It is usually normal practice to send a book home each day for reading in Years one and two. You could ask the teacher why that isn’t happening. It’s not practicable for teachers to supply lesson plans for every lesson but you can get a good feel for what is happening at school by volunteering to be a parent helper if possible. For RSE, parents definitely should see the lesson plans and all the resources being used. Keep an eye on the messages in the picture books being read to the class. Talking to the teacher about your concerns is a good way to ensure your values are respected.
I have only just started on the journey of putting my children through school. In general I find it very difficult to find out what my children are learning, in every subject. It's de rigeur to not assign any homework (and I don't expect much except a short book for a year 1/2 to develop literacy), and my son (like most, it seems) doesn't tell me much about the classroom activities. I see art projects occasionally. It would be wonderful to actually have visibility of lesson plans, both to have some oversight about RSE content specifically (since my values on sexual morality are radically different from the MoE's) but really just so I can support the learning that is happening in the classroom.
Education needs to return to actual teaching, not moralizing or indoctrinating. However, for teaching to occur, we need to instill rules of behavior in the classroom, rules of behavior in the halls, rules of behavior with each other and towards the educators. We need to re-delineate a hierarchy of authority. The adults need to feel comfortable instilling structure, appropriate order and giving consequences. Not punishment, but consequences, like life. Compassionate authority isn't NO authority. We've got this all turned around...
It is usually normal practice to send a book home each day for reading in Years one and two. You could ask the teacher why that isn’t happening. It’s not practicable for teachers to supply lesson plans for every lesson but you can get a good feel for what is happening at school by volunteering to be a parent helper if possible. For RSE, parents definitely should see the lesson plans and all the resources being used. Keep an eye on the messages in the picture books being read to the class. Talking to the teacher about your concerns is a good way to ensure your values are respected.
I have only just started on the journey of putting my children through school. In general I find it very difficult to find out what my children are learning, in every subject. It's de rigeur to not assign any homework (and I don't expect much except a short book for a year 1/2 to develop literacy), and my son (like most, it seems) doesn't tell me much about the classroom activities. I see art projects occasionally. It would be wonderful to actually have visibility of lesson plans, both to have some oversight about RSE content specifically (since my values on sexual morality are radically different from the MoE's) but really just so I can support the learning that is happening in the classroom.
Excellent response to the misleading article.
Have cross posted.
https://dustymasterson.substack.com/p/a-song-is-born-part-1
Dusty
Education needs to return to actual teaching, not moralizing or indoctrinating. However, for teaching to occur, we need to instill rules of behavior in the classroom, rules of behavior in the halls, rules of behavior with each other and towards the educators. We need to re-delineate a hierarchy of authority. The adults need to feel comfortable instilling structure, appropriate order and giving consequences. Not punishment, but consequences, like life. Compassionate authority isn't NO authority. We've got this all turned around...
And who decided Ben’s ‘analysis’ was good enough for the Principals publication, I wonder.