Last week Mackenzie had a school field trip. She got to go to the Idaho Museum and see the different carousels from around the world. She really wanted me to come and so I enjoyed a special trip with just her.
The elephant behind us is a piece of a carousel that was hand carved. The details and work that were put into some of these pieces is amazing!
I got to the museum late and so I wasn't given a group of kids to watch....(Bummer....I really love chasing after kids and keeping them all together!)....but it took a long time to finally find Mackenzie's group. She had such a huge group of kids, 10 I think, that I took the three girls in the group. She said she would keep all the boys. ( I know what you are thinking, "She's so nice to sacrifice and take those girls, she's a Saint!) But please, I just did what any loving, kind, giving, and sacrificing mother would do! :)
Shayla, Mackenzie, and Isabella
Kiss the Lion!
Pucker up!
Afterwards, the kids got to go to the aquatic center and go swimming. However, this part of the field trip was for those who met their AR goals. AR stands for Accelerated Reader. It is one of the worst programs out there for reading and I think that it ruins children's love of reading and makes it a chore. For those kids who didn't make their goals, they got to go to the aquatic center and do a work packet while the rest of the kids went swimming.
Does anyone else out there think that that is one of the worst ways to treat the kids who didn't make their goals? (Here you go little boy, for not having parental support at home and learning disabilities, and a complacent teacher who wouldn't go the extra mile with you, you get to be tortured with the smells and sounds of the swimming pool. You get to watch the other kids have fun and you also have to do this work packet!) I felt so bad for those little kids!
Perhaps I am so touchy about the whole AR program because Mackenzie was one of those "slacker kids" for the first two quarters. She didn't make her goal, not the one we her parents set, but the increased one that her teacher set, so she didn't get to go to those parties and had to sit in a chair across the hall from the party and read a book at her desk. (I didn't know that that is what was going to happen. I was fuming because they want the kids to read and then as a punishment they make the kids read. So, they are teaching our kids to hate reading.) I was so mad!!! The second time that Mackenzie missed her goal, I just picked her up from school and we had a party at home instead of her getting punished for having a hard time reading.
So this latest quarter, we worked so hard and put in tons of overtime reading and testing and retesting so that she could make her goal and literally at the last second, Mackenzie made her goal and felt the thrill of success! I was so proud of her!!! She was so happy to go swimming with her friends.
3 comments:
That sounds weird. We do AR here too, and the "treat" is just an ice cream party or a movie that they leave class for 1.5 hours, and the rest of the kids stay for class time. That way it is less punishment and more just a fun treat for the kids who did make it. I have one daughter who can make her AR goals in a week (was a top 5 reader in the school last year), and one who really struggles with reading. She finally made her AR goal last semester, but thankfully it's an attainable goal that her teacher sets.
I hate running because it was punishment in sports. I'm still trying to get over that. We don't have an AR program here at all. They do have after school reading groups and they even have a competitive reading program from older elementary students, but all voluntary. My boys have never been invited and Lucas is spot on with reading and excelled in math. Jeremy is kinda even on all subjects.
From your explanation, I agree with you and it would anger me. I understand working towards a goal and feeling success when achieving it, but not to punish the other kids.
I'm so glad Mackenzie has a great mom who will arrange to go on her field trips with her, and makes sure she reaches her wacko AR goal. Thanks for your dedication as a mom. You're the best!
Post a Comment