Tennier and Ward • More school isn’t always better
Sometimes it kind of sneaks up on you when out in the “real world” decisions are made or policies are implemented that you’ve already “concluded” are bad news. I got one of these jolts a few days ago when I saw Premier McGuinty on the news announcing a target date of 2010 for the implementation of full-day kindergarten. From the Star’s article:
McGuinty says studies show that 4-year-olds in full-time learning programs consistently score higher in math and language skills than other students.
If you measure it, they will come
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Yes, we can demonstrate that starting school earlier leads to measurably better performance in school, which may or may not have anything to do with actual academic achievement. The longer you play a game, the better you become at that game. I played a lot of “Frogger” as a kid, but any one who knows me personally can attest to the fact that I have an unexplained fear of crossing streets. Obviously, my skills at maneuvering a pixelated frog through traffic did nothing to bolster my own confidence in crossing the road.
The same can be said about starting kids in school earlier. Yes, they’ll get the hang of spelling tests earlier, perhaps. But, will they become better spellers, or just better at predicting which 10 words the teacher will use in Friday’s dictation? Will they become better readers, or will they learn to choose shorter books so that their list of books read becomes longer more quickly? Some kids easily learn these coping mechanisms, or “rules of the game” which can overshadow or even replace real learning.
More school hurting those who need it most?
Check out the latest offering by Kate Tennier and Helen Ward: More school isn’t always better – “The drive for full-time kindergarten is based on the idea that it’s better for children and necessary for parents — wrong on both counts.” This latest educational scam (which unfortunately was overshadowed in the last provincial election by the Conservative private school funding platform) is still years away from being a done deal.
More school isn’t better. And, that’s not just me talking. With a few hours to kill at the airport last night, I finally got around to reading, in its entirety, Homeschooling: From Extreme to the Mainstream. Contrary to the idea that public schools help level the playing field for the disadvantaged,
Surprisingly, several studies have found that home education may help eliminate the potential negative effects of certain socio-economic factors. . . Home education appears to mitigate the harmful effect of low parental education levels. That is, public schools seem to educate children of poorly educated parents worse than do the poorly educated parents themselves. One study found that students taught at home by mothers who had never finished high school scored a full 55 percentile points higher than public school students from families with comparable education levels.
I think this is one of the most powerful messages of the report because homeschooling is often regarded as an option for the advantaged – either financially or academically. Much of the support for the public system rallies around the necessity to care for the disadvantaged. To be “the great equalizer.” But, it’s never been clearer that our schools are not doing that. And, more time in those schools is not going to do that, either.
As always, we are indebted to Kate, Helen and others who refuse to let us forget that politicians and bureaucrats continue to move forward with bad ideas unless they are stopped, and that we must remain vigilant in keeping the conversations alive. Thanks to them for keeping a very important issue in the public eye.
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Comments
Celia,
Thanks for that comment. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but you’re absolutely right. The earlier it becomes clear that the school system is not geared to the best interests of the child, the earlier people will feel confident in their decision to homeschool.
Go figure, bad policies for happy unintended consequences! 
Based on the county I live in, in Maryland, the whole day kindergarten will accomplish a lot. Before parents waited till the school system failed their child to take them out. Now home schoolers start at kindergarten as the whole day is too long for their little ones.
Many mothers tell me they are only home schooling for the kindergarten year and their child will go to first grade. One of those boys is in 3rd grade now.