The System Redesigned - This Time for Children
and Taxpayers
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
This book shows you what is happening to our children within today’s school systems. You will see what they need in order to learn—and yet why so many of them are not learning. Described are the faces of the children as they discover and then process the fact that they are failing, as they take—what is to them—that long walk to the lowest reading group, knowing they are working in a reader everyone else finished months ago. This happens when we sit unready children next to advanced students and say this is the way they learn. In this, we abandon the two greatest motivating factors in all of education for the young—working from success rather than frustration, and learning with pleasure.
You will see why this is happening, and what we must do to change it. Children are sitting seven hours a day, five days a week developing feelings of inadequacies that will detrimentally affect the rest of their lives. They become depressed and confused. Some never come out of it—about 90 million at last count.
“Nevertheless,” say the experts, “we must continue to sit unready children next to advanced students. This is the way they learn.” This is true. They do learn. I watched this learning for 17 years. The unready child learns he is inferior in some way—which his grades then affirm. But mostly, he learns that he’s a failure and finds that others agree with him. He is NOT a failure, but you’ll never convince him now. Yes, he will learn, but not with pleasure.
Over all we have totally under estimated our children’s perceptive abilities—just as we’ve under estimated our all-encompassing influence upon their lives. French philosopher John Paul Sartre believed that we invent ourselves by the multitude of our choices. This author believes for the most part—beyond biological factors—children are the sum total of adult choices. What adults live and place before children can decide their morality and character. How adults treat children in the home can decide their mental well-being and emotional stability. AND, what adults decide regarding education makes our children either readers, or illiterate members of a society in which they cannot operate beyond mere existence.
Sadly, there is a general all-around failure to understand what children need in order to flourish. Far too many believe that children are just these little unintuitive people who can’t feel, understand or relate to adults until they are about sixteen or so. Far too many believe our children to be sieves and that what we say and do—even thought our children are watching—will pass right by them and not be retained. Actually, children more closely resemble sponges. This is what we’ve missed as a society and we are paying the price.
Also, you will find out how your tax dollars are being spent, most of which has very little to do with our children.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
If America’s children are to become literate, compassionate, empathetic, happy and productive members of a society which they themselves must preserve and perpetuate, we must return to a time when learning was successful – when all children read. This will not happen in the present system where we allow some children to sit and be less than they are, while we try to force others to be more than they can be. In either case, we make them all less than they could become.
We have forgotten how vital the need is for the promotion of a healthy self-image in young children, and how vitally necessary it is to the learning process. Forgotten is their radar-like ability to sense rejection, dislike and disapproval. Young children are like soft clay, everything leaves an imprint - the drawn eyebrows, a frown, harsh words or sarcastic remarks. All are computer by our children. And processed. And stored. AND affect learning.
While many realize we have a problem regarding the education of our children, no one seems to know why or what to do about it. Walk with me through that system and you will. This book takes you inside the actual classroom where you will see how we have focused too long on what adults want rather than on what children need. It is time to look at how a child learns. We have been looking at how to maintain a system.
About the Author
NORMA SIMPSON WILT has a degree in education from Georgetown College and Master’s hours to be a Reading Specialist and L.D. teacher. She’s has 17 years’ experience in the classroom in various school districts in different states.