Hands on? Hands off

I have heard in every education class that I have taken that children learn best from hands on experience. When I have observed lessons I have personally seen just how effective hands on teaching can be for such young children. Working in a daycare for over three years now has shown me how hands on activities affect children in their growth and development.

Even though we as educators see and understand how effective hands on teaching is for these children we are still sending home multiple worksheets and drill like homework for our students. What are even worse are the tests in this country.  Schools are so focused on the test scores since that is how funding is determined. These tests are very hands off for the student. I know even as a college student that tests where it is a lot of memorization is last on my list to study for. If we are focusing on teaching children in a hands on way shouldn't we be testing them in the same way?

As we continue to progress forward with technology and new ways to teach; I hope that we may also come up with new ways to give hands on homework.  I also hope that through technology we are able to come up with some hands on ways to have tests.