SOLs
August 29th, 2006
I find it really funny that Virginia chose the term Standards of Learning with the acronym SOLs for the things the kids need to be taught in public school. The first time I mentioned them to my uncle, referring to them as SOLs, he stated the obvious by saying right out what someone saying SOL usually means. When I told him what SOL means to the state of VA, education-wise at least, he said what he said originally stands.
I was thinking about SOLs a lot today because I spent some time going through the massive amount of stuff each VaHomeschoolers Conference attendee was given in the totebag. Many of the flyers and brochures to educational places included information about programs they have and every one of those programs has a note that is meets SOL 1.4 or 5.7 or 7.6 or whatever. These flyers are, of course, geared toward public school teachers who are boxed in to having to address those SOLs in order to have taught everything required to satisfy the guidelines (thank you, No Child Left Behind).
In a way, they made me sad. Heaven forbid a child actually learn something that was not on the “required” list. But in another way they made me very happy. I am not boxed in and since my children do not and will not attend public school they are not boxed in either. We can go on a field trip or attend a program and learn whatever we find to learn, not what some SOL tells us we need to learn. And my kids don’t have to fill out a silly worksheet to “prove” they learned what they “needed” to, either.
My oldest was in public school for 4 years; I always thought the term “SOL” was quite apt (as in, “These standards are poorly conceived and - in many cases - developmentally inappropriate, but the government enacted them, so we are ALL *SOL.*)
I agree completely. I LOVE that we can actually focus on learning, rather than testing! SOL is definitely an appropriate acronym. It is unfortunate that so many kids are the ones who are actually SOL.
I know things like 1.4 to mean 1st grade 4th month, 5.7 to mean fifth grade 7th month…it is crazy that there are programs that have what children *need* to learn not only by grade, but my month! Makes me happy that I homeschool.