So, that 20/20 show on public schools didn't even mention homeschooling once. I already knew most of the stuff they said about public schools and the stuff I didn't know really pissed me off. And I am convinced that Randi Weingarten (head of the teacher's union in NYC) is the one who doesn't care about kids. She only cares how well the teachers have it - herself included. Charter schools work and yet she is doing everything possible to unionize their teachers and put a cap on the amount allowed in the city. I'm disgusted at how huge a waste of time most schools are for kids. They don't learn much of anything academically, the socialization scene is usually disgraceful, and now parents have to worry about whether or not their child's teacher is a criminal (who probably won't get fired no matter what crime he commits). It's amazing how things just stay the same even when it's shown over and over again that it's NOT WORKING. Ok, I'm off the soapbox.
Everyone in my house was asleep by 10:15 last night except J and me. J went to the computer at around 11pm, went on frogguts.com and did a virtual frog dissection. She asked me a couple of questions, like, "what is a thorax?" and she looked really intrigued by the whole thing. This morning she read W a book, played some V-Smile with him, and got ready for dance rehearsal. Today she was there for 3.5 hours and 3 moms and I went around the corner to a pub for some lunch and drinks. J got to spend the day doing what she loves with friends she loves and I got to have some fun girl-time. J is sleeping over S's house tonight. I can't ask for better friends for J - they range in age from 7 to 17, they treat each other with kindness and respect, and the boys are just as sweet as the girls. I like that I know all of these kids (and their parents) well and get to see how they are with each other and with adults, and I am so impressed. I think it's because they're all part of something they love and want to always do their best at it. Being on the competition team is no joke and they all know it. There's no room for show-offs or big egos. The studio owner treats them with an unbelievable amount of respect and their attitudes reflect that.
W fell asleep at 6:30 and K and I will probably either play Rhem (CD Rom game) or watch a movie. She has math homework (pie charts) but has til Tuesday to do it. Her school science fair is coming up, too. B needs to stop by his rehearsal studio tonight. His band has a gig next month at the Pussycat Lounge in Tribeca. Lol, it's a strip club on the ground floor, but upstairs is a rock club/bar. Tomorrow we may go visit my mom, and hopefully Monday we can all go to Ikea!
Link of the day:
http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/v8i2_unschooled_boy.html
2 comments:
I saw that show too. I made Patrick watch it as well, b/c although he's all for homeschooling, I wanted him to get more validation. Wasn't that just awful? Randi Weingarten is terrible too. She's just pushing her own agenda without paying attention to what people want or need.
Uck. No one seems to really see what's going on. It's not about the kids at all. It's about getting over 70+ days paid vacation a year and retiring early. Almost every teacher I know, when asked why they went o into teaching, mentions the days off first - then maybe they'll throw in how they love kids, too. ((eyes are rolling here)).
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