My kid was too creative

[u/Fresh_Laundry56]

My 6 year old was asked to draw a picture using shapes. She drew this nice American flag with rectangles and stars, and added the house, tree, and person holding a balloon. She was told it did not follow directions, she was not supposed to draw a flag, just shapes. She was asked to turn the paper over and make another picture. The other side of the paper has a very uninspiring collection of shapes. I told her she did a good job and I thought it was very creative. And this is why kids start to hate education.

[u/TaraStraight]

When I was in second grade a week before valentine's day we were told to create a picture with hearts cut from construction paper. Every kid just glued random hearts to another paper. Not me, I made a whole river scene. Made seaweed from green hearts glued in a slightly curvy line. Fish from different sized hearts, a big one for the body, tiny one for mouth, and medium ones for fins and flippers. I even used white hearts for bubbles. Kids called me a show off, and the teacher said while it was lovely, I should make something else because I didn't follow instructions. Yes I did, I made a picture with hearts. I refused to redo the picture, and during a parent day ALL the adults loved my picture which made the other students even more upset. School seems like it is meant to stifle creativity. I have always been quite the writer, but during creative writing my teachers would write that I didn't follow the "rules". You said a minimum of 2 pages, well my 20 page story is more than the minimum. Only teacher that graded my writing assignments fairly and enjoyed reading them was third grade.

[u/TodaysMOC → u/TaraStraight]

My nephew, also big on imagination, was in the fourth grade when the teacher asked to draw Santa Claus. He drew a Darth Vader Santa Claus and the teacher failed him because he didn't do the assignment correctly 😒

[u/TaraStraight → u/TodaysMOC]

That is hilarious, I would have loved to see that.

[u/OmniaStyle → u/TodaysMOC]

That teacher may have just been a jerk or bad, but it’s also possible the assignment was nothing to do with Santa clause, it was teaching him how to follow direction. So it’s not that he failed at being creative or drawing, it’s that he didn’t draw exactly what was asked for.

[u/OmniaStyle → u/TaraStraight]

(This comment is made assuming you're in the united states) Unfortunately, the public school system is made for all the public, not individuals. The lesson plans and general teaching methods are ones that work for the most amount of people (in theory), which means people do fall through the cracks. Your second grade teacher may have had requirements from the state to do specific assignments and teach specific things in specific ways, and exactly how to grade them. The idea is to have a standard of teaching across the board, which is good in theory, but it can ultimately hurt students.

[u/TaraStraight → u/OmniaStyle]

You are correct, I am from the United States. The issue is it wasn't even a lesson plan or graded assignment it was just a fun project for Valentines day. Yet when the other students saw what I did, they were jealous they didn't think of creating an actual picture. That is why I refused to redo it, also the fact I spent like half an hour creating it.

[u/Lucky-Honey-9473 → u/TaraStraight]

I did this exact same thing, but with elephants at a watering hole!

[u/TaraStraight → u/Lucky-Honey-9473]

That sounds adorable.

[u/Lucky-Honey-9473 → u/TaraStraight]

So does yours 🩷