Saturday, July 28, 2012

Outside the box

I came across this quote from American Montessori Society, "Teach children to think outside the box...not to fill in circles."

 I love that! It expresses how I feel about education. So much of it today is filled up with preparing students for tests, not for life. Many schools across America don't teach science or social studies until upper elementary. I know there is not a big emphasis on science in the schools here until high school. And yet the eleventh grade science test scores are low (27% in eleventh grade). Now, I don't think that test scores demonstrate completely how well a school is performing. But I do find it interesting that science is not a focus until the years right before the test, and yet students are not doing well on the tests. That, I believe, is because they are teaching them to fill in the circles. If science were taught all throughout school in every grade, and it were hands on and interesting, I think test scores would demonstrate that. 

I just thought I would share some photos from this summer of Ady "thinking outside the box." 


Feeling llama fur

making orange juice

petting an alligator

looking at leaves

making pizza

touring Washington D.C.

riding on a paddle boat

feeding animals

learning about nocturnal animals

karate camp


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