[Reader-list] You are so much more

[Chintan]

 Excerpt from
http://thejoyofchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-am-big-advocate-of-public-education.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheJoyOfChildrensLiterature+%28The+Joy+of+Children%27s+Literature%29

"I am an big advocate of public education and have dedicated many years of
my life to teacher preparation and school improvement. But, sometimes
schools can be places that define a child in purely academic terms--you're
either a good reader or not, good at math or not, a good test taker or
not...especially in this time of state mandated testing. The pressure on
schools, teachers, parents and ultimately children, can be overwhelming.

When my son was in elementary and middle school, he would come home so
worried about the state test. Weeks and months leading up to the test would
be spent on test taking skills and drills. I remember sitting down and
talking with him about the fact that he is so much more than someone who
does or doesn't do well on a test. He is a violinist, a runner, a soccer
player, a best friend, a writer of poetry, a son, a grandson, a volunteer, a
dog lover and on and on.

Yes, school is important and many decisions are made based on tests, but we
are so much more than the sum of our test scores. This seems to be the
message in Looking Like Me written by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by
his son, Christopher Myers."

For more, visit
http://thejoyofchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-am-big-advocate-of-public-education.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheJoyOfChildrensLiterature+%28The+Joy+of+Children%27s+Literature%29