Reply to Capital City?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Capital City?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Not a CapCity parent but do have children enrolled in another expeditionary school model.  I think the expeditionary model is difficult for a lot of parents to reconcile with because it is sooooo different than the way most of us learned.  It can very easily seem as though the kids aren't doing enough or learning fast enough (and that may be true if the teacher is inadequate, but that could be anywhere).  However, expeditionary learning builds on concepts not rote memorization.  It's like laying a foundation which can't be seen if you're standing on ground level, but eventually it rises and the learning is grounded in a real understanding of the material.

I read a post where a parent was complaining  that the kids were doing an advertising campaign of some sort and the parent thought that was ridiculous and a waste of time.  I thought it was fantastic because the kids were excercising critical thinking.  I taught on the college level and I had so many students that had trouble with a simple assignment like an ad campaign, all because they were never required to think on their own.  They loved it if I gave them a multiple choice test, but God forbid I ask them to actually THINK or worse, CREATE something from scratch.  But that is expeditionary learning and the kids really enjoy the process of learning.

Now, it may not immediately translate into high standardized test scores because of the lack of drill and kill, but it builds character and confidence in their abilities.

I went to Catholic school growing up--back when the nuns could beat you.  I learned but it wasn't fun  :).  I've had to change my paradigm about learning since enrolling my kids in an expeditionary model.  At first I thought the school should be more strict, give more homework, etc. etc.  I mean, that's how I learned, right? But it's a new day and there's more than one way to get to a goal. I've learned to be patient and appreciate the fact that my kids are both learning and enjoying school.  I didn't have that option back in the day  :).

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics