Enjoy! I'm going to be watching how these schools develop.
Not a very sensible or educated write-up in the article but there are good pictures of the space. Says it all when the author comments on not being able to line up 'naughty boys' facing each other. No wonder boys have such a hard time in schools.
There needs to be a serious rethink. Start trusting children and their enthusiasm for learning. That would be a first step. And maybe get rid of classrooms like is happening in parts of Sweden. No more expectation to sit still, then the kids WILL sit still just like my 'inattentive' child is doing right now, reading, because he wants to.
Ooh. Where did all THAT come from?! 
That was FUN!
THat is called an educated rant and I loved it!
LOL. Thank you! Education is my passion. I'm finding out I have very strong feelings about it! 
So perhaps we can redirect ourselves to talking about schools (this being the Learning at School forum and all). WHy is it that people would even feel a need to medicate their kids just so they can function in school or that they could have an 'edge' over others. THat is alarming from a cultural perspective.
There are some strange aspects to education in our culture (I'm using "our" loosely - I'm Canadian, and this article is about the US, and at least one poster in this thread is in England). I remember noticing it even when ds1 was small. I used to subscribe to a parenting magazine. I quite liked it, for the most part - lots of tricks and tips for getting through tough spells, traveling/shopping with kids, etc. and book suggestions and party ideas and things like that. But, I also noticed that half, or more, of each issue was devoted to schooling. It was all stuff about the best preschools and the importance of helping kids with their educations. That's all fine, but the slant was weird. There was so much emphasis on this - in a magazine aimed at the parents of young kids (mostly newborns through about age 7) - that it kind of freaked me out, and more than once, articles stated, flat out, that making sure our children got a good education was our primary job as parents. I'd just sit there, with my year old boy curled up in my lap, and think...but what about making sure they get exercise? What about making sure they eat well? What about helping them learn to play well with others, and treat people with respect? What about family life? The whole vibe was that everything - family time, exercise, good food, hobbies, etc. - should be subordinate to school and homework. It bugged me then, and I think it's gotten worse.
Education is important, but there's something really, really wrong with this picture, imo.
I agree. Further, I think all the things you mention ARE about education - how to eat well, get enough exercise, play well with others, how to treat others, the daily life as a family - it's all a learning process. I think the problem is that there is a huge push to make formal, school education seen as the most important aspect of 'education'. It devalues all the other things that families and children do that lead to learning, or that are just plain fun or that are simply about kids feeling safe, happy and loved.
I had all those problems but thrived in primary school. My nightmare schooling took place in high school.
We had a not too small class size - about 26 children - and only one member of staff. My children were in classes of 33 with 2 members of staff, but 33 was FAR too many and the rooms were too small. Our class rooms were large and we were expected to get up and move around and play.
The problems, as I see it are:
Too big class sizes.
Too much testing.
Too much 'teaching' and not enough learning.
Too heavily 'curriculum' driven and not enough exploration driven.
Too much reliance on memorising and not enough immersion.
Too much focus on reading, writing and maths and not enough on play.
Too much sit down and be quiet and not enough up and doing.
Reduction in playtimes and genuine 'free' play.
This is not a problem only for kids with SpLDs - it's a problem for most children. Children need to play and explore and they thrive on finding things out. We took topics in primary school and covered all sorts of interesting things through them - eg we made Viking shields and sang Viking songs and painted longboats and wrote letters and news reports and put on TV shows and plays. We learnt maths playing at the sinks and in the 'shop' and going round the school with measuring sticks and bits of string. We all read to the teacher individually every day and the teacher had time to let us do that because she wasn't containing our energy and trying to keep the noise down because we had our needs met.
I'm ANGRY about what is happening to education. I went to a different school and my whole life turned upside down. I had to sit and wait until other children were finished, doing nothing and expected to put up with it. Hour after hour. Day after day. Year after year. Sitting. Waiting. When I was finally given something new to learn, I'd forgotten how. I am now highly educated but I did it all in adulthood, at night school and working shifts to get through it. I'm still learning now and writing a PhD proposal, but back then I was written off as lazy and stupid. Because I couldn't and wouldn't be shoved in a corner and expected to shut up because I already knew how to do the work. I asked for work at first. I begged for it. I cried. I complained. Finally I gave up and school was about being with my friends. There's no excuse for putting children through this.
There needs to be a serious rethink. Start trusting children and their enthusiasm for learning. That would be a first step. And maybe get rid of classrooms like is happening in parts of Sweden. No more expectation to sit still, then the kids WILL sit still just like my 'inattentive' child is doing right now, reading, because he wants to.
Ooh. Where did all THAT come from?! That was FUN!
YES!!!!
and also the part about not as "social",,,,,,,,,,,oh and the part about having to take more meds to sleep 
and there is no way I think those kids will ever get off them even later in life!
yup, medicate to create more problems and an endless cycle of $$$$$$$
I agree. Further, I think all the things you mention ARE about education - how to eat well, get enough exercise, play well with others, how to treat others, the daily life as a family - it's all a learning process. I think the problem is that there is a huge push to make formal, school education seen as the most important aspect of 'education'. It devalues all the other things that families and children do that lead to learning, or that are just plain fun or that are simply about kids feeling safe, happy and loved.
I agree completely.
My kids are homeschooling, but I do file weekly reports. The report style for the "school" I'm using is basically to journal about what we've been doing (we also have to log 25 hours of learning each week, broken into subject areas - those areas include "self actualization", "relational skills", "philosophy", etc., as well as humanities, numeracy, languaging, etc.). This is my fifth year with the program, and I'm still amazed at the learning I discover while writing up my reports. There's so much going on that doesn't fit under the usual umbrella of "education", and it's all so valuable.
My nine year old can make spaghetti from scratch (okay - we do buy canned tomatoes and boxed pasta!), take care of guinea pigs alone (except for changing the cage bedding), change a diaper (her request, not mine), etc...and there's no place for those things on a standard report card, yk?
Perfect!
The home-ed journal template would be an interesting resource for me to look at, Storm Bride. Is it available online? It might help me work out a way of setting ours out.
I don't think anything's available online, except to enrolled students. I could send you a screenshot by PM, if you'd like...
ETA: I went ahead and sent you a PM. The screenshot is tiny, though.
I had all those problems but thrived in primary school. My nightmare schooling took place in high school.
We had a not too small class size - about 26 children - and only one member of staff. My children were in classes of 33 with 2 members of staff, but 33 was FAR too many and the rooms were too small. Our class rooms were large and we were expected to get up and move around and play.
The problems, as I see it are:
Too big class sizes.
Too much testing.
Too much 'teaching' and not enough learning.
Too heavily 'curriculum' driven and not enough exploration driven.
Too much reliance on memorising and not enough immersion.
Too much focus on reading, writing and maths and not enough on play.
Too much sit down and be quiet and not enough up and doing.
Reduction in playtimes and genuine 'free' play.
This is not a problem only for kids with SpLDs - it's a problem for most children. Children need to play and explore and they thrive on finding things out. We took topics in primary school and covered all sorts of interesting things through them - eg we made Viking shields and sang Viking songs and painted longboats and wrote letters and news reports and put on TV shows and plays. We learnt maths playing at the sinks and in the 'shop' and going round the school with measuring sticks and bits of string. We all read to the teacher individually every day and the teacher had time to let us do that because she wasn't containing our energy and trying to keep the noise down because we had our needs met.
I'm ANGRY about what is happening to education. I went to a different school and my whole life turned upside down. I had to sit and wait until other children were finished, doing nothing and expected to put up with it. Hour after hour. Day after day. Year after year. Sitting. Waiting. When I was finally given something new to learn, I'd forgotten how. I am now highly educated but I did it all in adulthood, at night school and working shifts to get through it. I'm still learning now and writing a PhD proposal, but back then I was written off as lazy and stupid. Because I couldn't and wouldn't be shoved in a corner and expected to shut up because I already knew how to do the work. I asked for work at first. I begged for it. I cried. I complained. Finally I gave up and school was about being with my friends. There's no excuse for putting children through this.
There needs to be a serious rethink. Start trusting children and their enthusiasm for learning. That would be a first step. And maybe get rid of classrooms like is happening in parts of Sweden. No more expectation to sit still, then the kids WILL sit still just like my 'inattentive' child is doing right now, reading, because he wants to.
Ooh. Where did all THAT come from?! That was FUN!
OMG THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! This is very much how I feel.
I am one of those people that were misdiagnosed by NOT be diagnosed while in school and I struggled all the way through school (I can look back at my high school experience and know how I would do things differently). I am married to a man with un-diagnosed (only 'diagnosed' by his veteran teacher mother) as he was borderline and was able to cope without medications. We now have 2 of our 4 children are diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive type (younger of the two is also borderline hyper type) and are on medications.
My oldest REALLY struggles in day to day classes but THRIVES in her gifted education class because the different format appeals to the way her brain works. We are still figuring out what works and what doesn't work with both of them as they were only diagnosed in the last year. I myself was finally diagnosed and put on medication because I have NEVER learned to truly cope with my 'hummingbird brain'.
I myself went to school in Cherokee county (born and raised there) and I can tell you there were many in my graduating class that were diagnosed but probably weren't, didn't need the meds in the first place OR they had outgrown the need for the meds but were continuing to be prescribed those meds. There were just as many just like me that had never been diagnosed but struggled with attention issues. I LITERALLY passed the first three years of high school on my test grades alone but could not manage the daily work side of school. My senior year I had to make up several classes and I was introduced to Polaris Night School in Cherokee County. If I knew then what I know now I would have dropped out of day school and switched fully to night school. Their format was you took a max of three classes for 6weeks. You met for 2 HOURS per class 5 nights a week. The teachers always had MORE than enough time to actually teach the lesson AND help us through our 'homework' (which never once actually had to be finished at home) if needed. Because of this I could get through all my daily work and actually got it turned in. I was so HAPPY doing classes and the teachers actually wanted to be there as well.
My son struggled with developmental delays in his early years and still has a IEP. Teachers hinted that it might be time "to try medication" a couple of years ago. Life isn't going to be easy for him, but we are still drug free in 4th grade! He isn't particularly hyper...probably just ADD, with some impulsivity. Teachers used to think he was deaf when he was younger and not speaking yet because he was always in his own world. Even recently, teachers have said that they have to say his name a few times to get his attention and even physically touch him to snap him out of it!
I know he probably needs drugs more than many of the other kids who are on them....but now I have even more reasons to stay off of them...he developed some health issues that make taking medication a bit risky, so we rarely take anything.
I know an adult who was medicated for ADHD as a child and said he hated it. He felt like he wasn't his real self. I would imagine it could mess with self esteem too. My parents think I need drugs to behave and they don't like the real me.
I know there are a lot of kids out there who really need the drugs and many who swear it changed their life for the better. Good for them. I just hope their parents have tried other options before drugs (working with schools, changing schools, homeschooling, dietary changes, supplements, other modifications, biofeedback, interactive metronome, therapies, tutoring, extra curricular activities, homeopathy, massage...whatever combo seems to work). I think the parents in this article probably aren't aware of all the options out there, and they probably work a lot and don't have as much time and money to dedicate to helping their kids.
I personally have noticed that a lot of kids are drugged, starting at very young ages, at the first sign of any behavioral issue...and it seems to be worse in low-income families, as some have suggested. I heard most kids in state care and foster care are on prescription drugs too.
I haven't heard that many success stories with ADHD meds personally. A relative tried it and said her daughter lost a lot of weight (she was already skinny), was sleepy, and started crying all the time. With all the drug warnings about suicidal thoughts, etc. I don't blame her for stopping it. I think she tried the non-stimulant one that used to be a blood pressure med. Lowering a child's blood pressure worries me. My neighbor is also trying it with her daughter. I will have to ask her how it's going. She is a former pharm rep, so she may be biased!
I have been tempted to try ADD drugs myself. I can't ever seem to get organized and I have every symptom...including long, ranting posts!!
My son struggled with developmental delays in his early years and still has a IEP. Teachers hinted that it might be time "to try medication" a couple of years ago. Life isn't going to be easy for him, but we are still drug free in 4th grade! He isn't particularly hyper...probably just ADD, with some impulsivity. Teachers used to think he was deaf when he was younger and not speaking yet because he was always in his own world. Even recently, teachers have said that they have to say his name a few times to get his attention and even physically touch him to snap him out of it!
How do you know if he had adhd? Perhaps he has auditory processing issues/ or sensory issues.
How do you know if he had adhd? Perhaps he has auditory processing issues/ or sensory issues.
He was tested for auditory processing disorder, and I highly suspect it, but his scores suggested otherwise. He did score in the moderate range for ADD and he did score high on sensory profile and aspergers. The woman who did the aspergers test wasn't buying it. She suspected his sensory issues and add were causing him to score high in this area. I never really used any labels except dyspraxia on his iep. Otherwise they went with "developmental delays" until he aged out of it at age 6. They kept it as "other health impaired" after that, with mention still having fine motor difficulty and dyspraxia. ADD was on there for a while, and later removed.
Thats very interesting that you suspected it but it was not backed up by test results. Why did you suspect it?
Thats very interesting that you suspected it but it was not backed up by test results. Why did you suspect it?
I suspected it because he seemed deaf at times, but his hearing always tested fine. He had many of the symptoms, but not all. As with most other childhood "disorders", the symptoms tend to overlap. He was speech delayed, but once he caught up, vocabulary was his strongest area. Sounded like a grown up from the time he figured out how to string together more detailed sentences at about age 4. Dyspraxia and ADP are very similar, but he seemed to fit more into dyspraxia according to the developmental pediatricians we saw. Both ADP and dyspraxia can make it difficult to process words and coordinate motor skills, or to get thoughts onto paper when asked to write. Math word problems and multi-step instructions are tough to figure out.
For example, on a particularly off day, I will say "ok, it's late, brush your teeth and go to bed please". He will be so involved in playing or whatever, that I will have to repeat myself a few times...then he finally breaks what he was doing, walks towards the bathroom, then hesitates, and walks back into his room. I will ask a few more times until he goes back into the bathroom, uses the toilet and then goes back to his room. I will ask "did you brush your teeth?"...I guess he got to the bathroom and couldn't remember, so he used the toilet instead. He will walk in again, pause and say "what did you just ask me to do?" Once he does actually brush, it's not the way it should be done. Personal hygiene in general is a problem. Multi step tasks are hard. I think he just pours the shampoo on his head and rinses, without lathering. He skips several steps when using the toilet too. I hope it gets better soon because that could be a real problem in a few more years when he starts to get BO.
My 7yo also seems deaf alot of the time. I got his hearing tested very recently, but his hearing is fine. Also, he has a very hard time remembering things people said (not a good thing because at school, teacher says alot of things you are supposed to remember)
Im sorry if i missed something in your post because i am not familiar with other conditions you mentioned, although i know a little bit about auditory processing because my son has problems with it.
For eg, like your son, he might just forget what you said because it requires an auditory memory, he might forget what you said in conversation, or even what he himself said. Once, he said he was stupid because he couldnt think of ideas or remember them. (but hes smart enough to ace the iq tests they administer for school entry)
Interesting that your son suddenly became very articulate from having a speech delay. My son still has problems with speaking in general (he speaks, but is awkward) but his reading is extremely advanced.
Do you mind telling me a little more about ADP and dyspraxia? I think my guy would not have problems with the first two issues, but definitely finds it difficult to solve a math word problem, unless he is reading it. (not hearing it)
Also, how would these conditions explain why your son appears deaf, or why he would suddenly become a precious speaker after a speech delay? (sorry to bombard you with questions...)
I'm still working my way through this thread. I found this article alongside the original article the OP linked to:
Still working my way through that, too. It's depressing. My apologies if this has been mentioned or linked to previously in this thread.
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