which subject in school is most important?

[alexis75]

i would like to know which subject is most important

[Ktanaqui]

Nevermind how improperly done this topic is.

I consider reading to be the most important topic in school with the local language being the least important. My reasoning is fairly simple; with the ability to read and reason, you can pretty much teach yourself anything else in live, if you choose to try. Reading is required for almost everything in life; from going out to eat to getting a job or driving. Even cyclers have to be able to read. Reading is probably the single most important educational related thing out there. In my opinion, at least.

[alexis75]

Nevermind how improperly done this topic is.

I consider reading to be the most important topic in school with the local language being the least important. My reasoning is fairly simple; with the ability to read and reason, you can pretty much teach yourself anything else in live, if you choose to try. Reading is required for almost everything in life; from going out to eat to getting a job or driving. Even cyclers have to be able to read. Reading is probably the single most important educational related thing out there. In my opinion, at least.

thank you for answering my question!

[starpokewars]

I have mixed feelings on ktana's view. while reading is important in learning to write well, use proper grammar. and over all use the language better, none of which I have achieved. It is also important to remember that reading is a self progressing topic. once you are taught to read the words on the page it is important to push yourself. someone else can not tell you to get better at reading unless you find a book you like and read it. I can't teach you a skill that makes you read faster, but I can teach you to read to read faster, but that should come as common sense and therefore it is unimportant to be taught reading after your first few years. English and grammar on the other hand are a way you hand work in reading without making it a subject.

[someone]

I think either math or reading.

Math because math is required for almost every job in the world.

Reading because without the ability to read you know how to do a lot a things required in life. For example, what if you didn't know how to read and you found a bottle of poison that looked like water, but said "poison" on it's label. Oh yeah and you're super thirsty and wAs unable to read the the label and you drank the poison and died. Reading can save your life.

[TxCat]

I would argue that the unstructured time, such as recesses or lunch, and physical activities are most important...at least until you reach a certain age. In the lower grades, small children are simply NOT capable of sitting for long periods of time. Having these breaks in the schedule allows them to release pent up energies so that they can return to learning without distraction. It also teaches them the value of unstructured time and being able to amuse oneself. As one approaches adulthood, one needs those skills in order to work and live with others. There are several studies which show that even in adulthood, adults who are given regular breaks --- including up to 20 minute naps in places like Japan --- are more productive than adults who are made to stay at their work stations all the time.

[BluMajica]

although I agree with TxCat - even google has a very unstructured work environment to encourage better productivity, I dont think that you can get anywhere in life without a good basis in mathematics and english (or language/grammer etc)

In the higher levels of education i believe that this is most important as it was stated above me somewhere, all jobs require some level of mathematical knowledge. And lets face it, many of us have dreams of being wealthy - unless you have a fantastic idea (eg facebook) and eventually sell it on for a lot of money we all have to work towards that dream of being able to live comfortably and not hand to mouth.

here in Australia, the education system has told the yr 11/12 (17-19yr olds in their last two years of school before university if they wish to go on) that Maths is no longer compulsory, but english is. I felt this was a bad move although maths is a crappy subject at the best of times, you need it to live a life - unless of course you wish to live in a box and go dumpster diving for your food.

we all need to budget our incomes however large or small, we all need to know how much we have after rent/bills/mortgage payments etc are paid for feeding our families, paying for petrol, nights out, movies etc it is a life skill that everyone needs if they are to live in my honest opinion.

[TxCat]

although I agree with TxCat - even google has a very unstructured work environment to encourage better productivity, I dont think that you can get anywhere in life without a good basis in mathematics and english (or language/grammer etc)

Ordinarily I would agree, but I take the long view on such things. To my knowledge, no budget committee has ever said, "Hey, let's eliminate the teaching of language or math." Those subjects can and will remain at the heart of education no matter what.

Things like recess and PE, however, are rapidly being eliminated.

I did a practicum at an elementary school which had no PE and no real recess. The children were in school from 730 AM until 330 PM five days a week. They had ONE twenty minute period in which to eat lunch, after which they were allowed to run around an empty field. Into that twenty minute period they also had to fit a bathroom break (bathroom breaks were not permitted during lessons). Any --- and I mean ANY --- child displaying any kind of restiveness was instantly removed to the special education room and designated learning disabled. That room was little more than a nursery with a mix of students who simply needed some unscheduled time to burn off energy, students who had legitimate learning disabilities, and students who really should have been in a care facility, not in school. There were no lessons, no attempts to teach them anything.

I was also allowed to look at their statistics for things like detentions and misbehavior in classroom. Almost ALL students, even the best of them, had one detention mark.

This, unfortunately, is standard for most of the Florida schools now. I visited five different schools in three different counties during my classes and found the conditions much the same.

By comparison, the one private school I visited had PE and the arts regularly scheduled. Those children were more attentive, more focused on learning the important subjects, and less prone to discipline problems.

That's why I say the unstructured time is most important --- because it's being removed as unimportant and doing so is causing some serious damage to occur academically.

[Feathers]

English/writing skills because if you talk long enough, you can make anything right or wrong. That is all.

Ahem. All kidding aside, I feel that being able to communicate effectively is extremely important to success in one's personal and professional life, and this isn't just because I'm an English major. This opinion also stems from a belief in the importance of the sharing of information and communication. I'm alarmed by the lack of punctuation skills and grammar capabilities that I see these days, and I truly believe that if reading was more "enforced" (that is, if developing a love of reading was given more emphasis in schools and personal life than it is), then some of these problems would lessen, if not begin to disappear.

That's just my two cents, though. c:

I did a practicum at an elementary school which had no PE and no real recess. The children were in school from 730 AM until 330 PM five days a week. They had ONE twenty minute period in which to eat lunch, after which they were allowed to run around an empty field. Into that twenty minute period they also had to fit a bathroom break (bathroom breaks were not permitted during lessons). Any --- and I mean ANY --- child displaying any kind of restiveness was instantly removed to the special education room and designated learning disabled. That room was little more than a nursery with a mix of students who simply needed some unscheduled time to burn off energy, students who had legitimate learning disabilities, and students who really should have been in a care facility, not in school. There were no lessons, no attempts to teach them anything.

I was also allowed to look at their statistics for things like detentions and misbehavior in classroom. Almost ALL students, even the best of them, had one detention mark.

This, unfortunately, is standard for most of the Florida schools now. I visited five different schools in three different counties during my classes and found the conditions much the same.

I find this extremely alarming. O.O

[Soleil]

(In teacher mode here!)

I find all subjects in school to be of the utmost important. I simply cannot pick one. I teach 1st grade, so I teach basics (reading, match, science, history) so there's none of the "fluff" extra stuff like you get in the older grades. Not that the 'fluff' is unimportant, I just personally think its LESS important than the basics because without the basics (aka your foundation) you aren't going to learn a damn thing later on.

I think that basic math skills (ESPECIALLY money matters... gods you don't know how many times I've gone to a fast food joint and the kid can't count back change), grammar basics, spelling basics, and a base knowledge of the history of your state and country are the most important things that are taught in school. Even disregarding the history part, the math and grammar/spelling are subjects that one MUST know to get by in every day life.


TXCat is absolutely right when she talks about the attention span of small children. In Kindergarten, we would have the kids get up and dance/sing during certain subjects (mostly reading---alphabet, etc) because the kids really can't just sit there and recite things boringly like in the old school days.