i am investigating our options. will let you know.
thank you so much for all of your kind and thoughtful words. it is always so reassuring to know that i am not "the only one".
my mom, an educator for many many years, has often told me of how stuck the educational system is. of how it takes 50 years for change in thinking to take effect. while in medicine new discoveries and better methods are employed so quickly. it baffles me how our kids can be so overlooked.
she also tells me that she really believes that we will be the generation that demands that changes be made.
thank you my friends. my kids thank you too.
and now i will go eat my apple fritter and drink my coffee from stan's. because even though i know it is wrong. it does make me feel better.
sign in the window of stan's, westwood
17 comments:
comfort food sounds good to me! hope you enjoyed your stan's fix. sorry to hear the talk did not turn out the way you hoped it might. thinking of you, shari
ps: love the stan's window photo.
um, seriously? water unit and DISNEY? Okay, I didn't want to say it before, and I NEVER suggest this blindly, but, um, have you considered homeschooling?
was d with you? did he fall out of his chair? this is definetely falling out of ones chair type material.
Many many issues are best handled while under the influence of fritters and coffee.
It will work out. I know it.
(The Little Mermaid? Now, Jaws, THAT'S a water movie...and really, big animatronic sharks are a lot less scary than Disney...;-)
xoJ
Gosh, so sorry you're going through this. I have admired your journey to find the right choice for your family. I stress about this already, but my son is only 2, so I have a while to resolve it. I would love to find a great secular home school group, but so far I've only found extremely religious one. I'm just outside of Ann Arbor, so there is hope. Good luck with the choices ahead.
This is a tough one, Tracy. I'm so sorry the meeting was not what you'd hoped. I know you want this school to work out – heck, as a fellow believer in public education, I want this school to work out – but it is not a failure if it doesn't. The big bug is learning a lot seeing you advocate for her and her class. Good luck going on from here!
tracy, i hope the comfort food helped. as i think i've told you, mia's (public) school has no screen time (no tvs OR computers) *at all* for grades K-3. it can (and should!!) be done in a public school environment.
i can't remember if we've talked about it before, but i also wanted to recommend commercialalert.org for some good information (and ammunition) regarding commercialism in schools. in my opinion showing the little mermaid in school is about marketing. disney and nickolodean provide this crap to schools because it's free marketing for them: and a truly "captive" audience of consumers at that. ugh.
wishing you some resolution about all of this. love your photo!
last time i discussed the little mermaid in a classroom setting was in high school philosophy, we got a big kick out of the recalled video covers that had big phalic references all over them. that is a bit different than kinder isnt it? enjoy the fritter and i know you will figure the right thing for your family.
I almost commented yesterday that I could see the use of a television in the classroom if they were doing a unit on fish and they showed a snippet of ocean fish from the Discovery channel or something, but the little mermaid? wow.
I was wondering today how your meeting would go. I wish it had gone better! It sounds like you had a definite case for comfort food. I know you'll do what is best for your kids -- I just wish your school would make this an easier task for you...
i'm going to delicately echo amanda's comment about homeschooling. i am the last person to tell others to do what i'm doing - but i (thought i) was the last person to homeschool, too. we're just starting our 2nd year and loving it - it's honestly easier than getting her ready for school + homework + stress. you should read 'the well-trained mind' by susan wise bauer. good luck with your research and decision-making!
oh jeez. what a bummer....
apple fritters ARE good... my favorite kind of comfort food...
man oh man.... don't loose hope
i've been reading your blog for awhile now & i don't know if i've ever commented ,but will now. did you talk with the principal after talking with the teacher? maybe they don't know that she is using t.v. if you get nowhere with the principal, go on to the school superintendent.i know it's a pain, but that's the way that system works. use lisa's information to back you up! it's a real drag that you are going through this ,but look at the bright side -you found out quickly instead of months later!
oh- & your choice of comfort food sounds really good.
Yes, well if that is the system, then I will certainly be part of the generation that demands change. That is bull.
Enjoy the fritter wholeheartedly.
Hi, I've been reading your blog and just had to comment on your situation. In a former life I was a kindergarten teacher, but am now at home with my 4 year old. One of the comments that was posted said that "disney and nickolodean provide this crap to schools because it's free marketing for them: and a truly "captive" audience of consumers at that." That is actually not true. There are strict copyright laws that make it wrong/illegal to show a copyrighted film to a large group of people. At my school and district we were forbidden to show films, especially Disney films because they were known for coming after educators who broke copyright laws and showed their films in school without permission. Teachers were threatened with losing their credentials for doing so.
I totally understand your frustration with the situation. You may even want to talk to the principal about the situation. It should not be that way! Hang in there! I'd love to know how it changes when the class size gets worked out. (Again a typical thing for classes to be large until the numbers get worked out then the district gives the ok to open another class. Frustrating, but typical!)
Listening here. I had no idea they used television in school to show commerically available shows and movies to kids. I'm completely shocked and discouraged. A huge TV watcher myself, too. Please hang in there and let us know what happens.
hey tracy, i know that your head is already swimming with all this, but i did want to make sure that no one thought i was misrepresenting anything. nickelodean does provide full length versions of it's shows to schools through "cable in the classroom".
disney does not provide full-length versions of its movies, no, but it does have an entire website "edu-station" devoted to selling disney materials to teachers. for more information, contact your "disney educational representative".
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