I think you set yourself up for failure when you have the goal that your kid should love school.

School can be boring. It's work. It's not always going to be fun.

Sitting at a desk, not being able to do what you want, having to think and focus - it's a tough transition for kids who were just on summer break and especially since he doesn't have friends in class.

I do agree they need far more recess time in elementary these days.

No. Kids are being raised on devices so anything other than Tik Toc seems boring to them. Their attention spans have gone downhill in the last 10 years along with their fine motor skills (other than using a finger to type).

Schools with an Expeditionary Learning (EL) model might be a good fit. Not sure if that's a public charter option for you where you live.

I don't know that it's outdated, I think it's a more modern approach than what used to be considered normal--and I think there are serious drawbacks to it.

When I went to elementary school in the 80s, we had a six hour school day. Each day, there was a 15-minute recess, a lunch that had to be at least 30min if not longer, and either an afternoon recess or P.E.

My kids had a day of 6 hours and 45 minutes with P.E. every other week and a lunch recess that was 15-20 minutes a day and that's it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So as a teacher you want me to let go of the whole gaining work and critical thinking skills to become a democratic citizen and contributing member of our society for……. Sailing.

Ok- I mean what with global warming out door survival skills (how to deal with extreme flooding and heat) will be more important anyway so I can see your point.

We need teachers like you to leave the profession. God you sound crazy 😨

Op I agree with you. It’s a long, boring day for many kids. My son was well behaved and loved by his teachers, but was miserable at school. He didn’t like school until 7th grade. He’s almost done with high school and still talks about how much he hated elementary school! But he’s happy in high school. I hope things get better for your son.

No you don’t.

I’m taking OP’s argument to an extreme sure and meant to be funny. But either way, people in Jackson don’t have water, Europe is too dry for river cruises and poor Pakistan!

On a more serious note, OP look into Montessori, it may work well for your family!

Also, here is an article by the NYtimes questioning school and the purpose of school from different perspectives.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/01/opinion/schools-education-america.html?

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that you think how we teach school may be outdated. I guarantee you 100 years ago 7 yr old boys got antsy in school and thought it was boring and just wanted to go outside and run around and catch bugs.

Why do you think the current method of public education persists? As others have said, you could find a private school for your child or you could homeschool, but if you choose to stick with public, don't you think there might be good reasons why the entire system hasn't been tailored around the preferences of second grade boys?

it's all about economics (money). the current method of public education has to do with high stakes testing (tying funding to test scores, etc.) there is also a TON of money tied up in Pearson, Harcourt mifflin Harcourt, etc. curriculums and testing. there is a big gap between what we know about child development and how children learn best and what is the reality of public schools.

Anonymous wrote:That's why my kids go to Montessori until upper elementary.

I love the idea of Montessori but we toured several and it just felt so off to use past k/1st grade. Where do your kids go?

Honestly I think homeschooling would probably be the best for my kid but I feel I would loose my mind.

Interesting that you think how we teach school may be outdated. I guarantee you 100 years ago 7 yr old boys got antsy in school and thought it was boring and just wanted to go outside and run around and catch bugs.

Why do you think the current method of public education persists? As others have said, you could find a private school for your child or you could homeschool, but if you choose to stick with public, don't you think there might be good reasons why the entire system hasn't been tailored around the preferences of second grade boys?

There’s a lot of research showing that kids learn most effectively through self-driven activities and play. But its easier to keep them at desks all day memorizing stuff so they can take a test to measure their “learning.” I wish public school would start catching up to private/charters on this. It’s another way of enforcing class rigidity - the wealthy get individualized education in engaging environments, learning to think critically and creatively and explore their interests, the poor and middle class learn to sit quietly, follow instructions, and complete busy work.

That's why my kids go to Montessori until upper elementary.

Homeschool way to go. 3 hours 1:1 teaching then you do whatever. Plenty of time for hands on learning and explorations, social groups, play dates, field trips, etc.

I think the problem stems from your framing of your second grader as a « little kid » and setting your expectations accordingly rather than expecting them to assume some responsibility at this age. (Even most pop literature starts referring to this age as big kids)

Schools are designed around the average girl, not the average boy.

Anonymous wrote:So as a teacher you want me to let go of the whole gaining work and critical thinking skills to become a democratic citizen and contributing member of our society for……. Sailing.

Ok- I mean what with global warming out door survival skills (how to deal with extreme flooding and heat) will be more important anyway so I can see your point.

We need teachers like you to leave the profession. God you sound crazy 😨

Op I agree with you. It’s a long, boring day for many kids. My son was well behaved and loved by his teachers, but was miserable at school. He didn’t like school until 7th grade. He’s almost done with high school and still talks about how much he hated elementary school! But he’s happy in high school. I hope things get better for your son.

I had warned my 1st grader that center time ends at Kindergarten. It has been a hard adjustment for her. She misses that social/play time with her friends.