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Tips, insights, and stories about helping kids succeed in school.
Does One size Fit All?
After teaching for 10 years across Canada and working with over 8,000 kids; one size does not fit all! Every child is unique and has their own skillset; however, the education system forces them to fit into one box and utilizes one learning style to teach them. Some kids are visual learners, some are auditory, some are kinesthetic and like to use their hands, some learn at a slower pace, some learn faster, and the list goes on. How can we put all these kids into one room and use one speed, one concept and one learning style and expect great results? Every child has a unique background, different upbringing and so many factors that affect their learning. Even if the teachers could cater to each child, it is just not possible in a school setting. If a student is really strong in English but failing Math, does that mean he or she is intelligent in one class but unintelligent down the hallway in the other class? Or maybe they are right-brained learners, so the left side that focuses on logic and reasoning and linked to Math needs to be tapped the right way to allow that student to learn Math effectively. If you have two children or more at home, you know that each child is so different than the other, so how can we treat them the same way, teach them the same way, talk to them the same way and expect conformed results? A prime example of this is when the schools pivoted to online learning due to the pandemic. Some students thrived and loved the concept of learning through technology while others just could not figure it out and slipped so far behind. Do you feel that one size fits all? If not, what can be done with the school system to ensure that each child’s strengths and learning style is tapped, so they can learn in the most effective and efficient manner?
The “No Failing” Education System is FAILING
Have you ever seen a kid repeat Grade 2? How about Grade 4? KG? Never, because teachers are not allowed to fail students until high school. With this system in place, one must wonder:* If the teachers are not allowed to fail, then what does the report card even indicate?* Your child shows you his or her report card and it shows a B+ (78%). Since a child cannot fail, this means that the number does not start from 0. So, what does the 78 even mean? That is like getting you test results and it says 14.5 on top. 14.5 out of what?* If the child is actually failing in class, the teachers give marks for participation, self regulation, independent work, responsibility, and all the other things that show up on the front of the report card. So, if your child writes 2 + 2 = 10. Instead of getting a failing grade, the teacher will give marks for trying, putting the name on the top, attempting to do the test, showing how the child got to a 10 and a variety of other things; however, 2 + 2 IS NOT 10!!!* If the child keeps moving ahead without failing, then there are fundamental issue that are brushed aside, and the student goes on to the next year. They keep going ahead until high school where THEY CAN FAIL, and now it is a little bit too late to get help because the problem arose years ago.* Furthermore, if the child keeps going ahead to the next year and then suddenly fails in high school, then it is too late to do anything. The student gets put into applied or other remedial programs, which are very difficult to come out of. Moreover, Universities and Colleges only look at grades from the final few years of high school. So, if the students keep moving forward, even though they might be failing, it catches up in high school. They get a failing grade, post secondary institutions track that and now it is too late to do anything. Do you see something wrong with that?As a parent, you get a progress report card and then the final report card, which indicates how your child has done throughout the entire year. If that report card is not even reflecting your child’s actual progress, then we are completely left in the dark. We assume things are going well and then suddenly they are not! Do you feel that this system is effective or teachers should be allowed to fail kids in the earlier grades, so the parents can do something about it? Why push the child all the way up to high school with artificially inflated grades and then fail them there, so Universities look at the grades and say, “Sorry, your child does not qualify for this institution.”
THE TWO FACES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Google the “Top 10 Best Public High Schools” in Ontario and see what cities they are located in and what is the average house price in that area. Then, Google “The Top 10 Worst Public Schools” in Ontario and see where they are located.The Ministry of Education releases the curriculum and all schools have to use the same material, the same books, they have the same classes, teachers have the same qualifications, they give the same amount of homework and teach the same concepts in class. So, with everything similar, how come the affluent areas have the best rated schools and the poor areas have the worst performing schools? The disparity between the two is profound and it is sad to see that your children will get a better quality of education if you are in the higher tax bracket.Even if you drive your kid to the higher ranked school outside your area, the school will ask you to go back to your zone. Even if you tell them that you will drive your kid to and from school and oblige to all their requirements, they will still tell you that due to zoning regulations, your child cannot come to this school.As sad and despondent as this sounds, your child’s future has already been decided by the quality of education they get. The quality of education they get has already been decided by the schools they go to. The schools they go to has already been decided by the house you live in. The house you live in has already been decided by the postal code attached to it. The postal code attached to your house basically is asking, “HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU MAKE?”Most of the higher ranked schools have homes over 2 million dollars and most of the lower ranked schools have average household income less than $30,000. In a country of equality and fairness and equal education for all; how is this equal? How is this fair? It is open discrimination, segregation and suppression to ensure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. The sheer dic
FALLING BEHIND FROM THE START
Numerous studies and research has shown that 85 percent of a person’s brain is developed by the time they are 5 years old and their ability to learn and absorb information is at its peak until age 12. As with physical development, cognitive milestones represent important steps forward in a child’s development. The best time to learn, absorb and retain information is when the child is young.If you speak to a child in 4 different languages, by the time they are 4-5 years old, they will be fluent in all 4 languages. Each language has a structure, noun, pronouns, conjunctions, and proper method of constructing a sentence and having a dialogue. A child can learn all of that effortlessly by just listening to it. Furthermore, they also learn how to use devices, play with toys, use hand and facial gestures, and hundreds of things regularly. On the other hand, if someone comes and speaks 4 foreign languages to us, there is absolutely no way we will be able to fluently speak all of them in a few years.So, according to scientific theories and research and our own experience, it is evident that the best time to learn is at a young age. With that being said, what does the school system teach children at this crucial and critical stage of their lives?What is the curriculum for a Kindergarten or Grade 1?· Colouring· Painting· Patterns· Playing· More colouring· Playing· Watching cartoons· Did I mention coloring?At the most important stage of their life, they are not being taught anything. Furthermore, how much homework do these children bring home? How many books do you see in their bag? How many assignments or projects are they given? So, they barely do anything in class and then they come home and have nothing to do, so they gravitate towards playing, television, social media or video games. They do this routinely for years until they enter higher grades and now that has become a habit. What is the number one complaint we hear from parents with kids in high school? My kid is always on social media or they are always playing video games! Well…of course they are! They have been conditioned to that and have created a habit, so what else should they do? The absence of actual academic concepts in the earlier stages also slows their brain down, creates a very slow start and cripples them in their future educational endeavours. Yes, there are benefits of coloring, patterns, and other fun activities; however, actual education should also be inputted into the curriculum.Imagine starting a race and you were told to take it easy, enjoy, have fun and take lots of breaks and then suddenly told that you have to now finish the cross line in one minute. The children are given a weak start and then expected to show strength and excellence in the latter years to get into a post-secondary institution. How would that work…?
CONDITIONING TO FAIL
If you do something repeatedly, it becomes a habit. Those habits become your character and how you behave in life. If you wake up everyday at 7am, then you will automatically wake up at 7am. Your mind does not have an alarm clock, but that habitual activity will act as an alarm. If you eat everyday at 4 pm, then your stomach will start growling if you do not feed it at that specific time. Again, the stomach does not have a clock, but it just becomes a habit. If you sleep everyday at 11 pm, then even an hour past that time will make you lethargic and exhausted. You get the point!Applying the same notion into the education system, the public school system is creating habits for younger students which stays with them throughout their entire educational endeavour. Sadly, students in KG, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 are barely given any homework. Even students from Grade 4 to 7 rarely bring home textbooks and consistent homework.The kids come home, throw their bags to the side, play video games like Call of Duty, Roadblocks, GTA and other things that deviate them from education. After playing, they eat food and then get on their social media accounts. Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Netflix and other media platforms take up the rest of their day. They go to sleep and then wake up and repeat the same cycle all over again. They do this until Grade 9 and 10 and are suddenly given hours of homework. They go into Grade 11 and 12 and are given even more assignments and homework. They enter post secondary institutions, colleges and universities, are inundated with hours and hours of assignments and homework. How will they manage to do that?The kids get used to not doing much in the earlier stages. Their habits are created and their routines are set, so how do you expect that child to sit down and do hours of homework at the later stages. For almost 8 years, they develop the wrong habits and in high school and post-secondary institutions, it becomes next to impossible to break those habits.What is the number one complaint parents have with kids in high school? “My son plays too many video games. My daughter is always on her social media accounts.” Well…that is not a big surprise! They have been doing that since KG, so how can we as parents expect them to sit down and do 2-3 hours of homework suddenly in high school. The habits and routines must be created at an earlier stage; however, the education system does the complete opposite. The kids get used to doing almost nothing, so they gravitate towards other distractions to consume their time. They become used to this and then we expect them to suddenly change their habits in high school. So, can we really blame them for not doing their homework or not taking school seriously at the latter stages?
IMPORTANCE OF HOMEWORK
Homework is essential to practice the concepts learnt in class, strengthen the understanding of those concepts and retain the information for a longer period. It creates the right habits, ensures that the students become accustomed to doing extra work at home and stay prepared for their classes. Unfortunately, homework is slowly fading away from the public education system. Homework in KG, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 is almost non-existent. From Grade 4-8, the children barely get any homework and do not have any textbooks to practice the concepts or prepare for their tests. Once they enter high school, they are given a significant amount of homework; however, the kids have already developed their routines and schedules, which makes it difficult for them to adapt to the new routine. Moreover, when they enter post-secondary institutions, they are given countless hours of assignments and activities, which becomes near impossible for the students to get accustomed to. Do you feel that the kids get enough homework at school? Do you feel that homework is important for the child’s educational development?