Schools these days...

This is such a relevant conversation. The other part of the homework equation is the parent help/involvement. My kids school doesn't give homework to the grammar school kids but, due to budget woes, has project day (no school) once a month; required homeschool. It is very tricky to accomplish with 3 different (big) projects in one day. My parents Never helped with homework, which might not have been the best solution either. These days the school/home expectations are out of whack, and the school days/weeks/years are shorter. And while I'm at it ... remember when we had P.E.?

Hmmm.

"On Friday [teacher's assistant] mentioned that [teacher] was disappointed that I left so abruptly. After arriving early and talking for about 45 minutes AND having written a List of negative things about [beloved child], AND the fact that I needed to drive to Logan (to get to the audiologist for N and M) that night, I stood up, explaining that I Really had to go. It still took me several more minutes to leave, even pausing in the hallway to look at student work."

I edited the above out of a letter/email. But I need to remember it. Sigh. Generally,(I keep reminding myself) if you are worried about something, you are right.

N is for Nice Note!

A major reason that K is going to the school he is going to is because of the beautiful & kind secretary at the front office. A school can be judged on test scores, design/maintenance of the campus and principal, but perhaps the best measurements of a school are the library, students & teachers, and perhaps most importantly the people who greet you at the front desk.

Linda is fantastic. Incredible. She knows the students' names, all of them! And to some degree their schedules. There are almost 1000 kids there! I am in awe. She is so with-it and encouraging and patient with me and my foibles.

StMaKaJuNa know that signing endless papers is/was not my favorite chore. I couldn't figure out why I needed to write notes that could say anything and that was good enough. Finally I decided to write/draw anything and have some fun.

And as with so many things that I once hated, I have learned to embrace, though not love (how cheep!) and then personalize, some might even say perfect. Lunch making, laundry (NOT perfected), seasonal decorating are some examples.

When it comes to NOTE WRITING for K to give to Linda I feel that I have reached a new level of mastery. Linda might say perfection, but she is an appreciative and generous audience. She loves my notes and has saved them for the last several years. When possible I pre-glitter them, use bright colors and illuminate her name. They are never dull.

The above note is one of my favorites. I was caught in the car, late, without paper, colors, glitter. Just some dim wit and a spiral note book with a few scant drawings in it. This is what I came up with. It made her smile. AND! K got away with being late, again.

When we contemplated, discussed switching schools to W, where J, N & M are going I paused and said, "What about Linda?!"

K's eyes twinkled. He decided to stay one more year. This has been a good decision. His grades are great, he has made new friends and (!) he is playing Daddy Warbucks in Annie! [cue the music: "I think I'm gonna like it here!" Woot! Woot!]

Positive Influences on J

After less than a week of school I am thinking about the role of a school in a child's life and growth. School is so positive -- the right one can be!

Thinking about the time spent home schooling J... not so great. In the long run, if home school had continued I think the ill-effects would have outweighed the positive, especially for him as a child. I loved being with him, when I was able to be. He benefits from outside influences.

The list is long:

• cleanliness (You keep your desk clean here too?)[I love that our new school has the children vacuum, clean etc.]

• ideas (The Wizard of Oz as an allegory of family, growth and friendship.)

• sunshine & rain!

• beauty (We went on a field-trip today up the canyon. It was so beautiful.)

• projects, beyond what we do at home. Seeing other people's solutions to projects.

• different talents (You can spell? I like math!)

• playgrounds

• friends (!)

• teachers (Mrs. X played an oboe today!)

• habits (You tie your shoes?)

• traditions (Did you know that in India they...?)

• class parties and childhood games

• smells (...)

• tastes (I'll trade you some broccoli for one of my mom's whole wheat chocolate chip amazing cookies! Deal.)

• rigorous work ethic

• technology

• critical thinking and writing, that includes editing and organization and presentation of ideas

• music (You like classical music too? Does your mom like Funk music? Mine does!)

• language & pronunciation, especially for N & M

• attitudes (The world is good place, & not just because my parents tell me it is.)

• and finally kindness.

Even the less than great teachers have taught my children some important life lessons, and make the truly great shine even brighter.

J's needs are finally being addressed. I appreciated his teacher's insight today. I am anxious to see how we meet his needs and how he grows, learns, writes, reads and expresses his brilliance in the future. He is a marvelous sweet, bright, happy, generous, grateful, energetic and loving boy.

If YOU have, are, will, or want to home school: GREAT. A school setting might not be for every child for every year, but then again homeschool might not be either.

I is for In.

School is in & I am happy about it.

Home school, as I knew it would be, was not for me. I adore J but I am not consistent enough, and my life is not empty enough, to do the same thing day after day. Also, not for me, is multiple schools. I pray that this is it. 3 schools maximum.

Yes. I hope I can breathe deeply soon.

B is for Big Brother...

If only all Big Brothers were this nice. K looks rather Orwellian here, not his true character. Menacing, prying, you know, evil.

He is at Birch Creek Service Ranch with J and we are missing him, them. And yet, the house is strangely quiet... which is appreciated!

K will be in 9th grade taking Drama 2, Adv. Orchestra, Adv. Choir. Oh, and Girls 101.

J will be in 6th, at a new school full of projects and field trips. He wants to volunteer at a dog kennel, maybe the pound. So sweet.

Last Day of School

J sings a song... I'll add that once the bum wakes up. It is the last day of "home school" as well.
Jules thinks home school was the right thing to do. Me? I'm not so sure. Home school works if ALL the children are at home. That means NO ONE has parent teacher conferences, no one has field trips, projects etc. that take the home school's teacher and principal away all the time.

The above is a multi-armed elephant that K did for his Spanish ? class. Also is his LATE note. I will miss Linda, in the front office. She has a file of my notes. I have fun with glitter and markers...

H is for Homework.

K is taking his school work much more seriously this year.

P is for the Professor.

A back to school tableaux for the spin class.

E is for Ettiquette OR L is for Late OR T is for Tardy Thanks.

That's kinda a Rocky & Bullwinkle title. This post is not about new furniture or cute clothes... just cleaning up and posting so that I can remember what I said/did. ---> BORING for most.

In May 07 I went to SF and visited 2 schools for deaf children: The Auditory Oral School of San Francisco. (Man, I wish I could dot that "i" with a heart!) at 1234 Divisidero, 94115 and also the Jean Wiengarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in Redwood City
I have finally written those thank you notes. Late is better than never. Here it is, each modified slightly:
Hello ML & KS, Hello JC,
It was a pleasure to tour your program in May 2007 (!) I have wanted to write since to say thank you for sharing your insight, experiences and inspiration. I have also wanted to write something grans and glorious about progress in Utah. Things are progressing and your examples are making a difference -- so without waiting another day [or getting detrailed by a cancelled house tour, IEP mtgs, traveling to SLC for speech, dealing with USDB, job changes, 5 children...] I want to write and tell you: THANK YOU!

The foundation that I started (Journey to Hear, to help deaf/HH children in Utah County) with 2 other mothers has been stalled for a variety of reasons. One mother moved to Logan (2 1/2 hours North) to join Karl White's new program [Sound Beginnings].

Recently we decided to pull our daughter (4) out of Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, hoping she will make more progress in a regular (hearing) pre-school rather than in the fractured USDB program. These decisions are hard to make and life interrupts...

Thank you again for taking time to talk with me, letting me tour your facilities, watch your enthusiastic teachers and especially for sharing your experience with me.
Sincerely,
H

P is for Pink car for Mlle. M's Preschool Project.

Need to write a list... C is out of town and I need to do the school project:
BUILD a CAR ---> transportation days at the school for the deaf, an excuse to go overboard. These projects are a combination of desperation, competition and guilt. They MUST be done. M-doll is really looking forward to it! It is all that she is talking about. I have been known to miss school on days that require too much parental involvement; I don't dig dressing up like a brown bear and dancing around. But other parents do! So then I wonder what is wrong with me? What is wrong with the system these days that requires SO much parental involvement... my folks, who are quite wonderful, NEVER did anything like this for my brother and me. It was a stretch to get picked up on time or go to an assembly.

The list:
What does a young girl's car need?
Pink
Pink
steering wheel
wheels
license plate
pink
headlights
glitter
straps, in pink, to make car wearable
tail lights
windshield
seatbelt <-- yep. the instructions call for a seatbelt. "Click it or ticket."
driver's license?
key?

Pictures to follow...

P is for in a Perfect World; this is how all schools would be.

Just read on the Washington Post about the Big Draw. The slide show/interviews is/are worth watching/listening to. Check this out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/03/06/GA2008030601203.html?sid=ST2008030601398

From the article:

For the 320 students toting sketch pads, charcoal pencils and erasers, North Chevy Chase Elementary School's Big Draw event meant a three-hour break from math, language arts and other classes and a chance to draw to their hearts' content.

The children got to DRAW, learn how to Observe! for 3 glorious hours. What brilliant teachers, administrators and parents. All I can say about the beautiful children is, "Lucky!"

C is for Conceptual Crap and Art.

C and I were just in California for the 100th year celebration for CCAC, now CCA.

CCAC used to stand for California College of Arts and Crafts. A few years ago the powers that were changed the name to the very generic and bland CCA, for California College of the Arts. Several people at the celebration had buttons created by the print-maker Jack Ford, that read, "Conceptual Crap and Art." Seemed fitting.

I really miss "Craft" in the name. Craft is so dang right and cool, not only the 70's macramé and scrap booking (all that is great too!) but the notion of craft, doing a skill so well it becomes art. The question remains, can graphic design, architecture, art education be a "craft?" Of course. All of it can be art as well. Dialog about a teapot or a blown glass vase can be just as valuable, deep and riveting, as that of a sky scrapper, or logo design or painting.

Them is fighting words ... to put that in writing makes artistes defensive and craft people repulsed. Don't compare my teapot with some lousy logo... Don't compare my use of clay with your use of steel or that %!™&#*¡?* computer! All the elements are the same though! Line, contrast, content, composition, materials, intent, use, location, climax, value, color, flow, the list goes on and on, happily. Embrace it all -- and GET TO WORK!

The place (CCAC's Treadwell Hall, the ceramics building, especially) is still so inspiring to me. Someday (strike up the soaring violins and moving cellos) I'd love to work/teach there, simply be more involved. Or ideally, create that environment in my family life, it is serious and committed while also being progressive and light.

The above art that I discovered in a bathroom at CCAC is an example of that last statement. :)

Wouldn't you just love to see this artistic combo at a bathroom at BYU? Within a day it would be sanitized, treated as vandalism. What a shame.

The contrasts between BYU and CCAC were staggering to me. One school (CCAC) celebrates and encourages creativity through any outlet necessary and the other tries to teach creativity through obedience to all sorts of ideas, religion, leaders, famous dead artists' rules, to craft. How ironic that CCAC had craft in the name and now doesn't celebrate craft and BYU was supposed to be spiritually based and had no spirit.

S is for Silly Putty.

This is what I'm talking about ... un-boredom busters. How could a kid be bored with 5 pounds of silly putty taking over the house? Get it in bulk, and, if you want, you can buy the little plastic eggs to package it yourself for all your friends! See?! Kids just need a little direction to enhance their constructive play! (gobbly gook gobbly gook gobbly gook.)

FYI: I have to sign about 5 papers a night saying that my child has done what ever it was they were supposed to do. I think this is ridiculous. I am not the teacher. Ya' know? I don't check everything that my boys show me. I'M THE PARENT THAT BUYS SILLY PUTTY! I know my job, and try to do it. I wish the pendulum of parent involvement in a child's school work would swing the other way.

I don't mind helping but a signature is no help at all.

Also, today I spent +$15.00 making double sided copies, 3 hole punched for J's math. What?! What ever happened to binder paper, can't a child draw their own lines? We used to... Think about the environmental impact of the toner, extra paper etc. (Don't get me started on dry-erase boards.)