Alternative Education - My Ideal School

In my personal life as an adult, I've only needed to use math a few times per year, and it was rarely more complicated than algebra. As an engineer, I did most of my job-related math with Excel. Even so, I don't regret all the time I spent doing math problems because it turned out to be useful in a different way.

Teachers lie to students about the importance of the math (and other subjects) they study so that they don't get even lazier in the classroom. It would be better, I think, to tell students directly the true purpose of studying math: to develop their ability to think logically. 

There are many ways to develop that ability. Games like chess are particularly useful in addition to being more fun that doing textbook math problems. My ideal school would have a schedule something like this:

8:00 to 8:50 -     Swimming 

9:00 to 9:50 -     Chess

10:00 to 10:50 - Scrabble

11:00 to 11:50 - Music

12:00 to 12:50 - Lunch and free reading/writing period

1:00 to 1:50 -     Art

2:00 to 2:50 -     Video and Discussion

3:00 to 3:50 -     History/Geography trivia contest

The exact details are not important. The goal is to introduce a variety of hands-on activities that involve different mental abilities. It's a lot easier to get children to play a game than do traditional schoolwork. 

It's sad that many teachers measure their success by how much busywork they can compel their students to do. I met a teacher who flat out told me her goal was to make her students more tired than her at the end of the day. 

Ultimately, the students who want to learn will if given the chance. As for the others, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. I suppose for the truly incorrigible, about the sanest and most humane option would be to simply have them copy the dictionary all day by hand. That at least develops their vocabulary and penmanship in addition to forcing them to read.

Otherwise, making school more like summer camp would have various benefits. For myself, I sometimes wonder if I would have been better off graduating from school as quickly as possible and pursuing my own interests independently. I probably would have been happier but might not have learned as much. 

The story of Michael Kearney should be an inspiration to everyone. Among his many academic achievements, he graduated from high school when he was 6 and college when he was 10. He remains the youngest person to do so. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kearney

If a motivated 6-year-old can graduate from an American high school, that tells me academic standards are a joke. It's one of the many reasons I'd like to see the end of compulsory education and the public school system, though I don't expect that to ever happen.