I am feeling a lot of feelings about this one. My second grader just came in my room with tears dripping down his face. I asked him to come over to my desk and I could not have predicted what came out of his mouth. It crushed me.
I asked him what was wrong. He was visibly distraught, so for the first time in what seems like ages, he laid on my lap. He said to me, “I miss you when I’m at school.” I said I missed him too but asked if something was going on. The last thing I want is a repeat of what happened in daycare. He responded back, “There’s just a lot to learn, and I’m only one person.” A piece of me broke in that moment. I hugged him really tight as I came up with the words to say. All I could muster was “I know buddy. It’s hard.” Then he told me that no one plays with him at recess. He’s such a great kid. It really breaks my heart.
I know he has problems focusing, but he has never had trouble before like this. He has always excelled at school and never expressed any concern.
Let me just say, I understand teaching is hard and they are doing the best with what they are required to do. Most of the curriculum is predetermined and they have standards to meet. I appreciate teachers for what they do and how they manage with so little. I get it. I really do. I know this is going to be the hardest part of teaching when I start doing it myself.
That said, what the actual fuck? Has the school system gotten so far that we bring second graders to tears? They are children. They should not have so much pressure on them that they are so stressed about the workload they are crying. The priorities are off. They need to learn, but like, it’s day four. DAY FOUR! It’s too much. He even said earlier when our daughter expressed her concerns about not getting a nap time that “you get less sleep the higher the grade.” I brushed it off but let that sink in too. There’s proof that short naps make you more productive.
At kindergarten orientation they told the parents that they shouldn’t miss any days of school because they’ll fall behind. They said that the kindergarten curriculum is what they used to learn in first grade. They really stressed that “9-5” mentality and perfection. They all but flat out said that children should not take vacation during the school year or they’ll fall too far behind that they’ll never catch up.
I really can’t wrap my head around this. Leave a comment about your thoughts on where the school system is. Am I being too sensitive? Is this more serious than we realize? Should we be pushing literal children this hard? Have we prioritized test scores so much that we are having the opposite effect on learning? I remember still having fun at school in second grade. What happened?