Childhood and What Ifs: When will we really embrace a new way to educate our kids?

This is insane. After interviewing families these are the stories of kids in suburbia. What they love doesn’t always matter; time is limited, they don’t love school, and parents are concerned. So what will break first: our bank accounts, the spirit of our kids, or our faith in our schools? According to these kids, it’s a toss up.

Meet Cruz. 7 year old. Lover of bugs. Before leaving for work, his dad wakes him up at 6:45 every day of the week. After his dad gets on the road, he and his mom hang out, get his lunch made, eat breakfast and get his younger twin sisters up before he has to get on the bus at 8:20. Once at school he does morning meeting with his class, goes to gym, reads for 30 minutes, goes to recess, does math, has lunch (6 hours after his breakfast), then writing, then team meetings with his groups, then free time, then group reading, then heads to the bus. He gets home at 4:00pm. His mom gets him off the bus and he hangs out until his sisters wake up from nap at 4:45 (sometimes he watches television, plays with neighbors, or plays video games or legos). Dad is home at 5, they have activities for church or sports two days a week, and worksheets every night for homework (the teachers say it is optional but Cruz feels it is required). He’s off to bed by 7:30 whenever possible. His parents number one concern is that he hates going to school and seems so much less curious.

Recent research suggests that curiosity is critical to generating…