Why do so many parents say their kids are bored at school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is White. It explains everything.

Nope. It's because she went to an Ivy. Most White people didn't go to an Ivy, and most White people aren't like her. Even most DCUMers aren't like her, either.

I’m an Ivy graduate and I think OP is positively ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Not everyone is excited by the same things. So, not all kids will be either. I remember being in school as young at K or first grade and being bored by some of the things being taught. I don’t think it’s because I was smarter than all the other kids and I didn’t act out either. I just sat there, not super interested or impressed with certain things. Not every kid clicks with every teacher either. These are other reasons a kid could legit be bored at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone is excited by the same things. So, not all kids will be either. I remember being in school as young at K or first grade and being bored by some of the things being taught. I don’t think it’s because I was smarter than all the other kids and I didn’t act out either. I just sat there, not super interested or impressed with certain things. Not every kid clicks with every teacher either. These are other reasons a kid could legit be bored at school.

Right, but did your parent drone on to other parents about how bored you were in school?

I don’t think anyone is saying it isn’t possible for kids to be legitimately bored in school for a variety of reasons. But whether parents should be telling other parents of kids in the same grade/class how bored their child is. It is pretty common knowledge that is (one) euphemism for my child is too smart for the class. It is one thing if you are talking frankly with a close friend. But it sounds like this is casual mom chatter from acquaintances

[Anonymous]

It’s humble brag implying that their child is advanced cognitively and academically superior compared to their classroom cohort. It’s all a big lie though because really smart youngsters will find a means to engage and be entertained.

[Anonymous]

It seems like kind of a crappy thing to say about your child’s school and teacher.

[Anonymous]

The child is not interested in whatever is being presented. There are a variety of reasons including LDs, not being ready to learn whatever it is (including missing part of the foundation, incredibly common and overlooked though it is), having already learned and retained the process/information, needing a different teaching style, needing more movement or social interaction in order to understand and retain, etc. The vast majority of problem behaviors (kindergarten and beyond) are due to a teacher's inability to teach to all of the children at the same time. It's not the teacher's fault, as the children have such disparate abilities and interests that trying to have everyone learn everything at the same pace is futile.

Parents who brush off actual behavior issues needing intervention (3yo biting and hitting) as boredom is completely separate. That is not a child reporting that they are bored due to not understanding, bored because they already learned it, bored because they feel like it goes in one ear and out the other. At 3, children aren't telling their parents, "I bit Suzy because I was bored with playing with the truck." They're saying, "I want the doll," if they even remember the biting incident from the morning when they're picked up 4 hours later.

I firmly believe that most (all?) children will eventually be bored by something at school. That's not a bad thing. Part of school's purpose is to teach academics. They also teach listening to authority figures other than parents (like a manager at work), time management (so please don't rescue your child who didn't start their 3 page paper until the night before), waiting quietly and patiently, teamwork (and what happens when the team doesn't work together), and doing whatever the assignment is without regard to the child's interest in the subject (so telling them they don't have to do the work if they already know how to do it is counterproductive).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because their kids are bored at school.

But what’s the point in telling other parents that unless it’s to ask if their kids are experiencing the same thing or to get advice on how other people handled it?
If you aren’t problem solving, you are complaining or bragging.

Traditional school can be incredibly boring for even modestly bright kids, no "giftedness" required. Even though schools will deny it to their dying breath with phrases like "differentiation" and "meet them where they are" - school is taught to the lowest common denominator. Which means that if a child understands a concept or topic after only the first or second explanation, they are going to be bored waiting for the last kid in the class to catch up. And because they will finish most or all of their work faster than other students, they will be instructed over and over throughout the day to "read or draw or wait quietly" while everyone else finishes.

People don't like to admit this, but its just the truth.

Disagree, strongly. They teach to the middle. I don't want to count the number of students who are "passed" each year who didn't learn even half of what they should.

My personal opinion? Year round school with short breaks. No more grouping by age. Every child entering the school is tested and placed into a class for each subject, moving on to the next once they've mastered all of the skills presented in that class. But nobody else likes it, so I'll continue to tutor the children who are above and below grade level and ignored by the teachers.