Parent: My first-grader hates being at school — and I don’t blame her - The Washington Post

Parent: My first-grader hates being at school — and I don’t blame her - The Washington Post:

Parent: My first-grader hates being at school — and I don’t blame her

Tama Koss spent more than 12 years as a child abuse prosecutor in Florida before recently leaving the practice of law to teach and write. She and her husband have two children, ages 6 and 4. Their oldest daughter currently attends public school, and it is her experience in kindergarten and now in first grade that prompted Koss — who focuses on children’s issues and public service — to write this post.



By Tama Koss

I have a young child who turned 5 years old just six days before kindergarten began.  My husband and I made a decision to allow her to attend because we believed she was ready. Now she is in the first grade. Did we make the right choice?

She is now resisting her education and regressing in her emotional development. While she is succeeding in school, she is very resistant to direction at home, is not interested in her homework and often discusses her love of art, which is ignored in school except for 30 minutes each week.

She learns best and is excited by exploring the world around her, a skill not taught in today’s public schools. She loves to create and play. At school, however, she is herded like cattle, not treated like a child. She is forced to sit in a chair most of her day watching a screen. Her teacher teaches through a computer projected onto a wall and uses classroom computers and iPads to occupy students. There is no real guidance on the use of computers. The only restriction is in using “child-friendly” websites.

Excessive computer use, conformist teaching methods and minimal playground and outdoor time frighten me. Is she learning? Will she succeed in the ways I want her to? If I don’t push her, will she fall behind? If I do push her will she succeed in life?

My job as a parent is confusing. I want to foster my daughter’s interest in learning, not squander her curiosity at the age of 6. I want to feel comfortable knowing my daughter’s teachers are fostering her individuality and assisting her in finding her own way of learning. How are we accomplishing this by conforming to a bureaucratic view of how best to educate our Parent: My first-grader hates being at school — and I don’t blame her - The Washington Post: