Thursday, August 31, 2006

What do they teach those kids in school?

Miriam came home from her first day of school on Monday with a list of possible elective courses she could sign up for. Every six weeks the school offers another passle of "exploratory" courses, and each student identifies a #1 choice and a few tolerable others.

Mia's choice for the first exploratory was Weight Training. Seriously. Maybe in the next section she'll learn Hapkido. Unwelcome suitors, beware.

Other options available to her classmates include Liturgical Dance, Needling for the Needy, Shadow Puppetry, Calligraphy, Bubble-ology, and Mia's second choice, Wood Finishing.

Now, we're thrilled that the school promotes learning for its own sake and for delight and enrichment. I'm not a champion of an exclusive "Great Books" curriculum. Not every class has to be a mental marathon, nor must it necessarily have a practical payoff. Still, rather than, say, "Bubble-ology," as a busy parent I can think of a few classes I wish my middle-school eldest could take:
  • Landscaping 101
  • Basic Auto Maintenance
  • Understanding the U.S. TaxCode
  • Making the Most of What You've Got: Closet Organization
  • How to Make Those Windows Sparkle and other Household Tricks
  • Supplementing Your Parents' Income
  • In-depth Bible Study: Exodus 20:12
Further suggestions?

3 comments:

Bob K said...

Not to sound like a school-type but bubble-ology may well be a science class - there are lots of things that bubbles coud lead to which would make your great books thing look downright trivial. Plus, they're cool to play with :-)

And, by the way, if they ever do offer that closet thing, could my kids audit????

bethany said...

I took weight training at the college level. It was funny.

Nathan said...

a few more ...