This year I have been thrilled to be involved with Xander (5th grade) and his classes science program. It’s an interesting program that is trying to teach the Scientific Method through simple experiments. Xander’s teacher (Miss Hopper) is doing quite a good job guiding the kids through the curriculum. The amount of science being done is also great with 4 days a week for an hour each day (though we took December off).
It’s not always been so great though. In previous years (including Mitchell’s current 3rd grade year), the curriculum seems to have 3 or 4 short units in science which they only spend 1-2 times per week on. I’ve voiced my concern about this to the Principal and am hopeful based on Xander’s class.
Later this week, I’m also going to a School District meeting on changes to the math curriculum. I’m not sure what to expect though our state (Washington) is not in a good position in relationship to other states and it’s math curriculum. It’s very sad.
The state and local school district have done a great job over the last few decades to increase literacy. The programs around literacy and the way they use other areas (including science and math) to increase literacy is quite phenomenal. The problem though is that they have made all these gains at the cost of science and math.
I hope to see this change over the time my children attend school. Xander and Mitchell both understand how important these subjects are and enjoy both of them quite a bit.