Oh, the peace and quiet!  LOL  The children are all back to school, their mommy is back and gone to work, and I am relishing it!  I felt so bad for my little grandson this morning.  This week the schools, in Florida, at least, are doing F-CAT testing.  Every year, the school students take these tests which, not only reveal the student’s individual knowledge, but, they also ‘grade’ the individual schools.  If the school scores poorly, yep, funding is cut.  Makes no sense to me!  My grandson’s school scored fairly low.  So, the students are under incredible pressure to score high and bring the school’s over-all score up.  That child was freaking out, this morning!  He was ready to throw in the towel before even leaving the house!  They have pounded it into the student’s heads that they will not pass to the next grade and that terrifies small children.  The thought of their friends advancing on to the next level, leaving them behind, is a real scare to little children!  

 

I remember school testing.  We heard about it a few weeks prior to the testing and forgot about it the next day.  Even when my own three were coming up, I don’t recall this much emphasis on F-CATS as there is now.  The children should not have to go through this much anguish and stress over something.  You know, if a school scores poorly, they should be looking at themselves, not burdening the students.  A student comes to them ‘green’, so to speak.  It is their role to educate the children.  If the children aren’t getting passing grades on these tests, it is because the school has failed them.  I’m not talking about some of the children who have problems with their grades, anyway, but, the entire school, year after year.  It isn’t my grandson’s fault the F-CAT fails him – it is the school!  I hope his day is going alright!