Scripted Classrooms Suck Fun Out of Education for Young Kids

    This morning as I was scrolling through Facebook I saw a post that read "Asking teachers to follow scripted curriculum is like asking artists to paint by number" by John Spencer. This, a conversation with my young grandson and my own observations got me to thinking about education today for the young child.

     The other night while talking to my grandson I asked him how he liked school. He told me it was boring. I said "but learning is fun."  He said they don't have fun. Granted school is not all about fun but in 2nd grade learning should still be fun!  He used to love school.

     My grandson is in 2nd grade and as I was listening to him tell me how he didn't really like school anymore I thought back on the times I had observed classrooms recently. During my observations I noticed that many of the kids were tuning out and appeared bored.

    I got to thinking about my poor grandson having to sit in a classroom where they never get to do the fun stuff anymore, teachers have to follow specific scripts so they are on the same page with all other teachers teaching the same grade so not much is spontaneous and there isn't much time for creativity or any type of fun activity. 2nd grade is no longer fun.  I know, life isn't all about fun but childhood should be fun. We have plenty of time as adults to be stressed out and bored.

    As  I listened to my grandson and thought of what I have observed. It made me sad because I would hate to have to sit in a classroom every day where I was being spoon fed and expected to regurgitate what I was being fed word for word instead of being able to explore and learn which is what I always thought school is supposed to be about.

    Many poor little kids, 7 year old kids, do not enjoy school anymore!  I loved 2nd grade, it was fun! I loved to learn, through many different means.  Even back when my kids were in 2nd grade it was fun.Teachers could implement their own creative flair in the classroom making it interesting and well, fun!  Over the years the focus on testing,  high test scores and requirements placed on teachers to follow script has sucked the fun out of education for everyone at a very young age. Teachers are no longer able to use their own flair and creativity to teach due the script, creating bored teachers along with bored kids.

     Something needs to change for kids, school needs to become fun again for these young individuals. Teachers should be able to add their own creative flair to the classroom, keeping guidelines but dropping scripts. If things don't change by the time these little elementary  kids are in the 5th grade they will be done with school.