Fast-tracking to Kindergarten: And I thought some high school students were obsessed with college placement and grades. Ha! Check out these little ones. What are your thoughts on this latest and greatest school-prep service? Is there an MA angle in this piece?
Your So-Called Education: And what's the point of all that test prep when college isn't that grueling? Where's the MA angle in this piece? Any response to this article?
4 comments:
Fast-tracking to Kindergarten:
This article, Fast-tracking to Kindergarten, sums up what most kids go through with their parents, whether it's applying to elementary school, high school, or college. I think it's crazy that parents are spending so much money and time on tutoring their 3 year olds so that they will get into their school of choice. Personally, I think the parents could be using the money to go to therapy to calm their nerves about where their child will go to school. We live in a place where there are so many schools to choose from, and even if it's not a first choice, there will always be somewhere to go. I am not too shocked though, because in 8th grade parents had their sons/daughters take SSAT tutoring in order to get into schools like MA, and I know that the same happens for students at MA with the SATs in preparation for college. The difference between 3 year olds getting tutored and 8th or 11th graders getting tutored is that the results of the 8th and 11th graders tests will affect their lives more then the 3 year olds. Not to mention that 3 year-olds usually don't get a say in if they want to be tutored or not. To me, this new industry just seems like a way to boost business; I doubt many of the employees truly believe that their tutoring will work.
Your So-Called Education:
I had never heard anything about this before reading this article. From an MA angle, it seems odd to be putting so much work into getting into college when, once you get there, there isn't that much work. However, I don't know if I believe everything that is stated in this article. They only followed students from 24 different schools, and didn't even mention which schools. I think that RICHARD ARUM and JOSIPA ROKSA may be right about colleges spending more money on facilities than on education. Also, I thought it was really interesting how they referred to students as the clients or consumers. If this is truly what it is like at some colleges know, then something needs to be done. Students at MA and at high schools all over the world work for hours to get into the school of their choice, it would be crazy if all that work was for nothing.
Fast-tracking to kindergarten:
This article hit a sweet spot for me because I have participated in Kumon before and I know how dreadful it is. I can't imagine two or three year olds enjoying having to do these tutoring sessions I know my classmates and I did not it was merely something our parents were making us do so we would be successful students in the future. Now, years later my parents and my brothers and I laugh about Kumon and how silly it was. Parents just want the best for their kids and if they start education early there kids will have a better education but the truth is a child will be perfectly successful in our society without mass tutoring centers such as kumon.
Fast-Tracking to Kindergarten:
As strange as the concept of toddler tutoring seems, it's only continuing with the trend of the extreme competition for preschools in metropolitan areas, where in some cases parents need to start making very political decisions and connections while the mother's still pregnant.
That observation aside, I do feel that this trend is a terrible idea. While tutoring is good for middle-and-high school kids that have shown struggles in a certain topic, to approach learning like this with toddlers-whose minds are still very malleable-will hardwire them to be type-A personalities on steroids: very overachieving, competitive, easily stressed. Early childhood is a time for lackadaisical playing, exploring, improving cognitive function through experiences. Nothing good can come from teaching kids at age three that the way to success is rigorous study.
Your So-Called Education:
What struck me most about this article was the college's new approach to students as "clients", and thus, to make school easier to pander towards those "clients". If were paying 30K a year for my child go to school, and thus a "client", I would want the curriculum to be more academically rigorous, to get a better education for my money. That's actually the reason why my mom decided to send me to MA, rather than any of the schools in the city.
I think part of the problem may rest in biology. I believe that a student utilizes the same study habits in college that he learned and implemented in elementary, middle-and high schools. If the kid was a slacker in high school, it's very hard biologically to get a 18-or-19-year-old to implement better, more proactive study habits in college. It might have been good to know more about the educational backgrounds of the studied students, to get a better feel of why they worked (and failed) as they did in college.
Your So-Called Education:
This article is eye opening but when I think about it not actually that surprising. I can see these traits in myself, looking for cumfy dorms and nice gyms. I think students will try to look for a good academic school with nice facilities but colleges have caught onto the fact that in the 21st century teenagers are lazier than they used to be because of all their distractions. While looking at colleges I am going to be sure to keep this article in mind and not let myself get carried away with facilities of colleges and keep their academics and my education as a priority.
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