@futurebird

This is so well said. I work in a school with a middle school that most definitely covers the basics, but the emphasis is on experiential learning. There are no grades, all feedback is narrative. Classes are mixed ages, 6th-8th grade. Lots of work is project-based and thus hands-on. Math, science, humanities, art -- they're all integrated with each other. Students set goals for themselves, dive into personal interests under an umbrella topic, understand the inter-relatedness of various fields of study.

These students go on to flourish in high school.

But every year, *every* *single* *year*, we have at least one family that takes their kid out of the program, because the adults in the family don't think our academics are "rigorous" enough. Because what we do doesn't look like the rote learning they themselves endured.

It is heartbreaking, and no matter how well we communicate what we are doing and *why* -- it still happens. I wish I could just whip out your quote for these folks to read, every time they start getting nervous. But it probably wouldn't matter. We say all the things you say, in our own way, and it so often falls on deaf ears.

@futurebird

schools should be preparing kids for real life and teaching critical thinking skills. things like math & science will be a necessary part but so are "soft" and vocational skills. that means art, music, shop too. if we expect 18 yr olds to be mostly like adults, they'll need all of this.

@futurebird I went to a lot of different schools, with different budgets for extras. I always hated gym, got absolutely nothing out of it, so dropped it as soon as it was optional. Shop class was for boys. It was mandatory for 1 year, with home-ec for the girls, and I opted out as soon as I could.

But I always had an art class in younger grades, and really appreciated my grade 7 school, in which teachers thought music so important, we had music class with sticks and triangles.