The Munchkin Goes to a New School

After much consideration, we have made a decision to move the munchkin from public to private school. While we liked our old 1st grade teacher very much and think she does a good job under the circumstances she was given, we are unhappy with the degree to which state standards and standardized test performance control everything in public school. We want a richer, broader, more challenging and creative school experience for our bright child. So far, we're very happy with the decision even if it is taking a huge chunk of our income. Fortunately, another child in our neighborhood is making the change, too, so having a friend eases the transition for both of them.

My first inkling that I wasn't going to be happy with public school came at first-grade orientation. The first words spoken were, "Now, we want you to all know that we're all going to be teaching your children the same standards..." and for the rest of the evening, the only things I heard that didn't have to do with state standards were the directions for where to drive up for the car line. By the end of the meeting, I was ready to stand up and say, "I've heard all night about how you plan to teach the standards. Would you mind spending some time now talking about how you plan to teach my child?"

We like many things at the new school. They are able to devote time to things that wouldn't be evaluated on a standardized test - chess, Spanish, and handwriting. They do a great job of teaching the children to present themselves well and communicate effectively, both aurally and in written form.

I never thought we'd be the private school type of parents. But then, I didn't realize just how much public education had changed even since I was a public school teacher. We're very happy with the new situation.

New home

For those of you who look for Lowe news here, I'm sorry it's been nearly half a year since I posted! We do indeed have lots of news. We have moved to Evans, GA, and we like our new house! I'm particularly happy to have my own studio - a place where I can teach piano while the rest of the family can still use the family room. Unfortunately, there are no students yet. I'm hoping that I'll sign up some by fall. Kevin has an office, too. We've done some painting, and we have more plans to remove some wallpaper and eventually enclose the back deck as a screened porch.

The munchkin has made some friends at her new PreK, and here on our street. Two of our little neighbors are exactly the same age and will start to school with her in the fall. She's very happy because the neighborhood pool is close to our house. She's signed up for swimming lessons this summer, as well as ballet camp. She'll start kindergarten and ballet classes in the fall. Lately, she has been practicing for her pre-K graduation ceremony - "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United STAKES of America and to the the REPUBLIX for which it stands..."

There is one sad bit of news. We said goodbye to our cat Dolly recently. We miss her very much, but she was old and sick, so we are glad that she is not in discomfort any more. We still have Sebastian, and we now also have a new family member...

Meet Bella! She's an 11-month-old mixed breed dog that we adopted from a local rescue organization. We think she's part lab, shepherd, maybe setter, and maybe golden retriever. She's fetching balls for us with no training on our part and splashing in a plastic wading pool in the yard. She's a sweet, good-natured doggie and very trainable. Now, if we could just get Sebastian to come out of the bedroom...