Beneficial Basics: They are Necessary!

Well, the time has come. The tenth and final blog post is now upon us. During this blogging experience, I have come to my own conclusion that yes, elementary schools should go back to teaching basics. In my most honest opinion, I believe that basics need to be taught and understood before moving on to more difficult lessons. Everyone needs a solid base when it comes to his or her education.

Going back to topics that I have discussed, I can say that those basics would only enhance the futures of today’s students. Basics in math. These simple basics can make any child a stronger student and can also relieve a lot of hassle when it comes to understanding more abstract concepts.

When it comes to basics in reading, writing and spelling in both the English and the French language, the benefits are quite similar. As I previously mentioned, these three skills are all linked together. To be a better writer and speller, you have to be a good reader. If elementary schools went back to teaching basics in these subjects, future students would become more effective and independent writers since they would not have to depend on others when they do not know how to spell a word. Also, these basics would allow for us to live in a more literate society.

Cursive writing. Another basic that I discussed at length. Through the research that I did on this topic, I have come to the conclusion that students would benefit immensely if elementary schools put more emphasis on this basic. Through cursive writing, students would become better writers since they will have adapted multiple fine motor skills. Also, through these fine motor skills, students will become more effective learners.

As far as life skills go, many students would benefit from these being taught in schools. Not only would it benefit students by learning these skills at a younger age, but it would also allow them to become more independent human beings.

Through the research that I did on this topic, I can conclude that learning basics in elementary school would be beneficial to everyone. It would allow us to live in a more literate society. These basics are not only useful for students ins school, but they are also useful in everyday life.

Life Skills Taught as Basics in School?

Since we are quickly approaching the end of the blogs, I have decided to approach a slightly different topic while still staying within the lines of the importance of basics being taught in schools. This topic was brought to my attention in a previous comment and I decided that it would be interesting to talk about it. Some say that the teachers should teach life skills during school hours, whereas others say that it should be left up to the parents to teach them to their children. Personally, I see it both ways! In this post, I will speak only on the point of view that yes, life skills should be taught in schools.

In elementary schools today, some skills are being taught. For example, in the third grade, students are still learning how to tell time and how to count money. (2) These are skills that I believe are still necessary regardless of there being digital clocks and money counters nowadays. I think it would be very unfortunate if schools stopped teaching these essential skills.

In my opinion, there are still other life skills that should be taught to students in elementary school. As adults (or almost adults), there are some simple skills that we are required to know in order to have a successful future. For example, how many of us can say that we know how to properly write a check or deal with household bills and taxes? (1) I do not believe that the majority of us can say that we are confortable managing those tasks completely on our own. I believe that simple skills like that as well as knowing how to accomplish basic home improvements should be required courses that should be taught to all students in school.

In the case of some students, they are not taught anything except for what they learn at school (there is no parental guidance). With that being said, if students are not learning how to accomplish these simple tasks at school, there are chances that they will not learn them at all.

I see this decline in teaching life skills as a vicious circle. Let’s say that a young adult cannot repair something on his or her own. Since this person was not taught this basic skill at school, he or she has to go out of their way to hire someone to fix the problem for them. That is the first step. Now, after the professional performs the required repairs, this young adult now has to pay this person. Seeing as this person also was not taught how to manage his or her finances either, they now have to go out of their way once again to seek some assistance. To summarize, people are having to pay others to do simple repairs and tasks that could be done on their own.

It is clear to me that there are certain skills that adolescents should be required to learn in school. That being said, teachers should be required to teach them. The simple things that our parents do for us now, will be left up to us to do in just a few years. So, up to this point, what do you think? Should these life skills be taught in schools?

(1) http://www.spinedu.com/top-5-life-skills-schools-teach/#.U15gKJG4lFI
(2)http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf