Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

In American society formal schooling begins at the age of 5 or 6 by this time children are expected to know their alphabet, be able to count to a certain point, read simple things and have certain social interaction mannerisms. In my opinion the elementary education needs a stronger curriculum. In elementary schools which I think includes Kindergarten through fourth grade, Kindergarten children look to the teacher as the “parent” in a sense and mimick what they do. I argue that elementary education should be more intense and thought provoking, like the book I agree with the  playworld practice in which children are the facilitators of their own education and they can show their responce to what they learned through art and discussion etc. Children should also be tested not on general concepts but on themes and relevance. When I was in kindergarten I remember being bored everyday and feeling like the class was moving entirely too slow because the basic things they had to know I has already learned at home. Now in college I realize that identifying concepts and similiar themes freak me out at times. If elementary education used fairytales likes ” the Seven Dwarfs” for example to teach children how to identify certain concepts they would perform better. In my opinion I know that when something related to me I would pay attention but if I did not understand the correlation I wouldn’t remember it. American elementary education is too slow and hardly teaches children valuable concepts that they will use in later schooling.

The classroom should be a reflection of the real world meaning children should be constantly drilled on multiplication tables and spelling through simple classroom activities like having school stores, spelling quizzes. Similiar to my education course, children understand better when they can make connections, in kindergarten I do not think children make connections, they just imitate. Reciprocal learning discussed in the text is a good method but I think alongside that children should be mandated to do simple book reports on books that they read outside of class. The book reports should highlight grammar, theme comprehension, and organized writing capability, skills that can be perfected over time throughout schooling if students express difficulty at an early age. Students should not only discuss what they read in books but be able to draw connections to themselves and how similiar themes  relate to them in the real world.

In terms of secondary education, in high schools, I think  there should be a mandatory apprenticeship course for students who express interests in certain work areas. Similiar to the concept of internships needed for certain majors in college, students should be mandated to learn some type of trade or some type of marketable skill besides their classes. I also think high schools need more restrictions, for example students should not be allowed any free periods and they should also have some type of extracurricular activity. I feel that students are not well rounded enough if they have no other skills. I also think that high schools especially should provide students with a mentor or implement a buddy-like system where students can have personalized guidance and leadership at all times. The problem in American high schools in my opinion is the amount of freedom that students have which usually leads to a lack of focus on school work and lower attendance rates. These buddy’s will monitor their students closely to keep students in line as much as possible. The educational standards need to be set at a high standard initially from kindergarten through highschools, education should always be specific it shouldn’t be a general overview from kindergarten through highschools like what we have now and then only when you go to college does it get specific. I think that is the reason why there are many highschoolers and college goers who lack basic elementary skills.