Karen's Tutoring

Every Child Has a Strength

July 4th, 2010 by Karen

Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of  the NCLB, we had an ECHS…Every Child Has a Strength?  Our education system sometimes seems so focused on the academic end of education that it forgets other types of education. Not every child is going to be an academic, not every child is going to feel successful in the classroom, and not every child is going to attend college. The dropout rate nationally is roughly 25%, and of those who do graduate, depending on what source is used, only 30-50% of them go on to traditional college. So, maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t we be shifting some of our focus to what students can do and foster growth in those areas?  We seem to have no trouble having AP and IB classes for those that are absolutely college bound. But what about the student who does abysmally in reading, writing and ‘rithmatic, but is gifted artistically, musically, mechanically, or is a great cook, or wonderful with hair, or…well, I could go on and on. Unfortunately, it seems our system only truly encourages those that,  along with these types of talents, also succeed in academics. Even with schools that focus on specific areas such as high schools for the arts, or high schools where science is the focus, everything seems to still boil down to the high stakes testing. How does this make sure no child gets left behind? Now I am going to step down off my soapbox to offer some examples of very talented kids who have a huge struggle with academics.

One of my students is very talented artist. She paints and sews. The wolf (or dog…not sure which) painting on the left she did a couple of years ago when she was 9. I’m not sure when she did the dragon. This is a wonderfully creative young lady that deserves to be allowed to foster this talent within the system.

The next example is from a student, a now seventh grader, who has already decided he will need me all the way through high school. This young man has the potential to be a successful illustrator some day. And he is already pretty darn good at the piano. But school work…not so much. Together this summer, our tutoring sessions are focusing on being original in his artwork and developing stories to go with his illustrations. Is this going to help him pass high stakes testing? Probably not, but it could lead to greater things later in his life.

And lastly, this little gal is a pretty good little athlete. She adores basketball and keeps track of everything the franchise here does. She knows everything about them. But school is a disaster. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to be aware of how tough school is for her. She has a pretty healthy self-esteem. She also does well at horseback riding and playing the marimba. And she is only going to be in the fifth grade. Here she is putting one in the bucket…nothing but net!

These are just three of the children I work with. All of my students have strengths in different areas. Yet, for most of them, the focus is on what they can’t do, not what they can. If we don’t want any of our children left behind, maybe we should swing some of the focus around to the “can” and not so much the “can’t”.