My son and I have talked about this a few times. He says he thinks having to do busy work in school does not prepare kids for real life like some people think because it is not like the real world. He said with most jobs there is a chance for promotion and that is an incentive to work hard at the boring stuff. With school there is no incentive when you know that after doing all that busy work you still will not be allowed to "level up" in knowledge.
I'm with your son, Lori H. Yes, life is not always going to leave you giddy with excitement. But if I worked in a job that made me bored and miserable, unrewarded in any way that meant anything to me, with no hope of advancement or any hope of improving the situation, I'd quit! I hope any adult would! A boring school situation is *NOT* real life.
Even as a stay-at-home mom, I have the hope that my kids will eventually not need diapers (check!), not need me to do all their laundry, not need me to scrub their toilet, etc. But a child in school has only the hope that eventually s/he will age out of that class. And if the only thing to look forward to is another class just like that one...well, it's not hard to see why cooperation becomes hard to come by in some kids.
Personally, I don't think tolerating boredom is really a lesson worth learning in school. Let them learn that lesson at home in the summer, when they are actually able to use that boredom to fuel creative enterprises and teach themselves how to stay entertained without relying on anyone else or on electronics to keep them busy! Learning how to be alone and stay occupied? Now that's a lesson I believe is important.
And BTW, I agree, acs, about finding a place to help a child thrive rather than chasing some perception of "good school"-ness. So right!
