What is the deal with kids and the ADD diagnosis? I am not sure if this is really as big an issue as everyone is making it out to be. I have been spending a lot of time in the schools and quite honestly, I think that the real issue is that we are asking too much of these kids. I watch kindergarteners taking word study tests and having homework every night. Now the new initiative is that every child should be enrolled in school by 4. I did some substituting in a local elementary school, and they won't even let their kindergarten students play in the learning centers anymore. Then I watched as these children were only given a 15 minute recess (play time) and then were expected to sit at their tables doing nothing for about 30 minutes, while kids were bath rooming and waiting for other children on that grade level to bathroom as well. Needless to say, these kids were bored out of their minds, and eventually I would say after about 15 minutes of sitting, some of the kids began playing with the crayon baskets on the tables. They were reprimanded for this behavior. Now I ask you as an adult, if asked to sit there for 30 minutes with nothing to do, would you not have started playing with the crayon basket too? I think some of you probably would have.
I think it is great to start the learning process at an early age, however, I also believe that there are both good and bad ways to do this. For instance, why does everything that we teach them have to be taught while sitting and being quiet? Why can't we sing our ABC songs while jumping up and down? People are always saying that our society has become too lazy and overweight, and yet with the youngest of the people in it, all we can tell them is to sit down and be quiet. Don't express yourself! No playing! We really as a society need to find a balance between having children learn and having them be still. Playing, running, laughing, socializing, are all part of learning.
My own experience is that we are pushing children to learn things before they are developmentally ready for them, and therefore our level of education is suffering. I was told this about my daughter and her pre algebra class. She took her class the first time and although she has always been an A and B student, mostly A's, she struggled with pre algebra and barely made a C. When she went to take the class the next year, I discussed this with her new teacher and she said that this was quite normal. That developmentally some children, no matter how smart, just are not ready for certain concepts until their brains mature to a certain point.
I think this is why so many children are struggling with reading and attention. I think they are just not ready for all this stuff, they are still developing as people, and as educators we not only need to acknowledge this, but work to change a system that is not working. I know from my perspective, I stayed at home with my mom until I entered kindergarten, and was not asked to read, take tests or do homework at that age, and yet somehow, I seem to have gotten a more well rounded education, then I find that my children are receiving today…Why is that?
Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:34 PM by Carol Ann