Where did the week go? Whew, I am tired.... thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. What happened this week? Hmmm, let's see....Xander still is having problems with his Achilles Tendinitis plus he had a good case of migraines this week. Hannah is Ms. Artsy Fartsy and I am positive will some day do something in the arts, be it fashion, painting, drawing, who knows, she is very much whatever side of the brain the arts come from, that's her, lol! Christian is doing great in school and no longer "needs" me to stay, he walks in and barely says goodbye before heading off to play with his friends. He of course, still has mommy-itis and needs me every other waking moment of the day (and night, I slept with him last night just because), he is sooo pitiful, wink!
Let's see, I have decided that my new mission in life besides harnessing my own personal, creative side with my new biz, is to take on the state of CA school board. Why? Because I tried to get Xander into the Individual P.E. exemption program since he plays water polo no less than 9 1/2 hours per week but usually an avg week is 12-14 hours of actual pool and play time and into a Spanish class. For those of you not familiar with h2o polo, it is a combo of soccer, basketball, wrestling and a converted swimming process. It is rigorous, tough and really has helped his heart, lung capacity and muscular tone overall. It is not a sport for the weak and weary. This combined with the physical fitness requirements that he has to earn for Eagle Scout which are pretty strict, are measured over vast amounts of time and must be improved upon to advance, I think that he certainly gets in his PE time.
He accidentally got placed in Spanish the first week of school because I forgot to turn in the slip that would have placed him in advanced band. After we got that all straightened out and he started band, he decided that he also wanted to take Spanish as well. I thought, hey great, I'll go to the school and see what I can do. It is at the same time as PE, he has all A.P. (adv. placement) classes so why wouldn't they let him switch? Well, oh my goodness, I have never in my life been so appalled at our school system and how we blatantly discriminate against children that want to learn.
You see, in CA, P.E. is the ONLY class that is required and if you do not take P.E. you are kept from participating in other electives EVEN IF YOU ARE PLACED IN THE IPE PROGRAM based on a physical disability, doctors note or whtever. Here, beginning in 7th grade, you can take zero period, which begins BEFORE the school even opens for class. Zero period P.E. is for those students in 7th & 8th grade that want to take two electives, this is not offered for 6th grade as it is not in the budget. And once you get to H.S., you never have to take P.E. ever again if you choose not to. However, if you do not take zero period P.E., you can NOT take those 2 electives, you are only allowed to take one even if you are on an I.P.E. (Ind. P.E. plan) that exempts you from the class. IPE is also not allowed for you if you are on a team sport, only individual sports where times can be measured, ie swimming, diving, ballerina, gymnastics, etc.. They (the school board) feels that unless you can measure their individual time then you cannot measure if the child is really doing anything while on the "team". While I understand some of that reasoning, I also understand that for a sport like h20 polo which also goes to the JO's just like swimming does, that there should be exemptions to every rule. I was told that if I would like to put my child on a swim team as most water polo players are required to be as they get older, that I was certainly welcome to reapply after he has individual times.
I was like, "excuse me"? Have you lost your mind? You want me to put my son in another sport when he is already over extending himself in the one he is in to get JO (junior olympic) times? Okay, so when does he get to be a kid and run in the street playing with his friends? When does he get downtime?
The fact that they set the bar so high for these kids and yet ask them to participate in more sports to be exempt from them at school, is absolutely ridiculous to me. You have child wanting, asking to learn and I have the school district saying, we're sorry, we can't accomodate you. He can take Spanish along with band in 7th grade AS LONG AS HE ADDS ONE MORE CLASS (ON TOP OF THE ADDED SPANISH) TO TAKE ZERO PERIOD P.E.! You see band students have their hands tied because if you are in band, band is your only choice unless you are willing to jump through hoops, add zero period p.e. and be willing to add extra school time to your day. I am APPALLED!!! I am so upset that the public school systems have their hands tied because of the No Child Left Behind and teach to the slowest learner in the class so that they won't miss anything. Even though Xander is in AP classes, he is afforded no more benefits than the regular student. He is merely placed in a class with other like students and has to probably jump through even more hoops to be able to learn what he wants. Trust me, I grew up in the public school system, however I also went to private school. Xander has been in private school and public school as well. I can tell you right now that if I could afford it, all three of my kids would be in private in a skinny minute. The differences are wide and vast. No all public schools are created equal but the one's set up as European Immersion schools (like the one that Xander attended in Oregon or the other one's I have visited even here in CA) are phenomenal and the public school system could really learn something from them.
If you made it to the bottom, great. If you fell asleep, I apologize. I feel better now that I got that off my chest. Maybe I can have a civil conversation with the school district. If you have any ideas, suggestions or opinions, I am all ears.
So, that was my week so far. I got new pictures posted on the AHC Photoworks http://www.ahcphotoworks.blogspot.com/ of some of the things I made for customers this past week. The 4 coasters I made as a thank you gift for our friends in Costa Rica. There is a week to 10 day turn around time for custom items, if you want something, let me know, email me a picture or art work or whatever, I'll email you a price list and we'll go from there!
Take care.
All my love,
Kimberly
No comments:
Post a Comment