The school system which represents one of the most evil impulses of human beings is forcing children into extreme behaviours and disassociation in order to protect themselves from the authoritarian monsters their parents have forced them to spend their days with.
The degree of insanity in all this is almost beyond comprehension to me.
So they make up these conditions called ADHD and Autism as a way of managing the human beings who refuse to submit to the iron heel of school.
I'm not doubting there are people with alternate wiring who need real help and support but I am convinced a lot of this is just abuse of kids who should be left alone.
But in an authoritarian society we'd rather destroy little children than let them show us that they have all the intelligence, creativity and humanity they need to flourish in the world if they were just left alone and supported on their own terms.
We don't learn phonics through exploration. It requires explicit teaching. It's biologically secondary knowledge. But this explicit teaching needs to short and sharp. Hours on the carpet is ridiculous. Great primary teachers know the value in carpet time to support attention during instruction but this is succinct and to the point - no more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time and still involves students through whiteboard work and other strategies designed to ensure thinking and cognitive engagement within all children.
I disagree. I have a child like the one described here. The “short and sharp” was actually a big part of the problem. My kid loves to deep dive and not be interrupted. He loved “numberblocks” but at school they kept hiding them from him to encourage him to do other thjngs. When we pulled him from school he spent about six weeks, about 8 hours a day doing NOTHING but numberblocks. He had no interest in Alphablocks. About a year later he was suddenly interested in alphablocks. He taught himself to read. He did nothing but play with alphablocks for hours and weeks. We now know he is autistic and his monotropism means he needs to deep dive and understand something deeply before moving on. It’s distressing for him to switch tasks every five minutes.
As a mom to two boys who were wiggly during Circle Time - this post hits home. They are now 7th and 10th graders with passions and interests and beautifully curious minds. And good grades! But being their mom meant being an advocate for their childhood and for their way of learning. I knew their potential AND I knew that in their time and way - all the pieces would fall into place. We had the luxury and privilege of choice that when the public middle school failed our 7th grader, we could pull him and put him in school that changed everything for him. We had the luxury and privilege of choice that when our 2nd grader was diagnosed with dyslexia, we could put him in a school that understood him and could teach him. When children are ready, they can learn anything.
Whole group NEVER works. Small groups with a teacher - 4 or less students - for it is not about time but rather quality of time with a caring adult. You'd be amazed at 3 years engrossed in a great picture book. They are seeing, speaking, listening, laughing. Multi-sensory literacy. Make it fun!
Phoenic instruction has clearly FAILED with 60% of our 4th graders not reading at grade level.
The school system which represents one of the most evil impulses of human beings is forcing children into extreme behaviours and disassociation in order to protect themselves from the authoritarian monsters their parents have forced them to spend their days with.
The degree of insanity in all this is almost beyond comprehension to me.
So they make up these conditions called ADHD and Autism as a way of managing the human beings who refuse to submit to the iron heel of school.
I'm not doubting there are people with alternate wiring who need real help and support but I am convinced a lot of this is just abuse of kids who should be left alone.
But in an authoritarian society we'd rather destroy little children than let them show us that they have all the intelligence, creativity and humanity they need to flourish in the world if they were just left alone and supported on their own terms.
We don't learn phonics through exploration. It requires explicit teaching. It's biologically secondary knowledge. But this explicit teaching needs to short and sharp. Hours on the carpet is ridiculous. Great primary teachers know the value in carpet time to support attention during instruction but this is succinct and to the point - no more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time and still involves students through whiteboard work and other strategies designed to ensure thinking and cognitive engagement within all children.
I disagree. I have a child like the one described here. The “short and sharp” was actually a big part of the problem. My kid loves to deep dive and not be interrupted. He loved “numberblocks” but at school they kept hiding them from him to encourage him to do other thjngs. When we pulled him from school he spent about six weeks, about 8 hours a day doing NOTHING but numberblocks. He had no interest in Alphablocks. About a year later he was suddenly interested in alphablocks. He taught himself to read. He did nothing but play with alphablocks for hours and weeks. We now know he is autistic and his monotropism means he needs to deep dive and understand something deeply before moving on. It’s distressing for him to switch tasks every five minutes.
🙏
Leave kids alone. Leave them alone. They will all learn to read when they want to. They don't exist to follow your expectations.
As a mom to two boys who were wiggly during Circle Time - this post hits home. They are now 7th and 10th graders with passions and interests and beautifully curious minds. And good grades! But being their mom meant being an advocate for their childhood and for their way of learning. I knew their potential AND I knew that in their time and way - all the pieces would fall into place. We had the luxury and privilege of choice that when the public middle school failed our 7th grader, we could pull him and put him in school that changed everything for him. We had the luxury and privilege of choice that when our 2nd grader was diagnosed with dyslexia, we could put him in a school that understood him and could teach him. When children are ready, they can learn anything.
I love this! My 7yo is now home learning because the school could not adapt to her active form of existing.
🙏
Whole group NEVER works. Small groups with a teacher - 4 or less students - for it is not about time but rather quality of time with a caring adult. You'd be amazed at 3 years engrossed in a great picture book. They are seeing, speaking, listening, laughing. Multi-sensory literacy. Make it fun!
Phoenic instruction has clearly FAILED with 60% of our 4th graders not reading at grade level.
You want us to believe that a school is making 4-year olds sit quietly for hours at a time? Wow.