It's not an assumption that if a school has middle class parents, the kids of those parents have an advantage. Your argument makes no sense to me, unless you're trying to argue that not all kids at a middle class school are actually middle class, which obviously is true. But in my dd1's school, as I said, 90% of them are. That's an advantage that most kids don't have in my dd2's school, which is not middle class.
Curriculum isn't limited to what the district requires. Anything taught in the classroom is the curriculum of that classroom. IOW, not being required by the district doesn't mean it isn't part of the curriculum of that class.
I've already told you that the scientific method *is* taught in school, and that the teachers do "science Fridays" where they help each child do an experiment for the class. The science fair is an enrichment of that, a chance for kids to choose a topic that interests them and build on that.
It's not lack of imagination, it's lack of time. Can you understand that 30 kids in a class, half of whom are low-income and some of whom are ESL, is a different thing from 22 or 24 kids in a private school? In addition, NCLB imposes significant curriculum demands on our school that a private school doesn't face. The multiple assessments, annual testing, and preparation for testing take up a tremendous amount of time.
We only have assistant teachers in kindergarten. There are teacher aides in 1-6 but they are driven by the number and types of disabled children in the classroom and technically they are only responsible to those children.
OT: We have never used the formal dining room (when we had one) for its (or is that "it's"? I can't make up my mind) intended purpose. It has always been turned into my sewing room. Right now our eat in kitchen serves as a kitchen, dining room, and sewing room. It's a good thing that it's 18x15 ft square.
Whatever! All I'm trying to say that the district doesn't require the school to do the science fair and it isn't done at school. It's something extra that is done as homework.
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It's not an assumption that if a school has middle class parents, the kids of those parents have an advantage. Your argument makes no sense to me, unless you're trying to argue that not all kids at a middle class school are actually middle class, which obviously is true. But in my dd1's school, as I said, 90% of them are. That's an advantage that most kids don't have in my dd2's school, which is not middle class.
I've already told you that the scientific method *is* taught in school, and that the teachers do "science Fridays" where they help each child do an experiment for the class. The science fair is an enrichment of that, a chance for kids to choose a topic that interests them and build on that.
It's not lack of imagination, it's lack of time. Can you understand that 30 kids in a class, half of whom are low-income and some of whom are ESL, is a different thing from 22 or 24 kids in a private school? In addition, NCLB imposes significant curriculum demands on our school that a private school doesn't face. The multiple assessments, annual testing, and preparation for testing take up a tremendous amount of time.
OT: We have never used the formal dining room (when we had one) for its (or is that "it's"? I can't make up my mind) intended purpose. It has always been turned into my sewing room. Right now our eat in kitchen serves as a kitchen, dining room, and sewing room. It's a good thing that it's 18x15 ft square.
Chris
The truth may be out there but lies are in your head. Terry Pratchett
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