Thank you for the additional information Muhler.
In the UK, most schools have short holidays which are called "half-term holidays" (for most schools, half-term holidays are a week long; but some schools have two weeks off). I was wondering, do children in Denmark have them too?
School children in DK have those holidays I listed above. A week every couple of months or so.
Muhler, I'm afraid I am also shocked at the low skills I encounter in college students and young adults re: spelling, grammar, history:as you saythe basics.Less time reading might account for a lot of this, imo
Is there an age for school? Here, it is usually 5 years oldfor kindergarten, and 6 for first grade.
Our elementary students usually put in 6 hours a day=30/week. However, 20 years ago and more, kindergarten was only half day, which was much better, imo. Little children do get tired and need down time to learn and behave.
AND, when I was in kindergarten, we were forced to take a nap, something I remember well because I coundnt sleep!
That's a problem among a number of teachers here as well. Of course such teachers also existed in my time (a certain German teacher springs to mind).
In the past 30-35 years there has been a shift from sitting in classes to doing even more group work and theme weeks. It's become too much. In my time we had theme weeks once or twice a year. It's much more now, up to one every month. There are certain advantages with theme weeks where you combine various subjects and allow the children to work on their own, but... Children are children, they work efficiently a third of the time at most, the rest of the time is idle time. The bright pupils are bored stiff and end up doing most of the work anyway, while the weak pupils go on a free ride - and that's not beneficial for them either.
In my time we had extra booklets the brighter pupils could work on, when they had done their normal required work. And it became a sport among the better pupils as to who was in the lead. Towards the end some subjects were divided into basic level and advanced level. I took arithmetic on basic level because math didn't interest me and it's not my strong subject. It meant that those who were good at a particular subject were challenged at the advanced level, while those who were less good, were taught at a pace that better suited them. - No more, because that would be discriminating the weaker pupils, so it's much better to lower the general level, leaving the bright pupils to be bored stiff and lacking challenges.
Another matter is the parents. There are too many parents who disrespect the work the teachers are trying to do, because their little wonder surely isn't disturbing or lazy, he's just high sprited or creative or whatever. Well, their little wonder is in for a rude shock when school is over and real life begins. I certainly shouldn't expect my parents to side with me against my teachers. In fact it happened only once where I had been slapped very hard by a teacher (I partly deserved it, but that's not point). The problem is that teachers nowadays have very few sanctions against the pupils, especially if the parents can't see any faults in their little prodigy. (I've had a few - frank debates - with other parents about that at PTA meetings, which it's why Mrs. Muhler usually do the talking
).
In my time we risked being sent out the door, sent to the principal's office, get a letter home, having to stay an hour after normal class and sometimes get a slap or being pulled in the hair. The consequences were instant and apart from the physical sanctions, they were useful tools because of course we were unruly sometimes and tried out boundaries. There are very few sanctions now. Basically the teacher can appeal to the pupil - yeah right! Or appeal to the parents, which only works if the parents can accept that their little darling can be unruly.
In my time in 0 grade, we addressed our teacher with Mrs. Berthelsen (the equivalent to sir/maam), stood behind our chairs and sang the going-home-song before we shook hands with our teacher, the boys bowing, the girls curtsying. That was perhaps a little old fashioned, even back then, but it maintained a respectful distance that didn't hurt.
Our son was fortunate with his 0 grade teacher. She had a very good rapport with the children and she hugged each of them at the end of class and that felt good for the children, some of whom really needed a hug. Our daughter's teacher was different: Okay, class is over, dismissed, beat it.
The point is that the inbuild respectful distance to the teacher by for example using their last name is no more and that is a pity, because it was a useful tool.
And the teachers need to realise that they sometimes, just like parents, have to be unpopular. Our primary class teacher was of the old school, we respected her more than we liked her, because she was not afraid of becoming unpopular when it was necessary. However, she was a brillant teacher and we learned something.
Another teacher I fortunately didn't have was a genuine bastard! He taught arithmetic. He had a nack of spotting those who wasn't prepared. They were dragged up to the blackboard and made to solve a problem and he didn't care if it took the rest of the lesson for the unfortunate to solve the problem. And the rest shouldn't feel safe! But his pupils made sure they studied and did their homework for fear of being dragged up to the blackboard. But no one ever liked him.
That's unthinkable now, the helicopter parents would be up in arms and that would also be too athoritarian for the school policy in a state school.
I think you make two excellent points. More hours with unprepared teachers won't bring any improvements!
I think there's a tendency everywhere in the western world to encourage/support/push for longer days at school so that school becomes really a
de facto day care and both parents can work (there are economic advantages for governments to having more people working more hours...) and not only to improve the academic level. If that were the case, teachers certifications would be much stricter, standardized tests made more flexible, etc. But I'm afraid I'm getting OT. I'm sorry to hear that the Danish system is also not faring too well.
You said it. That's what I fear too.
ADDED: Summary of article in Billed Bladet #33, 2013.
Skoleprinsessen - The school-princess.
Written by the omnipresent Ulrik Ulriksen.
Not that there is much news. He tells us that there were press from a number of countries and that the mood was relaxed and good. Bella was initially shy but loosened up.
This was incidentally Isabella's first press conference as the majority of the questions were directed and answered by her.
Q: What do you look forward to the most at school?
Bella: "Doing homework".
Q: What do you have in your school bag?
B: "School-folders, cryons, pencil house and then there is a lunch bag".
Q: Do you know some letters already?
B: "Yes, a little".
Q: What's in the lunch bag"?
B: "There is something nice".
Q: What have your big brother told you about how it is to go to school?
B: "That it's good".
Q: Do you know some of your new classmates in advance?
B: "Yes, a couple of girls, who are sweet". (That's not exactly how she said but the meaning is the same).
Q: Shall Prince Christian help you with your homework?
B: "No"!
Q: Prince Christian could write his own name when he started in 0. grade, can you also write your name?
B: "Yes, I can".
Isabella ended the interview by saying: "Thank you very much".
A little later Bella and her parents drove to school where the new 0. graders were recieved by the principal and older pupils singing in a choir. - I learned that the school has a mentor policy. That means that the 0. graders attach themselves to a pupil from 5th grade, who will look after the little one, give advise and help. So when Bella become a 5th grader herself, she will become a mentor.
Mary said: She is very ready for school. So there hasn't been much preparation. She's really ready and very good at writing". Frederik added that they had a most read a little in an ABC and run through the alphabet.
Isabelle will attend SFO, said Frederik: "She has good opportunities for that and she will now". (Referring to the All-Day-School to be implemented next year).
