You all know by now that I volunteer in my son's kindergarten class, right? Well something happened yesterday that has been bothering me. The kids were working on a project in which they had to color seeds, roots and various other flower "parts", then cut them out and paste them onto something. I was helping some of the kids, so was the teacher and the teacher's aide.
I ended up getting to the table where my son was and he had his head hung low and told me he did his wrong. I asked what he meant and he told me that the aide told him that "grass wasn't blue, it's green and that he did it wrong and had to color green over the blue". I may have take it with a grain of salt if I hadn't witnessed her saying it to another kid, near my son. Only she was worse to the other kid. She told him it was wrong and asked him how he thinks he's getting into first grade with work like that. Then she told him that he was losing his free time that afternoon to re-do the whole thing. I could tell he felt bad about it and that made me feel bad, so I went to him after and made sure to give him a lot of extra praise about the work he was doing.
My issue was two fold. One she shouldn't be telling any of the kids they were doing it wrong. WTF? What constitutes wrong...just because it wasn't the colors she would have picked. The other boy made a red sky and purple grass and I say who gives a shit? Of course all the kids know the friggin grass is green, but what's wrong with letting them use their imaginations, which is my second issue. To me that is what makes a kid a kid, using their creativity. I was pissed, but teacher backed up the aide, which I can understand I guess. Maybe I was just being overly sensitive, but where as she made my kid feel bad about his work, it probably made it worse.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
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25 comments:
Yay I'm the first commenter, that never happens. I agree you with. Let the kids color however they want. They should use their imagination. I would have taken the teacher and the aide into the hall for a little 'chat' to set them straight.
It's kindergarten for freak sakes!!! This woman obviously has lost every streak of creativity she ever possessed. I'd also question her suitability as a kindergarten aide .
Ugh....thankfully mini me hasn't had teachers like that yet...she has come home with all kinds of wild colored things...
Besides...when in the heck did it become an offense on letting a kindergartener express their views on the world through crayons and paint? Geesh...that teacher and that aide should not be allowed to teach...heavens only knows how many kids they have ruined!
Ack..crap like this pisses me off...
Totally agree with you. Creativity is a wonderful part of a kid's imagination. Otherwise...we wouldn't have pink elephants and purple dinosaurs.
UGH. I'm gonna tase 'em. They are idiots. Poor kiddos.
I know they are probably doing their best...but I don't like it when a kid can't use their imagination.
Shit...I just gave a kid a break the other day for using his with me on my popo job. Gotta give them a little credit. :)
PS. I meant I know the teachers are probably doing their best, but I don't like it when a kid can't use their imagination. UGh.
As long as the kid knows the grass is really green and the sky is really blue then who the hell cares. He is being creative and thinking outside the box.
Who knows... maybe he is color-blind?
Oh my gosh. This post hits so close to home.
When I was in kindergarten (and I still remember this VIVIDLY....41 years later)....the teacher ridiculed me in front of the class because I had colored a frog blue instead of green.
I've never forgotten....how demeaning to a child! I hope you kicked that aide's ass. I would have. :(
WTF. Let the kids be creative, lady! Just because your son feels like making the grass blue doesn't mean he's going to fail at life. If anything it proves that he has a better imagination.
Ew I want to throatpunch her.
This is one of my biggest bitches about the American school system. We absolutely squash any and all creativity in our children. We want to put them all in boxes and make them robots. Pisses. Me. Off. Let's the kids express themselves, let them create. They are our future and I want a future that is full of possibilities NOT one that is structured.
Good for you for supporting the kids and giving them praise for being an individual.
I have to agree with you and the little boy should never have lost his free time. If the lesson was following directions and the teacher was dictating "color the grass green" then the lesson would have been differently. What constitutes Art? It is your own perception of things, not someone elses.
OMG that is ridiculous. She should be encouraging creativity, not squashing it like a bug. Ugh. I would file a complaint.
She was absolutley wrong and you should report her to the administration. Kindergarteners see the world in a different and whimsical way and that should be nurtured. They have years before they have to buckle down and do things "right". It isn't a damn math problem, it's coloring. You have every right to be angry.
I agree with you! She was wrong, I have never heard a teacher tell a child (kindergarten at that) they were wrong in coloring WTF! I would have went off!
Leave it to those in education to piss on the fire of creativity in a child. I love the way a child's mind works.
Saw your comment at Ian's place. Do you have something set up? I'd be happy to contribute. I know every little bit helps.
I call bullshit on that! I'm pissed just reading about it. Way to crush creativity crappy teacher's aide. It's art...it's subjective...ever seen Dali? Clocks don't really fold over branches like that...and if kids want to make the grass blue, or the sky red that's their creative right!
No no no no no no NO!!! >:-( This makes me so mad! You are RIGHT with how WRONG it was. Was it an assignment on the actual colors of the objects? If not, then what was the big deal? Even if it was an assignment on colors, taking free time away? IN KINDERGARTEN???? Ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. Grrrrrr.
I think we all agree those teachers are out to lunch! URGH, I just get so mad at ADULTS for being butts to little kids!
I don't know why people try to squash someone's creativity because that is what that aide was doing. But the teacher was well. Why is she a kindergartner teacher? Aren't kids at that age suppose to be creative?
I was getting my dander up just reading this!
WTF is an understatement!
She shouldn't be in the classroom!
The teacher backed up the aid, but you know damn well she was thinking "Bitch, get real!"
Throat punch! And a bitchslap!!
Stifle kids creativity...wtf! Let them be imaginative and creative. If they want purple sky and red grass who gives a crap? I would have talked to the woman aside but that's just me. There is no 'right' with stuff like that. Way to make two kids feel like shit and wonder if they should think outside the box again!
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OMG!!! Outrageous...isn't the joy of being in kindergarten coloring the grass blue and the sky green? That was so wrong on that woman's part...UGH! Fawk you to her is right!
i am sooo going to have issues!!!! thank god i have a year to get on medication so i can deal with this crap...ugh!!!
I would have gone to the teacher and principal and complained! The color being wrong is one thing, but the attitude can not be accepted!
I completely agree with you-- there is no reason at that age why everything needs to be colored perfectly! They are kids- let them color however they want!
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