Today while I was at work (I teach after school programs at the Richmond Area Arts Council), I was helping some kids with their homework. One seven year old girl asked me to tie her shoes for her. I was shocked. I had no idea this little girl didn't know how to tie her shoes, especially because I knew how to tie mine before I started elementary school. I asked her if she was kidding me and she smiled sweetly and said she didn't know how to tie them. So instead of doing it for her so that I could just quickly get back to my work, I put my foot on her chair and instructed her to put her foot on the same chair opposite mine. I then had her mirror me as I walked through how to tie a shoe. Low and behold after a few times, she had it! Now, she has probably watched her parents do it for her hundreds of times, but it didn't take five minutes to teach her how to do it herself. This is something she should have known already. I'm not saying it's her fault that she didn't know it. Because she can't be blamed for something she doesn't know if no one ever taught her. And if she's being taught to have people do everyday tasks for her, then how is she going to manage through life with the more complicated tasks?
While I was teaching the little girl how to tie her shoes, another girl said, "Miss Wendy, I need help with my homework." I stopped for a minute, looked at her homework and then said, "Sweetie, it is more important that she learns how to tie her shoe, which is a life skill, than it is for you to be doing that word find right now. I'll help you after she has learned to tie her shoes."
This girl who asked for help with homework, which was a word find, has a hard time finding words. Her teacher always gives her word finds for homework. Someone! Please tell me how this is teaching this child ANYTHING! If you want the children to learn how to spell words, make them write them ten times each, just like we used to do when I was a kid. But that's the problem: no one is making these kids learn. That's why the illiteracy problem is so high, the reason why cursive handwriting is becoming extinct in school systems and the reason why America is becoming dumber every year. There are plenty of intelligent people out there, don't get me wrong, but many people are just sailing through in their own little bubble paying no attention to anything and not challenging their critical thinking skills. Many people probably don't even know what that phrase even means. It's sad and I'm disgusted. America needs to wake up and pay attention. Play with your family, teach your children, and quit being so self-obsessed.
