So my six-year old brings home his first grade homework; bit of vocabulary, some reading, a little writing, a spelling list, and some 'color the right answer' problems. My job is to make sure he completes it, go over the answers, and sign the sheet saying it was done. Easy, no problem. It's 6pm, he's bright, the work is straight forward, we'll have this knocked out by bedtime.
Dad and mom aren't together, so this is a nontraditional week for both of us. His mom is out of town and he has to spend the week with the mean parent.
We start with the vocabulary: Use each of the following words in a written sentence; Shouted, drowned, bridge, about, frog.
His entries: I shouted at my mom!!!!!(sic) I drowned in the pool. We walked under the bridge. She asked about him. The frog said ribbit.
I pause for a minute. Not a fan of the first two, but its early ... and even as a relative amateur I know you have to pick your battles, and 6:09 isn't the time to start a battle. There's lots of work left, and these are all legitimate uses of the words in sentences.
Now to the written words: Expand the following contractions three times; shouldn't, couldn't, dose'nt.
I ask him about contractions. I want to know what he's been taught in school so I can reinforce it. He doesn't actually get them, but its okay, I understand contractions fairly well. I explain them the way my dad explained them to me. Then I look more closely. DOSE'NT? Hmmm...not familiar with that one. I draw a line through it, thinking its a typo, write it correctly and have him copy my version rather than the mistaken one. He struggles a bit with the concept, but we get through it.
Now its time for spelling. Full disclosure--spelling used to be my thing. I'm a trophy-earning ex-champion. Love the stuff, even though I make far more mistakes now than I would've in my early teen years. I look over the list, and stop cold. There at number four, in my six-year old's spelling list, is the following gem:
"finnishe."
Finnishe?
I ask him to read it to me. "Finish," he says. I tell him to use it in a sentence. "I will finish the race." Hmmm...he knows the word. He can properly use it in a sentence.
Its one of TWO misspelled words in a list of eight.
The principal says--yeah, let's just skip ahead to that part of the story--"I'm so sorry. I walked into his classroom and saw that on the board, and IMMEDIATELY erased it."
Exsqueeze me?
You ... saw that on the board ... and ... erASED IT?
"This is how it was ... TAUGHT? IT's nOT A TyPO? YOu KNEw THis?"
Frustration ... no, ANGER rising.
"Ma'am; I understand typos, I get mistakes. I make both all the time. But ... this is a SPELLING list. Actually, this is a FIRST GRADE SPELLING LIST." F-I-N-N-I-S-H-E?
Okay, Finnish I might've even given a pass; perhaps you're referring to the fine people of Finland. But the extra "E" means you're
a: just being a dick, or
b: REFUSE to grab a dictionary before you send home bad spelling to a class half-filled with FIRST GRADERS whose parents don't even speak English as their primary language. You ERASED it?
Well ...
what did you say to the teacher? what did you do next? did you think this was a problem? what planet am I on?
Once upon a time, the news was something I watched or covered.
Since moving to the Washington area, it has increasingly become something that I live ... up close and personal.
Over the past eight years there I've had a series of first person run-ins with the health care system, the impact of immigration on a community, subprime loans, and the like.
And now, I've had my first contact with the DC public school system.
It is as bad as they say, and needs to be fixed. Or maybe I should say fixt.
I'm the son of a teacher. I believe it is among the MOST honorable professions, I understand how important it is, I am aware of how much off the clock work goes into doing it well, and I personally comprehend the impact that ONE teacher--good or bad--can have on a person's life.
A closer examination of Mercer's past homework turns up error after error after error.
And I'm telling my son he can grow up to be President? With THIS sort of education?
Unless we find a better system, I'm pretty sure that idea may be finnishied. There's more ...
Peace,
--Stew.
photo:
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/09_01/misspelledAP0609_468x311.jpg
