American kids are screwed!

[Pollyanna]

I feel a soap box coming on:

/I'm going to go counter cultural here and flat out state that a lot of elementary school today is just not developmentally appropriate or healthy for children. The lack of recess makes me insane. It doesn't work for my kids. The "too cold for recess" bullshit makes me crazy. The workbook pages for 5 year olds: ridic. Homework for an hour in second grade? Just wrong. This current debate asks us to consider the horrible food they serve. Gag. No wonder why they think McDonalds tastes good, comparitively it does!

In truth, I'm *over* the latest foreign child raising expose that basically opines that "We Americans suck as parents!!!". However, I am MORE than willing to engage in a dialogue about how we can radically reboot elementary education to meet the know developmental needs of our kids. Honestly, are we asleep at the wheel here? Who is happy with this scheme?

/huge rant-y soap box and tangent over

I agree with everything you said! The sentiment that, "oh those French (fill in your country) have it made" annoys me to no end.

I'm burned out though in trying to promote change. I've tried for too many years. Running a lunch program (volunteer), choosing local, healthy options within reason while even providing free meals descreatly to children who needed it. Even the janitor brought in cereal and milk to feed those kids breakfast. The state comes in and flat out destroys a good (not perfect) system. No more meals for hungry kids without specifically meeting guidelines, free breakfast not allowed. Just that one experience would suck the life out of you when you watch what it meant for the state to take over feeding our children.

I don't know how to change the recess thing. Teachers and administrators give you a blank stare if you bring it up. They are far more concerned about locking down schools, finger printing parents, and cya then they are about developmentally appropriate breaks or school work. It's getting worse and I don't believe our children are any safer or to be honest, smarter.

The solution will have to be radical. I think schools are starting to see more and more kids homeschooling. That hits the pocketbook of the schools. Maybe everyone needs to keep their kids out of school for a week and demand change demand to be heard?

[MrsC]

I'm probably in the minority here but I don't see this as a slight on American parenting at all. I don't understand why it has to be an "us verses them" attitude. I'd rather look at it, decide if it's a better way of doing things and try to change it if I can. Living in Europe, you'll see countless articles on how American kids are more confident, ambitious etc. and people are impressed by it. I'll be the first to admit that Irish parents, for example, can be too laid back, not push their kids at all and it does hold them back in life. Right now the entire education system in Ireland is being overhauled to be more like the American one when it comes to continuous assessment and semesterizing third level.
There's no perfect educational system but we can see what works for others and try to improve it and keep what works for us.

[Pollyanna]

I'm probably in the minority here but I don't see this as a slight on American parenting at all. I don't understand why it has to be an "us verses them" attitude. I'd rather look at it, decide if it's a better way of doing things and try to change it if I can. Living in Europe, you'll see countless articles on how American kids are more confident, ambitious etc. and people are impressed by it. I'll be the first to admit that Irish parents, for example, can be too laid back, not push their kids at all and it does hold them back in life. Right now the entire education system in Ireland is being overhauled to be more like the American one when it comes to continuous assessment and semesterizing third level.
There's no perfect educational system anywhere.

You are correct. There should be discussion about what is good about education in different countries. It doesn't have to be us vs them but I think the articles tend to have that slant and rarely give the full story on what makes different things possible in each different system.

[MrsC]

I suspect that she worded the article that way because it gets more attention and more readers for her upcoming book on how great France is. It's just bad writing IMO and obnoxious but I like the idea of healthier lunches and longer recess.
ETA - she left out the part where you have to go to McDonald's in France to get a cooked burger for your kid or the fact that they start drinking at 12.

[Pollyanna]

I suspect that she worded the article that way because it gets more attention and more readers for her upcoming book on how great France is. It's just bad writing IMO and obnoxious but I like the idea of healthier lunches and longer recess.

Agreed!

For me this all goes back to school choice, vouchers, etc.

[metroguy]

1. my kid gets about 20 minutes of written hw +20 minutes of reading in kindergarten/ps. in fact she had hw even in prek--but probably 10 minutes per day. i think my 3yr nephew has written hw (but not require) starting in daycare. that's daycare.
2. i remember in elementary/hs schools, the security was lax. i could run home, grab some stuff and go back to school during the lunch hr. also, someone could just sneak into school via one of unguarded locked doors (some kids would cut class via locked doors).
3. in france, there's lot of xenophobia. i don't recommend living there if you're a minority. also drinking is a huge issue. people drink during work lunch--so their productivity after lunch was sometimes questionable.

[SoonerTexan]

We always brought lunch and I plan to send my kids with it.

Random funny story though--my mom got a call from the high school a few years ago when siblings #4 was in school asking about his lunch situation. Seems my brother was continually getting the free cheese sandwich/milk designated for kids who forgot lunch on a regular basis. The school was concerned he needed to be on some lunch supplement program.

No, the little shit admitted he just liked the milk and cheese sandwich.

[spotty_dog]

We always brought lunch and I plan to send my kids with it.

I pack a lunch daily, but sometimes it's nice just to know there is money on account and you can send your kid screaming out the door empty-handed if you're running late. Unfortunately I lost that option last year when we suspected DS was sensitive to something in the school lunch. If we had a higher-quality lunch offering I'd feel less guilty when I utilize it. I'm also keenly aware that with 40% free or reduced price lunch in the elementary school, the quality of the lunch is affecting the health and behavior of a goodly chunk of my kids' classmates, every single day.