Quality Matters

Technology surely makes our lives convenient. We tap to pay, tap to order, tap to pump, tap to bank, tap to watch and communicate, even text to pray.

WOW, life is easy!

Is it better? Not necessarily.

When it comes to art and education, quality (not convenience) matters more.

While teaching music and dance I walk into classrooms where students are glued to TV and teachers sit at their desk checking their phones.

It

breaks

my

heart.

Parents buy into convenience - enroll children into any activity to fill in the gap during the day, during the afternoon and during the evening. Just to keep them busy and fill in the time.

What for?

Private schools are struggling with the enrollment, they upgrade technology, and facilities out of despair to please the parents, to sell their product, to seal the deal!

TECHNOLOGY IS HARMFUL TO KIDS!!!

Why can't a teacher get down on the floor and attend to a child, instead of tapping an Ipad or a smart board?

Children develop creativity and imagination not through an app, but through hands on activities, reading, building blocks, painting, singing, playing instruments and dancing.

As a parent and a teacher I seek for connection with a child, eye contact, embrace, conversation, playful time, and simple laughter.

All that is scarce in many schools around us, why?

Some schools are striving for perfection not considering what is best for a child, but offering what is trendy and attractive.

Silicon Valley is a perfect example - the schools there incorporate Waldorf - Steiner, Emilia Reggio, Montessori style teaching; outdoors and arts are a daily bread, not technnology.

I urge parents to come and spend a day in their child's classroom, watch the teacher LIVE, not just get a tour and see a '21st century, top of the line facility' .

This is not the timeshare we parents are investing in, it is our children, our pride and joy. They are to spend close to one THOUSAND hours a year in the school we chose.

Chose wisely, chose quality, chose arts.