. Granted technology many refer to is just a portion of the technology that is often overlooked. Technology does not always equate to the computer, television, or a game consul. Technology is raw form bombards the brain at a rate far greater then electronics. The chemical make-up of the air we intake to extraction of nutrition from the food we eat are all bits of technology.
ReplyDeleteA book I came across several years ago discusses the neural connections that one establishes though out life. It is through these neural connections that we evolved to adapt to our changing environment and many of establish these connections well enough to live by the age of eighteen. Often times, it is around the age of eighteen that we rely heavily on the established neural connections and do not re-create or establish new ones. I encourage all to read this book. I have read it once and nearly a second time. Now I am thinking of reading it again. The book is SQ: Spiritual Intelligence, The Ultimate Intelligence by Danah Zohar and Dr. Ian Marshall.
But back to my original point of the educational system being the root cause. People learn at different speeds, granted I am no scientist, and it because of this we are quickly to attach ADD to children who have “tuned out”. This is where we fail as educators, society, and parents. Perhaps even why we struggle in our later years with dementia.
The educational system needs to be overhauled. By overhaul, I am not suggesting we need to spend more money. The amount we spend is plenty. Why is it that other countries are more successful in education then America? It is not about more teachers or more money. The educational system we have is antiquated and the major stumbling block is teachers.
We all have seen the quizzes floating around the internet about test questions asked of those back around the turn of the 20th Century. Many of which we all struggle with to answer. Why is that? What is the major difference in the educational system now and then? The single room school house. It is time to bring back the single room school house. For example, create a single math class that teaches the basics as well as advanced mathematical models. The concept can be repeated for English, civics, etc…