Opinionated observation

Warning: This entry is negative and highly judgmental of others.


Today I took Jared to his 3 year old sport class. He has been going for a month now. It was his last class, and I had yet to go. Mark warned me. I spent 30 minutes in disbelief.

First of all, Jared did great and had lots of fun.

On to my judgement....

The sound of helicopters was deafening as we got to the gym. These parents were hovering.
Kids were told to slow down because mom or dad couldn't keep up with them. There weren't enough balls for the kids, because parents had them. Jared couldn't see the teacher for red light green light because a dad was in the way. Of the 12 kids in the class, 5 parents never left their child's side for a second. These kids had no chance to play independently, or more importantly interact with their peers.

Perhaps these kids had struggled with playing by themselves at previous classes. But these parents did not try to leave their kids side. If you think your kids will fail, then guess what? They will fail.
Since it was the last class, 25 minutes was unstructured play. For 5 minutes in the middle they played red light green light. About 90 seconds into the game one boy told his mom he was done with this. At which point they went and played something else. Seriously? You can't handle 5 minutes of structure? And you give in?

As a teacher this all drives me crazy. I hope I am wrong, but chances are these kids are going to have problems in school. They will be the one who can't sit and listen. The one who attempts to get away with everything, because they know their parents will call. They will be the ones afraid to take risks, and afraid to be wrong.

Today I played many hours with Jared, but am thankful I got to enjoy watching him play sports from my chair on the sideline.