Gage spent three days at home this week because he has bronchitis and a sinus infection. I am mildly shocked that his teachers sent home work for him to complete. Austin's reply was "They have standards to cover, too" which majorly shocked me since Austin, graduate of the CARE program at OU, has always been a very democratic educator. But I guess with that statement, I have been able to pull together a lot of concerns--and, of course, think way too much.
The mission statement in my husband's school district says something along the lines of 'commitment to the State Standards,' which we all know means in a lot of ways drill and kill and test, test, test. I know myself and my son well enough to now begin to understand why the serious attitude change in him since school began. Gage is just not what one would call a good candidate for drill and kill. He especially is not a good student under an essentialist education philosophy. He can explain to you articulating, nocturnal, and how shadows work or do not work, but he can't grasp to spell his name G-a-g-e and would rather tell you that his name is spelled G-e-g-e. I don't know why this is so difficult for him, but I know it's even more disheartening for him than anything else because he is a kid who just shuts down in frustration. (Now I know I'm sounding like a teacher-snob-nerd right now, but I am also prepping for my midterm in a couple of days)
My question becomes what kind of disservice are we handing our kids when public schools aren't able (or encouraged) to reach kids in a variety of ways? Gage is definitely an exploratory learner. I mean it comes naturally to him: look at where he lives and who his parents are. He has been indoctrinated to be exploratory in a variety of settings. Is it a good thing to make him grasp another style of learning? I suppose so, but this isn't the kick off to the school experience that I was expecting. I get daily notes from his teacher about what he's doing wrong or needs our help with (all in the neighborhood of fine motor skills--handwriting, cutting, coloring). I have yet to get any kind of positive feedback. He did get in trouble for independently finding his way from the bathroom to the classroom instead of waiting for the rest of his group.
What's a mom to do? I can come up with a ton of suggestions to help Gage, but I'm not in the position to do that, let alone execute the trial and error of them. I know that they are under-equipped with stuff, staff, and time, but, again, I know that my son is quite capable and willing--but he's turning into a very frustrated and grumpy little boy. He doesn't even want to talk about school. How do I let this go as just 'part of the experience' when I, in my heart and experience, know that there is a way to make sure Gage's school experience is all that we expected it to be? So in turn, again, what's a mom to do? This is such a tough job.
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