How Boring Does School Have To Be?

"School is boring," said Lovebug as I woke him this morning. He rubbed his eyes relunctantly, not wanting to get going and start his day. He rolled his eyes as his younger brother told me all the reasons that he does like school. 

It's not that I didn't expect to have this conversation with him at some point. I found school pretty boring too, sometimes. But not in first grade. 

But apparently he's bored during math because he's not allowed to go ahead on the worksheets - they do them TOGETHER. Every time. So I tried to point out the stuff he does like - recess, lunch, art, PE, computers. I asked if he got to read at school because he likes reading. His reply was, "Sometimes. But I don't really like reading." 

Fifteen minutes later he was eagerly reading his Lego Club magazine. 

When I went into Ironflower's room, she continued the conversation. "I just don't like math. I get so bored because we do the worksheets all together too. Though I do like Minute Math, because then I can go at my own pace." 

Having talked to a few other mothers on the playground recently, I have found out that this is a common frustration among the parents. There are a lot of teachers at the school who won't differentiate instruction. And this is a highly ranked school. That's what's so depressing. 

Actually, infuriating. 

It's not about my kids being held back in some way, exactly. I'm sure they will get through their grade level curricula just fine. They're smart, but it's not like I think they'd be doing trigonometry if allowed to go at their own pace. And it's not about them being bored, exactly. Learning to cope with boredom is one of the reasons I send them to public school in the first place. 

It's that differentiated instruction is what good teachers do.** It's that public educators in a well-funded school shouldn't tell parents of kids who aren't doing well to just hire a tutor, as has happened at my kids' school. It's that smart kids who love to learn shouldn't be bored during math and reading. It's that having the whole class doing worksheets together is INEFFECTIVE. 

I'll bring it up at conferences next week, but I don't think I get any farther than all the other former teacher parents who have brought it up before. 

People have suggested that I teach them at home on top of what they're doing at school. I thought about it. And then Ironflower figured out multiplication while they were playing play dough over the weekend. 

I think that I'm just going to encourage them to play together more.

But now I'm wondering if this is common. Does this happen at your child's school? That worksheets are done as a class? And that there are no reading or math groups? No wonder more and more people are homeschooling. 

**Here is a HUGE discussion of differentiated instruction. 

Wordful Wednesday: Halloween

I realize it's November 14th. And while normally I would just skip over pictures that were two weeks after the actual holiday, I'm not going to this time. Our town just finally celebrated Halloween on the 11th. It was with a trunk-or-treat in the high school parking lot instead of the huge street party and all town trick-or-treating like we usually do, but at least our kids got some kind of Halloween.

Just let us get our candy, mom. 

Also, let me say something to the people leaving nasty comments on various pages that talked about trick-or-treating after the storm. I know that we're damn lucky that missing Halloween and days without power were the worst thing that happened to our kids. But to spew venom because we're hoping our kids get to have Halloween even though there are kids out there without homes, clothes and toys is so fucking stupid.

First of all, we weren't talking about it on a Hurricane victim or volunteer page. Second of all, there are always kids around us who don't have homes, clothes, toys, books or families. Always. There are always kids around us whose problems are so much bigger than Halloween.

And if you broaden your view beyond this country, you'll realize that kids in 2012 are still dying of starvation and curable diseases.

So, venom-spewer, did your kids celebrate Halloween last year? Even though there were all those children living in homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters within minutes of your home? And all the kids starving to death on the same planet?

Thought so.

I have an idea. Why don't you collect some stuff for the kids hurt by the hurricane? Or donate to Save the Children? I realize that's a little more difficult than typing insults, but think of how morally superior you can feel.

Things Not To Say Around Me

There are a lot of phrases that can piss me off.

"Name calling is no big deal." (Nah, it's just a form of bullying and we all know that's not a problem today.)

"Sarah Palin says. . . ." (She's IGNORANT. And a hypocrite who actually does get state support and health care for a kid and a grandkid.)

"She was asking for it." (Unless she said, "Will you have sex with me?" she wasn't asking for it.)

"Teaching kids about birth control will make them have sex." (Well, a lot of them already are having sex, so why not let them be safe? And do you really think the ones who have chosen not to for moral reasons are going to jump right into it because they can do it without getting pregnant or AIDS?)

"Well, the Bible tells us that homosexuality is wrong." (It also says lying, drunkenness  and premarital sex are equally wrong - care to condemn those with the same brush?)

And today's personal favorite, "I'm not a feminist, but . . ."

Usually the "but" is followed by some feminist tenet like equal pay for equal work or praise for a gutsy woman like Kathryn Bigelow. It makes me want to scream. Unless you are one of those uber-Christians who take the Bible literally in EVERY aspect (not just the aspects you like) Quiverfull people or a Taliban member, you have no reason not to call yourself a feminist.

A feminist is a person who supports feminism, which Merriam-Webster defines as:

1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

— fem·i·nist \-nist\ noun or adjective

— fem·i·nis·tic \ˌfe-mə-ˈnis-tik\ adjective

What part of that scares people? It doesn't say you have to hate men, be pro-choice, be a lesbian, work outside the home, skip make-up, hate sex or whatever other stereotypes are  out there. You just have to believe that women are equal to men - that your daughters deserve the same educational opportunities as your sons, that your boss can't grab your ass and laugh about it, that your vote counts just as much as anyone else's, that you should earn the same pay for doing the same job and that you are equal partners in your relationship.

Is there anyone reading my blog who doesn't believe that?

Well, then, welcome feminists! Who wants a margarita?