(03-16-2009 04:04 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote: If I was in charge of govt. school...Everything the kids would do until about the 5th grade would geared to them being proficient in reading ,writing and math. With these skills they can then basically teach themselves from that point on.
There is much truth to what you just wrote. But there is so much more, and it's not difficult.
When you look at the Trivium model of education, you realize how much sense we had before so many professional educators got involved w/ their Masters' theses.
The early grades are geared toward memorization of _facts_. (And I stress that latter part). That includes phonics (reading), arithmetic, grammar and spelling (writing), and other useful bits (telling time, reading a calendar, history, geography). They observe their world around them and intake huge amounts of information, and their brains are wired to do memorization. (Ask a kid about Pokemon and you'll be amazed at how much info they have memorized)
At this age kids are always interested in new information, they are very trusting of authority. This is important to note as you consider the political agenda that many elementary teacher have. That's why we must teach facts, you can't be a "productive citizen" w/o some basis in reality.
The middle grades, when adolescence kicks in, are for teaching logic. At this age children are contentious, always ready to challenge authority and argue their point. So you teach them
how to contruct an argument. What's logical, what isn't. What's sound, what's valid. Why some arguments are flawed. This builds on the first stage, b/c they have facts at their disposal to construct their arguments...now you teach them to create sound arguments.
Finally, in the final grades, when appearance matters, you teach them presentation skills. This is the polish that you put on their ideas: coherent structure, aesthetics, etc. Again, building on the earlier stages, this is when you help them put their sound and valid concepts into practice. You help them understand how to engage other people by making good ideas attractive.
All of this works because it fits w/ childhood development. Furthermore, it's actually easier than most other approaches for that very reason. When you get teachers who try to do too much, too soon...you waste time (at best) and likely confuse kids (at worst).