Sunday, August 12, 2012

Not A Rocket Scientist But Who Cares?


The little boy is a sweetie.  He never gives his teachers any trouble. His teachers all have reputations for being outstanding educators.  He pays attention, does all they ask and complete all required assignments.  He goes home and studies.  Both his mom and dad help him daily.  They limit his television and Internet time and make sure he has a quiet place to work.  His room is full of books.  Vacations and weekends are often spent in museums.

With all this, the little boy has difficulties in reading and math.  It is hard for him to decipher new words and remember his multiplication tables.  He has a hard time staying at one activity for any length of time (even fun activities).  He has some (undiagnosed) learning problems.

His teacher's statistics will be lowered when he takes standardized exams.  His scores are not her fault.  His parents will be blamed but they have done everything humanly possible (except providing smarter DNA) to help him succeed.  He will be called down for his scores but he has worked to capacity.

Some people are not academics.  It doesn't mean he is not smart.  With time, he will discover what he is good at and continue in that field unless of course the system destroys him first by insisting every child is a rocket scientist if they just work harder and have better teachers.

2 comments:

NYC Educator said...

Great thoughts. I could not agree more.

Anonymous said...

I am still waiting for the rest of the country to come to this realization...I guess I will be waiting for A REAL LONG TIME!