Happy Anniversary.

12 years in love.

The May Faire Maiden

Great Article - Less Than Perfect

If you are not signed up for the Huffington Post parenting articles, run, don't walk, to the nearest computer to do so. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lea-grover/dear-less-than-perfect-mom_b_3184445.html

Find Peace

from:  11:11 Awakening Code

Chinese Camp

We are so fortunate to live in a city where this type of camp is offered!  Arwyn spent the last week with two Chinese women - one who came from Beijing specifically for camp and teaches in the top dance school in China!

Experiential Education and Change on the Horizon

Each day my daughter walks into a mixed age kindergarten where she sings songs and recites verses.  She plays half of her day on a lovely playground and then goes inside to grind wheat in a hand turned grinder.  She has a natural snack of oatmeal or quinoa or bread made from the wheat ground earlier in the week.  She watercolor paints using vegetable based dyes and fingerknits using natural yarns.  In case you could not tell from the photos on the blog she was adopted from China and became party of our family at the age of 3.5  with an unrepaired cleft palate.  Though we have a little way to go, she was recently released from speech for a break after about 18 months of therapy one day per week.  Her SLP at a world renowned speech clinic told us that very few native English speakers who come to their clinic have the vocabulary and ability to speak and string sentences together that she has.  Though I know that much of it is living in a language rich home there is no doubt in my mind that the verses and songs and puppet shows she sees and hears and participates in daily have given her an edge and vastly helped her in her language skills.


Our son walks in each day to a blank page and spends a full school year creating his own textbooks.  His 4th grade curriculum was filled with animal studies, fractions, Norse mythology and essay writing.  He learned cross stitch and played kick ball and studies Spanish.  Each day he was taught experientially.  He was never told something would be on a test.  He was educated for the sake of being educated and learning to go forth successfully into the world.  His world is more reflective of a classical education surrounded by the beauty of the Waldorf method instead of cramming knowledge into be regurgitated on a test to be forgotten the next day.  He is submersed in subjects for weeks at a time instead of taking a leap frog approach to subjects skimming the surface enough to ring the bell  before moving to the next lily pad.  


Does it matter?  To us it does.  In today's educational environment children are being conditioned to "the test."  I have not heard it from one college professor but from many.  When college professors are teaching the hands go up.  "Professor, is it on the test?"  Last night a girl who has a Ph.D. and is a literacy coach in a large public  school system said that in the current education environment that if she had children they would most likely also attend private school like she did.  She said she could not send children into classroom where the test is the ultimate goal and teachers are held hostage to the percentages.   

With that said, she also shared with us change is on the horizon in the public schools and that gives me hope.  I have been studying news articles regarding education, particulary in TN and the greater Southereast.  Though test scores do little for me I was happy to see that TN has gone from being 46th in the nation in education to 21st and that Georgia has made it to number 8.  I have been hearing from friends who are involved heavily in public schools in Nashville that the high school we are zoned for has allowed the local Chamber to step in and help steer the school and created a series of "academies" that are the talk of the nation.  In fact, they often host educators from all of the country wishing  to recreate the model in their own schools.    

These academies give real world experience and allow the children (high schoolers) to choose their potential career paths from 5 broad options.  They are taught from the perspective of those paths and are even partnered with local professionals in a mentoring process.  It's all about the experience and giving the children a larger view of education and providing hands on opportunities.

Education - City Mouse vs. Country Mouse

Though my experiences were not the best in the small town in which I grew up I know that much of what fuels the education debate is a crisis found more in large suburban areas and in cities where there is much disparity among schools.  Growing up  in  a small town the children received the same education regardless of whether or not they lived in a large country estate or in housing projects in the middle of town.  Having only one elementary school (now there are two) in my hometown we did not have to consider busing vs. neighborhood schools.  There were no lotteries or magnets schools.  Charter schools were something that crazy people in California were discussing and had no bearings on our educational system.  


Living in Nashville I see much the broader picture of urban education and its impact on my own family.  If we were to put our children in public school in the Fall we would be driving them a couple of miles down the road to what I hear is a fantastic public elementary school.  Looking at the website and talking to folks in our area, I believe that it is truly is a great place to be.  Unfortunately, the school in my backyard - which we are not zoned for - is also a great school and is Montessori based.  We are a 5 minute walk to that school but children have to be enrolled there through a lottery process by age 3 or else there is little chance of getting in.  That school has no buses that roll through.  The families there are committed to education and it has a high level of parental involvement (though I hear the other one has very involved parents as well).  


For families who cannot afford private school and who cannot afford to be zoned for a great elementary school, the lottery is the only choice if they are seeking a better education for their children.  I do not want this to seem like I support busing (because I do not), but there has to be a better way.  The question I always come back to is why aren't all of the school as good as the lottery schools?  In Nashville where many of the elementary schools are fantastic why do I meet parents in all areas of my life who pull their children out of the public system as they enter into middle school if they do not get into a magnet school?


What can be done to improve education overall in the US that will not only satisfy those who push for markers of success but will satisfy the needs of all communities and most importantly feed the children emotionally, socially and mentally?

Education and Roadblocks Along the Way

Okay, so I shared with you some of my personal experiences in education.  For myself, the issues in the classroom centered around a few key points.  The first is being forced to sit for the majority of the day with one person (1-5 grades) droning on about subjects that I cared very little about.  Had our day been broken up with movement and song and projects I would have had a much more enjoyable experience.  When not in the classroom (having been sent to P.E.) we were subject to the whims of a couple of women who clearly hated teaching and were to be quite frank - cruel to all but their favorite children.  We were not allowed to speak at all during lunch which limited our ability to talk to recess which was unfortunate as that was only about 30 minutes for the entire day.

Bullying was also a very serious issue for myself and a couple of my friends who also came through the system.  Daily taunts and cruelty from a few other children who were allowed to behave badly due to the social status of their families or because they were top students did not make life any easier.  Between extreme boredom and bullying the 180 days per year I was forced to attend school was pure agony. 

I want to be clear here.  I know that is NOT everyone' experience.  But, it is the experience of many.  I also know that we are in an age when so many education reformers are working so hard and putting their time and talent to improving the education of children in this country.  I know that so many are attempting to remove antiquated methods and bring in progressive thought on how children should be taught.  And, I know that those teachers are being blocked in many schools by legislation, administrative staff members who are not progressive, lack of funding (how can we fund major league sports and not have enough text books?) or teacher unions who do not allow the best to stand out as it emphasizes those who are not performing as well.  

For the children who find themselves zoned for great school districts (in cities) or who land great teachers these are not issues.  For the rest of the children....well.....they are.  

Stay tuned for more on my thoughts on education and why we have made the choices we have made.