An Amish schoolhouse, simple and plain. I pass it often on my way from here to there.
It makes me think of what schoolhouses used to look like. One room, all grades.
Not perfect by any stretch but, having high expectations and a disciplined education.
No core standards, no teaching to the test. No crazy curriculum.
As an educator, I have become jaded by the current education system in this country.
Somewhere the love of learning has been replaced by the passion for political correctness.
Reading, writing, and arithmetic have been lost to regulations, assessments, and red tape.
It makes me sad. It really does.
I still love to teach, and my students bring me much joy.
But, in my opinion the foundation of this monstrosity that we call education is fractured.
There are fatal cracks in the foundation.
Unless something radically changes, and soon, we will lose generations of children.
Children that know everything about global warming, evolution as fact (not theory), how to be “green” and recycle, have read books about Johnny’s two mommies, know how to save the whales, and promote anti-bullying……
But, they struggle in reading, can’t think for themselves and don’t know how to even make change.
A real education should be about teaching children to love learning. Learning for a lifetime.
Learning that makes great people, who go on to do even greater things.
I’m scared. The grip is loosening. The little hands are being pulled away. We are losing them.
Related articles
- Headmaster attacks secondary school ‘exam factories’ (telegraph.co.uk)
- Blog: Who should teach children about money? – Confused.com (confused.com)
- Go Back In Time: Pennsylvania Amish Community Life (local.answers.com)
- Teaching at Home Hits New High With Internet (bloomyebooks.wordpress.com)
- Parents, board protest ‘excessive testing’ (pressrepublican.com)
It Just Dawned On Me 