There's too much busy work, too many short worksheets with multiple choice questions, and too little work that requires real, sustained concentration on a single general idea.
I have never seen a worksheet with multiple choice questions in 5 years of elementary school. Not once. They're all short answer/ written response.
For example, how many novels do public school kids read as part of school by, say, fourth grade? By that I mean, read, discuss in class, and write about?
Several per year by fourth. We are involved with this now.
And how much time do fourth graders spend reading one- or two-page sheets with a small group of multiple choice questions used to "assess comprehension?"
Until recently, I'd never seen this either. We have started to get assignments in RAZ Kids, which includes godawful-quality texts and inane multiple-choice questions; this has happened only in the past two weeks, as a pilot, and I am hoping it goes away again.
But in general, you've made me feel better about the quality of our school, so thanks.
As for whether ADHD meds are overprescribed: it's up to parents to be skeptical and weigh the pros and cons. We need doctors who are very careful and not beholden to drug companies. We need teachers who know it's not their role to diagnose anything or recommend meds. However, if suffering is being alleviated (those who have needed meds will know what I mean), I don't think it's for bystanders to judge whether it's right or wrong to use meds in that particular case.
DeeDee
