Eeergh - we had annoying English Lit classes where we had to take it in turns to read a paragraph each from the novel we were studying. I think it was because the teachers knew lots of the class wouldn't have bothered to have read it at home. I hated it because I was so so so shy i was terrified of reading out loud in class!
A Shakespeare per semester sounds like loads. Way more than people in England get - I don't think they have to read even one now in state schools.
Montessori sound good. My little brother had trouble at primary school when he was five as he just didn't get why he was expected to be quiet. He was so friendly and so excited at having so many people to talk to that he chatted away all the time and ended up getting a really hard time from teachers who called him "disruptive" when he was just trying to be sociable!
I have a friend who is a Steiner teacher in Germany, where Steiner schools are state-funded. Here they are fee-paying only. They sound nice if a bit hippie drippy. My friend had to play the guitar and make papier mache models for her training to teach English at secondary level.
Aaargh. schools. Ugh. I go between extremes of wanting everyone to be forced to be well educated and wanting no such things as schools because they are compulsory and I don't believe in forcing people to do things. I am contradictory in my head, and luckily I have no say in such matters. I do believe it important to allow home education and choice of schools. But then here the Tories have weird "free school" plans which sound elitist and not good.
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Date: 2010-11-20 07:12 pm (UTC)A Shakespeare per semester sounds like loads. Way more than people in England get - I don't think they have to read even one now in state schools.
Montessori sound good. My little brother had trouble at primary school when he was five as he just didn't get why he was expected to be quiet. He was so friendly and so excited at having so many people to talk to that he chatted away all the time and ended up getting a really hard time from teachers who called him "disruptive" when he was just trying to be sociable!
I have a friend who is a Steiner teacher in Germany, where Steiner schools are state-funded. Here they are fee-paying only. They sound nice if a bit hippie drippy. My friend had to play the guitar and make papier mache models for her training to teach English at secondary level.
Aaargh. schools. Ugh. I go between extremes of wanting everyone to be forced to be well educated and wanting no such things as schools because they are compulsory and I don't believe in forcing people to do things. I am contradictory in my head, and luckily I have no say in such matters. I do believe it important to allow home education and choice of schools. But then here the Tories have weird "free school" plans which sound elitist and not good.