Not Riding a Bike - A rant about education in COVID-19

My 14-year-old grandson has been playing piano for several years. He learned St. Louis Blues, played it for a concert. After the concert, through no fault of his own, he did not rehearse St. Louis Blues, while he was focusing upon another difficult piece. Within a couple of weeks, he had forgotten the Blues. When he picked it up again, it was like learning a new piece all over, measure upon measure, and frustration. It would have been so much easier if every other day he had played it. 

So what has this to do with schooling during COVID-19. Well, new knowledge, if not reviewed, practiced, and built upon systematically, degrades across time. That is why teachers spend September, the first month back in school, just reviewing concepts from the year before. Think about it. At least a month, just reviewing, and that is only after summer vacation. What then can happen after six months of being out of school?. This is especially true about foreign languages and math. Coming back to newly acquired skills is not like riding a bike. You can’t climb back on the seat after an extended period of time and fly down the street with the wind in your hair. School subjects often take relearning, hard work, a long time to rebuild. 

And that is just part of why I am so concerned about what is happening in education in these unprecedented times. 

Just ask me. I spent four-years in high school learning German, and the only thing I can say now is “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”  (I hope I got that right.) 

I invite comments, suggestions, ideas.

If you have questions that I might be able to answer generally, please email me. Please keep in mind that this blog is for suggestions that may or may not work. Here is the disclaimer, professional advice requires much more in-depth information and contact and is beyond the scope of this blog.  email: gail.coulter@outlook.com