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bocababe18 May 12, 2009

decompartmentalisation of elementary schools?

bocababe18
Has anyone heard of this? My child starts kindergarten in the fall (at Sunrise Park). Isn't kindergarten a little early to have the kids switching rooms and teachers?
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Parent Answers to "decompartmentalisation of elementary schools?"

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Anonymous
Anonymous June 7, 2009
One point - it is "departmentalization".

I just received and email from the PTA at my daughters school saying that we got a waiver for a year because this practice is in direct conflict with IB philosophy.

I hope they don't lose their PYP in the years to come over this.

PS - the FCAT scores went down for the school that was the model in one of the articles.
The 'decompartmentalization of schools should mean the 'putting together' of things - it's breaking down the compartments into a single unit. At least that's what the word mean. If your school is really doing this, then it's reducing the compartmentalization that has been the steady trend of schools for over two decades now.
I had a kindergarten teacher who taught everything- music, art, and we even had her for gym. That has changed over the years and many children in elementary school now have separate teachers for almost everything.
Rather than calling any move back to a single teacher 'decompartmentalization' they should really call it -
' going back to what used to be.'

Is that good? There's no easy answer to that - it would depend a Great Deal on the community and the individual teachers involved. Modern children are often restless and the real reason we send them from one teacher to another is to give them and their teachers a break from each other and to give teachers a chance to teach the subject they prefer. I prefer to teach social studies and language arts, not math, and in a compartmentalized school, I can do that and still teach the younger grades. Most teachers have preferences as to what subjects they like to teach but teachers' preferences aren't what should rule the curriculum and how it's taught.

But the reality is - schools follow fads and faddish change is inevitable in schools. They're all searching for the Holy Grail of curriculum. Parents and communities can protest these changes but the protests rarely stop the change. If that's the bad news, the good news is - in a few years, it will change back again.
Anonymous
Anonymous May 21, 2009
Just want to add that they already do this for Language, Science, PE, Art, and Music.

I think it makes sense to have a teacher teach what they are good at. This way the teacher can focus on their strengths and use that to pass greater knowledge to our kids.

You really need to give children more credit for being autonomous. You will be surprised how quickly they adapt, and how much they love being independent.
Anonymous
Anonymous May 21, 2009
Here is an article I found out about it.

www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-palm-elementary-teachers-p051809,0,6433017.story
pantura
pantura May 21, 2009
Wow! Did not know of this... nor experienced it. But this could be tough on the kids... guess a little discussion with the school could help. I do agree with bocababe18's comments! Good luck..
Anonymous
Anonymous May 21, 2009
I have heard this too. I don't think it is so much out of choice, but out of budget restraints.

My daughter is just finishing up K, and from my experience volunteering, the kids are ready for it will love it.
bocababe18
bocababe18 May 12, 2009
Let's let them be kids just for a little while longer???
Let's have one kindergarten room, one teacher and a good sense of comfort in the early years......set a good tone for the future!!! Can someone help me understand this change at such a young tender age of 5!!!!!

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