Education in the US
April 12, 2011 by Jessica Huff
Our education system today has many flaws that are detrimental to the students in the US. One of the biggest problems is the lack of individual attention given to the students. Teachers tend to have a fixed way of teaching children to pass the state tests instead of tailoring their teaching techniques to fit a majority, if not all of the student’s real educational needs. Each child has their own unique style of learning and if one style is being taught many children aren’t going to learn. The biggest problem to blame on this is lack of money going to the schools
In addition, early childhood is the most important stage for leaning but children are not required to start school until their five and when they do start kindergarten, they are being taught the simplest things. I believe the US can build smarter generations of children if they changed the curriculum in the younger grades. Young children may be unable to comprehend and do harder math or writing, but they can be exposed to different languages and simple math and English concepts so they can transition and learn the more complex ideas easier.
Many people underestimate the learning ability younger children have. Preschool aged children are like sponges and absorb things very quickly. If preschool was made mandatory, children can learn the basics taught in kindergarten and use the critical periods of kindergarten and first grade to learn more advanced things.
Getting parents involved in their children’s education is another problem our schools are facing. Many parents send their children to school expecting the teachers to teach them everything they need to know. However, this isn’t the case. These children need guidance when doing their homework or when faced with problems. Just practicing spelling words or math can improve a child’s overall concept of the material. Our educational system doesn’t make sure parents are involved being their children’s tutors outside of school.
Teachers should find a way of teaching the material in a way that will be useful for students in the future. Many students will forget a majority of the things they learn in school by the time they’re in high school. Most of the curriculum they learned throughout the years is no longer useful to them. Homework is useless for kids that are no longer intrigued by what they are learning because they will find ways of getting around actually completing it themselves.
High school should be more of hands on training for a variety of careers. Not all children will go to college and some children won’t even finish high school. So some type of training will be beneficial to all students. The kids that want to find a job straight out of high school will have some type of training and the kids that will go onto college will also have training.
