Saturday, October 15, 2011

What do you think?? School bans Thanksgiving and Columbus Day holidays because they are 'insensitive' | National News

This is a video I just watched about a school in Boston.

School bans Thanksgiving and Columbus Day holidays because they are 'insensitive' | National News: Fall holidays at John F. Kennedy school were banned for being insensitive to the outrage or parents and students.


I just heard about a school in Boston where the principal has decided that Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Columbus Day are holidays that can be offensive and problematic in the classroom so the teachers are to treat it like a regular day and not encourage the kids to celebrate or plan any celebrations in the classroom. Hummmmm. Personally I think this is becoming a huge problem in schools.

First from a teacher's side. Holidays are terrible!!!! They are not learning days in any way shape or form. If you are lucky you can find a multiplication bingo game, or teach about the food pyramid as you talk about the pilgrams. The kids minds aren't there and are ready for break. To top it off they are BOUNCING off the walls. Recess can't come soon enough and always ends way too soon. They are difficult days with or without a party planned. Then there is the party, the mess, the decorations, and praying to get parent support. If you are lucky, and I usually was, I had parents do everything for me. Everything but the cleanup but honestly by then I just wanted them to take their hyperactive children home and was happy to clean up what was left of the mess by my self. It's a crazy day. But it is also a time when I can let my hair down and play with my students. Yeah I have 30ish wild children that I'm trying to get to build gingerbread houses or cut and glue a skeleton but it's fun. The kids get to see me in a new light not the teacher pushing them to complete their work, but the teacher encouraging them to figure things out what to make their gingerbread door out or which is the left or right hand of the skeleton without asking me. On these day I really liked to plan activities with NO RIGHT ANSWER. Yes believe it or not in life there is rarely just 1 right answer to a problem.

As a parent I miss those times. I worked at a school where the principal wouldn't let my second graders, or any other elementary students (it was an elementary and middle school combined) because we couldn't justify it as a learning experience for the kids. It would just be fun. Doesn't everyone need a little fun sometimes in their life? I know my students did. When a few parents heard about this they were shocked. The most frustrating part was I was the one planning the assembly with the Assistant Principal/Music Teacher. The Middle school got to attend because the kids had to write a paper when they were done about something. I don't remember exactly what their subject was now. I now have an answer for that principal my students and all the students in the elementary would be learning how to be a good audience, something my class desperately needed. But I digress. Back to a parent's stand point. I want my kids to participate in those activities. My son is 5 years old and reads on a 1 grade level. He hasn't even started Kindergarten. And before you think it's because I'm a teacher and push him, it's not. He is honestly just built that way. He's curious and wants to figure things out. He memorizes and picks up on things very fast. And the words he uses, people think they are talking to me when he is on the phone with them. I'm NOT sending him to school to learn his ABC's and how to count to 10, I'm sending him for the FUN of making friends, making art projects, assemblies, and school parties. The things I remember from school. I don't remember sitting in a desk in elementary (well there was that one day but I was sick and scared to tell my teacher), but for the most part I remember the fun of school and want my kids to have the same experiences.

I would be upset if that's all they did. I don't agree with these schools that are popping up that are all just play. I believe kids need structure in their learning, but they also need fun. Think about it this way. Imagine this wonderful spaghetti dinner sitting on your plate. You dig in with your fork and slowly bring it up to your mouth ready to savor the wonderful meal and all you taste is tomato sauce, hamburger, and noodles. No one added the spice to the meal. No garlic, basil, oregano, salt. Nothing. Well I like to think of the holidays, parties, crafts, the fun part of school as the spice. You need a little to make it a wonderful experience. If you add too much well your meal is going to taste horrible. Same with the fun in school. If there are too many parties, crafts, and holidays school is pointless and just another daycare. It's a fine balance to get the recipe just right but you need both.

I believe that one party a month is about right. My students had a marble jar that they had to fill and it was always magically full about a week before a holiday. If there wasn't a holiday that month the kids planned their own party. I also made sure that these parties didn't take up the entire day, just the last hour or 2 depending on the holiday.

It makes me sad to think that my kids won't get to do a costume parade through the halls of school (the schools in my district always seem to play a teacher comp. day on Halloween), that they won't get to participate in a Thanksgiving meal with their peers in the lunchroom, or learn about Columbus because it's not politically correct. Since when did being respectful to other's beliefs mean ignoring all of them? We need to teach our children tolerance for one everyone and what better way than in a classroom where everyone is just a little different. And one more plug to help your teachers. Holidays are CRAZY days (the week before and after aren't too wonderful either because of all the excitement). Volunteer to take care of the party and all the little details and if at all possible take home a stack of papers that need to be corrected when you are done.

What do you think? Am I wrong to think that our kids need a little fun and that the schools are going overboard by taking it all or are they on the right track by eliminating the parties and making the school house just a place of learning?

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