Why should my 5 year old have to go to school all day? It’s not, as the child development experts say, “developmentally appropriate.” The “Full Day Kindergarten Community Forum” last night down right depressing.
It was very clear to me last night that the Board has already made up its mind. The panel of experts the board supplied lauded all day K and only spoke of the positives. It was like Fox News- completely one sided while claiming to be fair and balanced.
One piece of very good news- all day K will not cost taxpayers anymore money. In fact, D97 predicts that they will actually make money off the program due to increase in state aid. That’s right, they will make a profit by keeping 5 year olds in school all day! It strikes as kind of slimy to profit off this, but they really need the money.
“The gift of time” was the key phrase of the evening. Half- day K is too rushed. Teachers don’t have enough time to teach the curriculum. So instead of adapting the curriculum , they will just extend the school day . The district fully admits that they purchased full day math and reading curriculums for their 1/2 day K programs. Now they are surprised that K is too rushed?? What did they think would happen when they tried to cram a full day curriculum in a half day program?
The full day program is really designed around the needs of children who are “at risk.” While I agree that D97 should give extra help to at risk children, what about kids who aren’t at risk? It like these kids are just along for the ride.
While a half day K option will be available, it’s not really a very good or realistic one. Most of the core learning will be in the AM and half time students will leave at lunch time. Specials, like Gym, Art and Spanish) and free time will be in the afternoon, so half time students will miss the best parts of the day. Can I subject my child to Home Links and those stupid little paper books, but make her skip all the fun stuff?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I Dred the Sled
It is snowing today which means that I will be nagged immediately upon walking through my door:
Pleeeaaasssee takkeee meeeee sledddddding!!!!
Which in Oak Park means one of two major sledding hills: Barrie Sledding Hill of Ice and Death or the Gently Misled Hills near Ridgeland Common.
I used to be a freak for the sledding, could stay out forever in subzero temps, didn't care if ice made it down my boots and up my legs. The longer and steeper the hill, the better. Now, however, I'm old. Not too old to got to work, not too old to watch Chowder on Cartoon Network, but too old to sled. I want to enjoy sledding, I really do, but last year I'm convinced I cracked a rib on my first run (in 20 years) down the Barrie Park Sled Hill. The boy loved it, wanted to go back up again and again. I somehow made it up and down 10 times or so. At least it was so cold it wore him down enough to be receptive to my bribes of hot chocolate and potato chips INSIDE.
The Barrie Park Sledding Hill is really high, gets really icy, and you can get going extremely fast, especially with one of those fancy Radio Flyer sleds with the rails. When I get home, at least tonight, I'm hoping the snow isn't sticking.
Pleeeaaasssee takkeee meeeee sledddddding!!!!
Which in Oak Park means one of two major sledding hills: Barrie Sledding Hill of Ice and Death or the Gently Misled Hills near Ridgeland Common.
I used to be a freak for the sledding, could stay out forever in subzero temps, didn't care if ice made it down my boots and up my legs. The longer and steeper the hill, the better. Now, however, I'm old. Not too old to got to work, not too old to watch Chowder on Cartoon Network, but too old to sled. I want to enjoy sledding, I really do, but last year I'm convinced I cracked a rib on my first run (in 20 years) down the Barrie Park Sled Hill. The boy loved it, wanted to go back up again and again. I somehow made it up and down 10 times or so. At least it was so cold it wore him down enough to be receptive to my bribes of hot chocolate and potato chips INSIDE.
The Barrie Park Sledding Hill is really high, gets really icy, and you can get going extremely fast, especially with one of those fancy Radio Flyer sleds with the rails. When I get home, at least tonight, I'm hoping the snow isn't sticking.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
All Day Kindergarten???
Our school district, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is in the process of discussing the possibility of all-day kindergarten in a few of the schools. The letter from the board is here: Letter from the Board.
After having read the letter (and our school is one that would be affected by this), I am of two minds. My daughter will be 5 when she starts kindergarten and a this point I don't think I would have her in the whole-day program. I worry about what she might miss during those extra few hours, and if it is worth sending her a whole day. What do you think? My son had the 1/2 day kindergarten and absolutely thrived during those hours. I was also glad he came home for lunch every day. Also, doesn't it seem like the district has already decided to do this? Even if they are going through the motions of discussion?
After having read the letter (and our school is one that would be affected by this), I am of two minds. My daughter will be 5 when she starts kindergarten and a this point I don't think I would have her in the whole-day program. I worry about what she might miss during those extra few hours, and if it is worth sending her a whole day. What do you think? My son had the 1/2 day kindergarten and absolutely thrived during those hours. I was also glad he came home for lunch every day. Also, doesn't it seem like the district has already decided to do this? Even if they are going through the motions of discussion?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Getting Cold Again
I've been lax on the blog, the holidays and all, blah blah blah.
I wanted to talk about an old-fashioned card party. I grew up in Indiana where my grandparents were and my parents are card-party goers. Our neighbors Neal and Esther hosted a Euchre party the other evening with two other couples. The wife and I had a really good time, the food was good, the card-playing was okay and the company was outstanding. I really just want to say that one great thing about Oak Park is the neighborhoods. We live on the best block in the village and I can't say how lucky we are to be here. It was totally dumb luck that we landed on our block. We were looking for a house in the winter-time when everyone was indoors. We ended up driving up and down the alley peering into back yards for signs of children, plastic crap play structures and the sort.
Which was of course one of our primary neighborhood selection criteria.
Back to the card party- I've posted before about wanting to learn how to play bridge, but this Euchre is a game that is it a bit easier to learn and is easier to teach to newbies. We had only one newby this time but the games still seemed to last a bit longer than expected. Oh well! More time for chatting. I really enjoyed the time of no TV, no email, cell phones only on emergency babysitter-vibrate (thanks Stan and Tina!). Now I can't wait for the summer when all it takes is one 5 year-old kid walking down the street to be the Pied Piper of Wesley, calling all the other kids (and parents) out into the sun.
I wanted to talk about an old-fashioned card party. I grew up in Indiana where my grandparents were and my parents are card-party goers. Our neighbors Neal and Esther hosted a Euchre party the other evening with two other couples. The wife and I had a really good time, the food was good, the card-playing was okay and the company was outstanding. I really just want to say that one great thing about Oak Park is the neighborhoods. We live on the best block in the village and I can't say how lucky we are to be here. It was totally dumb luck that we landed on our block. We were looking for a house in the winter-time when everyone was indoors. We ended up driving up and down the alley peering into back yards for signs of children, plastic crap play structures and the sort.
Which was of course one of our primary neighborhood selection criteria.
Back to the card party- I've posted before about wanting to learn how to play bridge, but this Euchre is a game that is it a bit easier to learn and is easier to teach to newbies. We had only one newby this time but the games still seemed to last a bit longer than expected. Oh well! More time for chatting. I really enjoyed the time of no TV, no email, cell phones only on emergency babysitter-vibrate (thanks Stan and Tina!). Now I can't wait for the summer when all it takes is one 5 year-old kid walking down the street to be the Pied Piper of Wesley, calling all the other kids (and parents) out into the sun.
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