Year after year…

I spent the whole day reviewing my little sister for her upcoming examinations this week. She’s in the fifth grade and she seems oblivious to the fact that the topics, lessons in her numerous subjects are being repeatedly taught to them year after year. When I told her this, she simply said, “Oh, really?”. Maybe when my mom or older sister told me that before, I would have been the smartest student in my elementary and high school days. With the comparison of the kids today as to the kids before, it is not a shocking matter to know that technology has played a part in decreasing the attention span of the kids today. They are easily distracted with any sound, music, or movement for that matter. I’m telling you this because I had a hard time reviewing my sister.

We studied topics ranging from the geography of the earth to the grammatical categories (in Filipino). Describing to her what a homo habilis looks like was like a trip down memory lane. I remembered all my loved and hated teachers way back. I would remember the quizzes I aced and the rushed almost-mediocre projects I passed. I remembered the difficulty I had in memorizing concepts just to score in a major exam. And I told her (my sister) just that. I told her that memorizing does not help when you do not try to understand. She nods and we proceed to identifying the steps in the scientific method.

I looked at the pointers of every subject she’s taking up, and I felt defeat for her. It’s not that I do not trust and believe her she would do good in the exams, but it is about her being able to process and understand all the information in time for her exams. She can do it, any kid can do it. But not all kids perfect it, not all actually feel good after the dreaded examinations. It is usually disappointment and frustration. But at the end, when the teachers return their papers, you will see real emotions of these kids. They may not have perfected the exam, but they passed and they feel really good about it. It’s better to commend them for their efforts and not reprimand them for not being able to have higher scores. So moving on…

Kids should learn more about how to simply speak and write well rather than forcing them to learn what the definition and the types of a “panghalip” (pronoun)every year. It’s not bad to inculcate learnings year after year but it also useless when you think about it now. I am fresh out of college and I am currently looking for work and in finding a job, I have to make my resume stand out, I should present myself well. Yes, I could use all the nouns, verbs and adjectives I learned in school but the things they taught me about sine and cosine and all the tricks in calculus will never be beneficial to me in any aspect at all. Do you get my point?

Kids should learn more about the important values they would be needing in life. These kids need motivation and inspiration. And if they spend more time in school than at home five days a week, then I believe that it is also right for them to know and understand about the realities of life to help them in their future and not simply dwell on the past like knowing about how Magellan died and why McArthur returned (to the Philippines).

It would be unfair to say all of these as I have survived elementary, high school and college. I went to the same school, studied the same subjects, and even had the same teachers. And I graduated. I made it. It would seem unfair to doubt them of their capabilities. But it is not simply my point. Maybe, I just want to state the obvious that we are in the digital era now, and life, even with technology and advanced science, is becoming more complicated. Sometimes, it also nice to un-complicate things to be able to learn more and understand better.