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To School or Not To School

By Susan Oloier

Found in: | Inside | Wellness | Outside |

Justin starts kindergarten this year. Like most parents who send their kids into the arms of our educational system, I am a bit nervous. But it is not simply the first-time jitters that make me worry.

When I was a kid - quite some time ago - we went to kindergarten only half days. It was a great time to transition between home/preschool and hard-core, classroom education. Nowadays, kindergarten has become a full-time prospect. Luckily, our town's school allows for the option of half days. I am taking it. It's not that I have any specific complaint about the district, but it seems as though mandated curriculum robs our children of - well - life.

When I voiced my choice to someone at the preschool, I was kindly reprimanded - or so it seemed - with "he'll miss out on all of the electives like music and art." I am a firm believer in the arts. I have a liberal arts education. I have electively pursued photography and drawing classes; I took piano lessons for 10 years. But in response to the comment, my thoughts were "by being at school all day, he'll miss out on the outdoors." I know this because I used to teach. I have seen the whole day play out; I have seen physical education classes first hand. Sure, the kids run around a bit - sometimes they stand against the wall - but they are not experiencing anything beyond team sports. I have nothing against competition like baseball and soccer. As a matter of fact, Justin plays both of them outside of school. However, I don't want him to lose what Jeff and I have instilled in him up until now: a love of hiking, skiing, and being in the midst of nature.

Even though education has advanced since the old days - incorporating movement and hands-on activities far more than when I was a student - there is still a lot of sitting around. Inside.

The Arizona district in which I taught adopted the theory of brain-based learning. One aspect of it is that students learn and retain more when they are fully immersed in a situation that gives them a "being there" experience. By example, it is better to learn how to ski by getting on the slopes and doing it rather than reading about it in a book or seeing it in a video. Unfortunately, with recent education cuts to an area already in deficit, it becomes practically impossible to make this happen for our kids.

Nowadays, there is such a heavy emphasis on standardized testing, which mainly focuses on reading and math. This certainly does not provide our children with quality education. A recent Time magazine article showed how the United States ranks against the rest of the world in the areas of reading and math - the very subjects that are emphasized in the tests. In reading, the U.S. ranks 15, in math 25. With that in mind, keeping Justin home for half a day doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

In my experience, there is very little outdoor adventure incorporated into the core curriculum. Sure, there is a once-in-awhile field trip to a historical site or outdoor destination. But by the time the kids are shuttled to and from the place - figuring in time for bathroom and lunch breaks - it is time to go. This hardly qualifies as full immersion in the outdoors.

So I say to myself, Am I sending my son to school to prepare him to become better at standardized-test taking or am I sending him with the idea of making him better prepared for the world and making the outdoors a critical place that he wants to protect and where he wants to be?

This is why shared learning with the school seems like a good option. Justin can benefit from the wisdom of his teachers while developing social connections at school, and Jeff and I can continue to impart our family's value of the outdoors by having Justin participate in activities that happen outside the walls of the classroom.