In April 2014, the Harley Avenue Primary School in Elwood, New York, sent a letter to the parents of its kindergartners, confirming rumors that the school would not be going ahead with its annual play.Continued in the June issue of Harper's Magazine.
Dear Kindergarten Parents and Guardians,We hope this letter serves to help you better understand how the demands of the twenty-first century are changing schools.The reason for eliminating the kindergarten show is simple. We are responsible for preparing children for college and careers with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them become strong readers, writers, coworkers, and problem solvers. Please do not fault us for making professional decisions that we know will never please everyone. But know that we are making these decisions with the interests of all children in mind.These kids, the letter implied, could not spare two days from their regularly scheduled work.
02 June 2018
The kindergarten school play has been cancelled
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Playing is the profession of the Kids (Maria Montessori)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like "Whoever was in charge of doing this dropped the ball, and or thought it was a pain in the ass, so now we gotta cover their ass."
ReplyDeleteAs a bit of a side note, it's interesting that the article references one of the Danny Dunn books, a series which, as a whole, promotes learning as an engaging, interactive process. They also, albeit in a very limited way, value diversity: Danny's friend Irene, a girl, plans to be a physicist and often seems smarter than Danny himself. His friend Joe is a poet with no interest or skill in science but still manages to be helpful.
ReplyDeleteDanny Dunn & The Homework Machine is the third book in the series and the one that introduces Irene.
Irene is my cat's name.
Delete"The education *system* is complicit in that many school boards and state legislature education committees"
ReplyDeleteAs I stated, the political system. There are few bodies more political than School boards (especially appointed boards) and state legislatures.