Your perfect school

[Pollyanna]

So with all this school discussion, what does your perfect school look like?

You can make it either elementary, middle or high school (or all three or maybe a k-12).

Go!!

[spotty_dog]

Ooh, good one! I need to think about this some more though.

[PrincessFiona]

I need to think about this too. My opinions have changed through the years and I'm not sure I know what I think is best anymore.

Some quick thoughts:

1. No start before 9am (A lot of research supports this at least at the high school level). Since you're asking me to come up with my perfect school, I thought I'd throw it out there.
2. Year round school with a couple of 2 week breaks and a 6 week summer built in. Zoe can't remember how to tell time or do a few other math things right now. We tried with a workbook the last two weeks and I just gave up. She's in summer mode. I think kids forget too much of what they learned during the school year during 13 week summers.

No more teaching to the test. I'm not sure how I'd measure academic success, but each year we waste months prepping for the State tests instead of focusing on just learning.

Daily music. Daily Phy Ed. Two recess breaks/day at the elementary level.

I have a less refined sense of what I would advocate in terms of curriculum. I've lived through many different curriculum movements with my kids. For the most part, even though there are ardent supporters/detractors for the different approaches, I've found that they all "cook with water" so to speak. Most approaches get the job done. I'm not a fan of the new math though. I'm sure other people have a stronger sense of what they want/need from curriculum.

I'll think about this and jump back into the thread.

[Phoebe]

I can't come up with the perfect school, but I would do away with stringent Common Core curriculum and not have teachers salaries tied to state testing scores.

[spotty_dog]

I'd like to see elementary math specialists teaching math. It's such a vital time frame for children to develop real understanding of broad-reaching concepts, and it gets screwed up so often by elementary teachers who themselves were scared of math in school. I also want to see more visual-spacial concepts and geometry, logic, manipulatives and exploration. And ability grouping. Lots of math-positive messages: http://youcubed.org/teachers/2014/ba...hool-messages/

I would love to see "creative writing" and journaling in the early grades replaced with copywork and other fine motor skills development. In later elementary, a "writer's workshop" approach to writing and refining a piece of written work, author's choice of topic, would be terrific.

No grades. No homework. A decent amount of communication with parents.

Minimum 3 recesses in elementary, possibly other movement breaks throughout the day.

Lots of read-alouds in the classroom and free silent reading time for all elementary grades. Even kindergarteners benefit from flipping through books. Even fifth graders benefit from hearing rich vocabulary and beautiful sentences read aloud.

I would like to see science incorporated regularly but in the sense of exploring the physical world, not these artificial "experiments" that are actually demonstrations with predetermined outcomes that you see in elementary.

And I'd like some fun with world history. Even a quick overview of the general timeline from Egypt and Ancient Greece to castles and Vikings to early modern and current events can give kids the hooks to hang their experiences on later in their education, and give them the early conditioning that history is FUN!

School gardens with opportunities for all classrooms to participate.

An emphasis on teacher education and professional development, mentoring and feedback. No standardized testing until graduation, but a set of standards that helps the teachers keep their progress on track toward that end of school goal.

This is all just off the top of my head what I want for my own kids. No attention given to whether this is a feasible model for a universal public education.

[HouseofWool]

Hey Alison, that sounds so much like our elementary school

[BonBon]

Agree with all of the above! I would also like to get rid of rewards. In my kids' previous school, there were rewards for *everything*. You went to computer lab? Have a piece of candy. You finished your A/R? Take a toy from the bin. It made me crazy. My kids came home with candy and dollar store toys daily.

[Ladybug]

I also liked the single gender stil HS. Young boys learned more physically and weren't expected to be still. They had bouncy seats that fit into their regular chairs and lots of sensory toys they could fidget with while learning. The girls are more likely to speak up in math and science in single gender classrooms. The boys are also rougher and more competitive in gym and playground games.

I'd love a school garden and garden-to-table program. Longer lunches. Art at least twice a week. Music at least twice a week.

Extracurriculars offered on campus at school so parents dont have to drive their kids to lessons/practices.

Strong administrative leadership as opposed to the tyranny of a few parents!

[spaz]

Honestly, I would have a different one for each of my children, which is why I homeschool.

My oldest needed very advanced classes in math and science and grade level to possible a little below in writing. He would need small classes. He would need people but he would need it to be quiet and not so loud and overwhelming. He would need challenging problem solving classes and the ability to work at his ability ( His first grade teacher was amazed that he was doing multiplication on his own. He just figured it out and then zoomed through the addition/multiplication program and on to the multiplication. He had to quit playing classroom games because he always won. Maybe some kind of gifted and talented math and science academy would have been good for him.

My middle one.... He was your typical boy. We practiced multiplication facts while he ran around the couch. School needed frequent breaks with physical activity. As he got older ( middle school/high school) he would need a place that would have tough teacher but loving ones. Ones that encouraged him to not just coast but to really do his best. He does best with teachers that have VERY VERY high standards and just an assumption that you will meet them. They are not harsh, though. But teachers that talk down or try to baby him....look out. Those are the teachers he tends to be disrespectful to because he has no respect for them. He would like classes where standard desks are replaced by a round conference table with lots of debating ideas and proving what you think. They would read tons of quality literature, write tons of papers, and have interactive, living history courses. He LOVES the fact that whatever we studied in history we went to visit: Revolutionary War: Yorktown and Boston; Civil War: all of the battlesites, etc. History would be more than dates but big ideas and interactive.

My daughter would have needed special classes in elementary school. She had visual processing issues which is often missed in public school. She had to have 1 1/2 years of vision therapy and my doctor was wanting to get that in the public schools and it really is needed. She is very, very auditory. Her writing skills have taken longer to develop. So early elementary it would have been very helpful to have most of the work be oral. ( Which is what I had to do in K, 1st and much of 2nd) Now her skills are grade level or above ( with the exception of spelling) and she would ideally need a tough classical based performing arts school. ( yeah, I know there is no such thing) However, she is thriving in a VERY tough co-op class that is studying the Iliad other ancient writings. They discuss, and she has to write a lot. ( Much, much more than I did as a 7th grader.) She would also like to be able to do orchestra (violin) choir and drama. In most public schools you must pick one. But fine arts kids would often enjoy much more than just one discipline. I've got her involved in all of those. She would take theory with basic piano. She would organize community projects in her after school programs. It would be about giving back.

Can any one school do all of that???? No. It is why I homeschool. I can make the education fit each child.

[spotty_dog]

Hey Alison, that sounds so much like our elementary school

Awesome! I have to admit, ours does pretty well also, and the places where I wish it would improve are relatively minor. On the other hand, so much depends on teachers. I don't know what this school year holds yet.

BonBon, that's pretty annoying. I hate behavior charts and reading incentives a lot, and in addition to these the first grade class had a system where if they earned "paw pats on the back" for good behavior in PE then they would work toward classroom rewards like extra iPad time or Tootsie pops. I dunno. When you have 23 six- and seven-year-olds getting revved up by physical activity, I guess you do what works to keep them in control?

[ladymoreta]

For high school, I would like to see more options to begin career training for student who don't plan to attend college. My high school allowed students to take one class at the local vo-tech, but I would like to see that expanded. Maybe allow more time for apprenticeships and acquiring certifications for things like mechanics, child care, stylists, EMT, etc. there are lots of good careers that don't require college degrees, but I think a lot of kids see college as a requirement. Additionally, I would like to see more focus on helping high school students develop a career path, starting their freshman year.