9 posts shown.
Susan James said:😍
Oh man, that is such a cool idea!
Honestly, even the former Secretary of Education would be proud—this is a real life lesson right here.
Active community engagement 🎉🎉🎉
Bravo!
(This is honestly a fantastic idea. It would be amazing if all the HJ teachers let their students weigh in on this... or maybe even have them write a comparison between our school today and what it looks like in the future, maybe comparing us to places like Harvard or schools in Canada 😍)
Who knows, there might actually be some kids out there who find this really engaging 🤔
The former Secretary wouldn't be proud unless they were writing on tablets. 😁
It’s a great idea. Just like the idea of submitting this during the advisory session. 👍
Adam Diaz67 said:What’s even the point of assigning homework if kids are just going to spend all their extra time at school doing more formal learning anyway?
I haven't seen anything mentioned about introducing new ways for teachers to actually maintain discipline, or even methods to handle students who cause disruptions and need to be removed from the classroom. Without those tools, you only need two or three troublemakers having fun being disruptive to completely wreck group lessons for everyone else.
Well, that’s standard enough given they're only on a regular school schedule right now. I can't even begin to imagine what it'll be like once they're stuck in a classroom for the full day.
Collaborative learning—I find myself genuinely curious about how that would actually play out in practice. 🙄
How much focus can we actually expect to dedicate to math problems or essay writing? And when exactly is anyone supposed to find the time to get through the required reading list?
My child approaches school with genuine interest and a positive attitude. However, she often needs a little help connecting the dots between different subjects. We usually end up having these deep dives at home—looking things up on a map, watching a few videos on YouTube, or me reminding her of a trip we took to a museum or a national park where she actually saw those concepts in action. It’s all about making those connections stick.
Susan James said:If you look at the feedback on the e-consultation forums, people working in music schools are asking the exact same question: when are they actually going to be able to teach?
Since the elective after-school activities are scheduled for after 5:00 PM...
first of all, following the A2 program, even starting from 1st through 4th grade, they might be able to make it to music school around 2:30 or 3:00 PM (assuming they don't opt for the B programs at school, like Fuchs mentioned on your thread). But by 5th and 6th grade, and especially in 7th and 8th, it won't be possible before 5:00 PM.
(When you look at the regular schedule for mandatory subjects in both A1 and A2 programs—with two extra hours added every day—there is absolutely no way everything finishes before 4:30 PM.)
Even if the music school rents space within the elementary school or isn't located right next door, the kids will be limited to maybe one or two hours for both theory and instrument instruction. And they really should include time for practicing the instrument too. I guess they expect them to practice at 10:00 PM just to keep the neighbors happy! 😬
It seems like there’s no real plan for the arts schools. It feels like the expectation is for them to just die out naturally so the government can cut down on budget spending.
Then they can use that money to pay theologians and IT specialists instead.
And it might not even be a natural death; it looks more like a violent one. So many children enroll in arts schools.
My child's music teacher isn't even close to home; we travel to a specific instructor because she is truly talented, regardless of the distance. Now, she'd be expected to spend half her day at school forcing some kind of "creativity," while presumably forgetting all about her instrument...🙄
I can't quite wrap my head around how these extracurricular activities are actually supposed to work. From what I gather, the school might just sign a contract with an outside organization to run their own programs on campus. So, if they strike a deal with a local basketball club or a chess academy, that’s what you get at the school. But what about kids enrolled in music school? They’d be stuck taking classes exclusively in the late afternoon or even evening. What is the actual plan for the music and dance academies, which also fall under the Department of Education? How are they expected to schedule lessons for everyone strictly during after-school hours? Kids would practically have to quit music altogether because the school only offers tiny little ensembles, and by the time they finish, there's no time left to make it to their actual music lessons and still find time to practice.
As for those comments suggesting "we wouldn't be doing this if Europe didn't recommend it," I honestly can't help but laugh. Over the last thirty years, we've implemented all sorts of systems just because someone "in Europe" thought it was a good idea, and we've completely botched it because nobody bothered to consider our own traditions, culture, or technical capabilities. Every once in a while, some project floats over from Europe—across every single sector—that exists primarily so the people running it can line their pockets and claim a "success story." Naturally, these types of projects wouldn't fly in Finland or Belgium, so they're sold to us, to people who jump at anything labeled "European." Lately, even our own experts have been doing the same thing, trying to sell half-baked ideas to Canada, Mexico, Mexico, and Albania.
Kimberly Green50 said:For us, it really boils down to these two. Which one did you guys settle on? I’m mostly looking at the parking situation and how bad the rush hour traffic gets—it’s a mess out there. But once my kid starts commuting solo, taking the light rail seems like the most practical move between these two options.
My wife has been watching some shows about it, and she’s actually leaning pretty hard toward the Ellie Basich concept.
Switching over to Melissa later on is actually quite difficult. They teach solfeggio using an entirely different system than the other music academies, and my daughter wouldn't have been able to transfer there after a year or two because of that.
As for the reverse—moving from Melissa to a different music school—I honestly don't know.
I find this whole "crazy mother" label quite amusing—it’s usually reserved for those who whip up something special just because a family member refuses to touch stuffed bell peppers.
It isn't exactly "madness" to fry up an egg or a chicken cutlet instead.
Because of my mother's unwavering commitment to making stuffed peppers, I spent twenty years turning my stomach at the mere sight of anything involving ground meat.🙄
And I certainly haven't forgotten those afternoons spent staring down a plate of cold stuffed peppers. (Though I have forgiven her, partly because she finally admitted she was wrong).
Then there is my aunt, who spends her entire life cooking kale only to throw half of it away, simply because no one—including herself—actually likes it. But apparently, one must eat it occasionally. 🙄 For what reason? Is there a rule written somewhere?
When it comes to my own child, the only thing I won't tolerate is refusing to try a new dish just because of its smell, appearance, or name. 🤣
Perhaps I am also "crazy" for choosing the version of a meal she will actually enjoy eating. For instance, cauliflower soup (which she eats without complaint) versus plain boiled cauliflower.
As they say—you have to pick your battles. 😉
I’ll admit, I was one of those students who actually finished every single book on the required reading list, even the ones we never touched in class. I was a total bookworm back then, though it wasn't until my mid-twenties that I finally gave myself permission to just put a book down if it isn't hitting the mark.
Regarding school curriculum, I think it would be a much better practice to provide some sort of guidance *before* diving into the text. Why does this matter? Why is it considered a classic? How are we actually supposed to approach it?
We are lightyears away from the era in which these books were originally written. Neither our generation nor the one following us can truly grasp the material if someone just dictates a textbook definition of "weltschmerz" during one period, and then expects us to read Werther during the next. Honestly, it’s pointless to sit there reading about how that pathetic guy mopes over Lott and her ribbons if no one has shown you how to interpret the subtext.
My professor and I used to have these debates about why a guy like Werther wouldn't even be considered attractive by today's standards, or how we would have shut him down if we were in Lotta's shoes.
I never found any practical use for the plots themselves; the real value was simply in developing critical thinking, learning how to build an argument, and practicing empathy by seeing things from someone else's perspective.
Harold Cook2 said:Quick question here...
Is it actually true that if you defer school enrollment and just keep your kid in preschool for another year, the daycare becomes free so you don't have to shell out any cash?
To me, that would only make sense in a specific scenario where an assessment during enrollment determines a child isn't quite ready for kindergarten, even if they technically meet the age requirement. 🤷
From what I gather, the only way to get a deferral is to actively request it. So, what logic would dictate that a parent's choice to delay school suddenly makes preschool free of charge?