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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Eight Habits Kids Should Learn

I'm back from the winter break. I hope you enjoyed time with your family. We went to San Antonio, Texas, to visit my sister and her family. I got my fill of breakfast tacos and BBQ. We even went to the rodeo! My sister called to say the weather in San Antonio was 75 degrees today. Meanwhile the weatherman here is calling for more snow later this week so the kids might be at home again.

As I get back into the the swing of things, I came across an interesting piece in "Class Struggles," the Washington Post's education blog written by Jay Mathews. In it he suggests that there are some core skills that children need to learn at school beyond the 3Rs emphasized in No Child Left Behind.

Mathews explains:
The habits of the heart are probably learned almost as much at school as at home. But which ones can we reasonably expect teachers to address? What should we look for to make certain these unmeasurable immeasurable but invaluable traits are being reinforced?
You can read his piece for a full explanation of each one but here are the 8 that he came up with. Feel free to comment on whether you agree or to add your own.

Jay's list includes:

1. Organization
2. Music
3. Teamwork
4. Exercise
5. Friendship
6. Arguing (I think he really meant debating)
7.  Thinking critically
8. Presentation
Posted by Moina Noor

6 comments:

  1. Perhaps people are only interested in the daily soap opera of All My Children's Schools?

    Sad that almost no one comments here on educational topics.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe no one saw this as especially noteworthy because good educators have known it for a long time.

    However, you didn't comment on it either. Your comment was about people who didn't comment.
    ReplyDelete
  3. As I've never been the musical one in the family, I wanted to know why Music was on his list. I enjoyed reading his full post and his comment about music teaching children how to be part of an audience. I never really thought of music in that context, but it was spot on! Thanks for providing the link to the blog.
    ReplyDelete
  4. As a parent I'm not sure that qualities like organization can be taught. I remember report card after report card where teachers comment on my lack of organizational skills.

    These were in the days when each student had a desk. I remember some kids (especially the girls) had all their books and pencil neatly organized. I just used to stuff everything in and force the lid down to shut the desk. Nothing changed through middle school.

    The one tool that really did help was that in high school the school handed me a homework book the very first day of class. I had to note down all my assignments and the teachers would check that I had done so. Then the parents would have to sign the homework book each night to make sure that the tasks had been completed. My homework got done of course, but the rest of my life stayed messy.

    Of course I realize in hindsight that my disorganization has hindered me in certain respects but I am also a creative type.

    I'd be curious to know if teachers (unlike columnists) think that organization can be taught especially to messy boys like me.
    ReplyDelete
  5. I just wanted to respond to the poster who wanted info on music education. There are a tremendous number of studies that have been done on the impact of early musical education on the developing brain - it impacts everything from mathematical ability to language development. IMHO, music education is critical to children's development on so many levels that it should be a bigger part of the school cirriculum nationally. If you simply Google "impact of music education on developing brain" the studies will pop up. I also completely agree with the other categories as well, but music is one that I, personally, feel very strongly about.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the info. I'm glad my kids have a better appreciation for the music class than I did. Hindsight is 20/20....
    ReplyDelete

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