<p>This NYTimes education article asks "Which children like school the most?"</p>
<p>and the answer, according to findings made by the Census Bureau, is:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Asians and girls and the children of parents who are married, make the most money, have advanced academic degrees and live in the suburbs of the Northeast.</p>
<p>Those are also likely to be the same students who say they are most interested in their schoolwork and often work hard in school.</p>
<p>Which are most likely to be enrolled in programs for gifted students? Children of better-educated parents. If one imagined a category combining the leading factors, it would be the daughters of married couples from the suburbs in the South whose parents’ income was above the poverty level... </p>
<p>The biggest differential was linked to their parents’ level of educational achievement. The proportion of 12- to- 17-year-olds in gifted classes ranged from 10 percent of those whose parents had never completed high school to 45 percent of those whose parents had an advanced degree.</p>
<p>Many of the differentials in the report were predictable, on the basis of other surveys, and were relatively slight. Still, some stood out.</p>
<p>Among racial and ethnic groups, non-Hispanic white parents were most likely to say their children never like school, while Asian parents, followed by Hispanic parents, were most likely to say their children like it often. The children of parents who were separated, divorced or widowed were most likely to never like school. Children whose parent worked part-time generally like school most often. Those growing up in rural areas like it less often.
<p>My kids were all good students and part of me wants to assign the credit to good genes ;) and another part wants to credit good parenting.</p>
<p>I do like to think I could have adopted a random child and done all the things I did with my children--read to them a lot and encouraged them to read, taught them music, encouraged them to learn and ask questions, etc.--and that child would have been as successful in school.</p>
<p>I'd be careful to equate "liking school" with a "love of learning". I spent middle school reading whatever I could get my hands on, teaching myself HTML, CSS, and Photoshop to make websites, teaching myself the Broadway songs that my piano teacher wouldn't let me play "for credit" because I hadn't finished Little Waltz 2, and studying grammar in my free time to improve my English... and getting admonished at school for being "too creative" with my assignments. I loved (and still love) learning, but I did well at school in spite of that, not because of it.</p>
<p>Well, of course you can learn without liking school, or even attending "school." But for all those kids out there who hate school, skip school, or drop out, "liking" school is a huge step in the right direction.</p>
<p>liking school =/= love of learning
disliking school =/= skipping class or dropping out</p>
<p>but maybe doing well because it leaves you in a better place than doing badly, and hoping to whatever you believe in that college will be better.</p>
<p>In my experience, kids who "like school" are usually those who get rewarded at school (for good performance, good behavior, or both) and those who do not find compliance with the dictates of authority to be particularly irksome.</p>
<p>If only school could be made more appealing for those of a more independent, rebellious nature and for those for whom the academic learning does not come so easily.</p>
<p>I'm probably as far from "rebellious" as it gets. I'm the overachiever who does her work and never gets into trouble; I learned to read at two and a half and have never struggled with academics. I do like the idea of school, but don't particularly care for its realities:</p>
<ul>
<li>unmotivated students</li>
<li>busywork and meaningless assignments</li>
<li>emphasis on discipline as opposed to learning (not so much in high school as earlier)</li>
<li>emphasis on following directions as opposed to thinking independently</li>
</ul>
<p>I grin and bear it because I'm sure college will be better. I don't think I'm alone, either.</p>
<p>Be sure to choose your college wisely ... you don't want to end up at a place that's like your high school!</p>
<p>I do think there is some merit to the idea that some kids like school simply because they were raised to like school. We raised our kids to like math --- we talked about how cool it is, showed them how it is used in life, etc. By the time they got to school, even the teachers who talked about how much they've always hated math couldn't change their minds about math being great! I think parents who hated school can convey their feelings to their kids (not all do, of course --- some are intentional about not letting this happen). I believe that may be why children of less-educated parents are often less excited about school. Kids generally share their parents' values, so this is probably why the offspring of those who excelled in school find it satisfying to excel, as well.</p>
<p>Some kids defy the above stereotype, of course. But if you are raised to like school, and if you are given what you need to succeed (nutritious food, time & a place for homework, supplies, etc.), it stands to reason that you might actually like school. If you don't eat or sleep well, if you aren't encouraged to do your homework, if there is no quiet spot to work or paper & pencils to use ... you might not find school to be enjoyable.</p>
<p>While I am sure nature plays a role, I am sure nurture does, too!</p>
<p>Something does not compute. Hispanic children are said to rank just behind Asians in liking school. But, unless those in New York are very different than those in MA, the graduation rate among Hispanics is abysmal, as per an article in today's Boston Globe:</p>
<p>Hispanics lag most in Mass. high schools
Graduation rate lags for Hispanics</p>
<p>
[quote]
But if you are raised to like school, and if you are given what you need to succeed (nutritious food, time & a place for homework, supplies, etc.), it stands to reason that you might actually like school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not necessarily. We are a very educationally oriented family, and we read, talk about what we read, what we've learned. </p>
<p>My daughter, though she loved to learn, and was always hungering for interesting ideas, used to hate school. It was boring, punitive, test bound, with little to no differentiated instruction. She is now is a school that she loves, because all of those descriptors have been removed.</p>
<p>Some kids hate school, but it doesn't mean they hate learning.</p>
<p>You are so right! I was actually just thinking about those who COULD do well but lack the outside factors that might encourage them to do so. I wasn't even thinking about those who don't do well for the reasons you outlined --- and I sure should have. I put my D in private school for those reason! I guess because she never actually "disliked" school, I didn't think about that. But she sure likes school better now that she is challenged.</p>
<p>Our district has started a new HS for kids who don't do well in the tradiitonal school setting, hoping that these kids will graduate. It doesn't mean the kids don't like to learn, as stated above, but they don't do well in the traditional setting. My D's friend, who is one of the most brilliant kids I have ever met, barely graduated. He asked me to write a letter of rec for him and I had to explain away this situation. One thing I said was that when this young man was in a less structured, intellectual college community, that he would blossom. And he was accepted. And boy, did he blossom! He was chosen to be a research asst, and even won the freshman writing award. Once he could learn, and not worry about "meaningless homework and busy work," etc., he loved school! D, who was sal had great SAT's and is at an elite college, etc., hated school at times, as well. She hated the fact that teachers had to keep repeating (and she was in all Honors and AP courses!), the busy work, etc. Yet, her work ethic kept her doing what was needed, so she could get into the kind of college that she wanted. She instinctively knew it would be different, and it is. She loves the challenge of college.</p>