For the first time ever, I went to one of our school's grade level curriculum chats. Since I've never taught third grade, I figured I should go this year. Plus, I now trust Hugmonkey to be totally quiet - as long as I give him his Kindle.
We were late, mainly because the new check-in procedures are pretty damn strict (you have to show your driver's license and you get a badge with your picture on it that only works for that event on that particular day) and only one woman was checking everyone in. I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing - on the one hand, it's nice to know that it's a lot harder to sneak into the building now. On the other hand, the nice lady with a computer monitor is probably not going to be able to stop a crazy person. Excuse me while I quell my anxiety about such things and the world in general. Back in a moment.
It took me about two minutes to realize I'd made a grievous mistake. Not about Hugmonkey, though. He was an angel.
No, it was the topic of the chat - how to get your kids to do their homework independently. Which is fine, I know most of the parents aren't sitting around writing blog posts with a similar theme. Or the exact same advice. But could we not have called it a "curriculum chat" then?
Also, how come no one told me that the principal has parents sign in - with the kid's name and teacher - at these events? Do you think she keeps a list of most dedicated parents or something? No wonder she's not friendlier with me at drop off.
I think what was most frustrating, though, was that I have questions about the actual curriculum - and I know a number of other parents who have concerns as well. At the end, the principal told us what the kids were doing academically at that particular moment. As if third graders weren't able to report on what they're doing in class, or as if the parents who show up at "curriculum chats" don't look at our kids' work on a regular basis.
Look, my kids go to a great school. Especially when compared with many public schools in our country. But the science curriculum - which the teachers are REQUIRED to use, and which students are tested according to - still lists Pluto as a planet. Ironflower got a question wrong on a math test not because she got the wrong answer (it was right) or that she didn't show her work (she did), but because she didn't use the methodology that the curriculum wanted her to use. I'm all for teaching kids different ways to solve problems, but then you discuss them as a class and let the kids choose the methodologies that make the most sense to them. You don't penalize a kid for choosing a different method, or mark answer wrong because a kid could do the math in his head and didn't have to estimate (as happened with one of Ironflower's classmates).
Of course, this may be why the principal doesn't have actual curriculum chats. I have no idea how much leeway she has over the curriculum versus how much control the school board has, but I think I want to find out.
The truth is, I don't want to home school so much as design the curriculum that my children learn from. Except in music. The music curriculum rocks. I'm fine with art and technology and PE as well, come to think of it. But I can't decide if my concerns about the curriculum come from being a control freak ex-teacher or if I should be genuinely concerned. I mean, it's not going to kill Ironflower to get a few answers wrong. Right?
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