Been reading Escape From Childhood by John Holt (1974), and it has hit home.
Kids are not cute to be cute, though we teach them to be manipulative that way.
Kids are not living the best year of their lives--those of us who believe that need to get lives.
Kids do not need to know the quadratic equation in a world where they do not even need to know how to make change.
Kids deserve better than we give them, not because they are kids, but because they are people.
I teach science, and I think I do a reasonably good job at it. (On the other hand, pretty much every teacher thinks he or she does a decent job, and we all know a few that a few of us suck, so some of us must suck without realizing it. Hmmm...)
In the end, though, maybe what matters is that my students see a few adults who like kids for the people they are, and that my students see that a few adults are reasonably happy in this world.
One of my stated goals each year is to avoid turning kids off to the natural world. So far this year I've done that much.
No mean feat.....
Posts
