Shabby Tabby

Every year a group of college students called the Neverland Players puts on a performance of short plays written by students from M3's school. Her play "Shabby Tabby" (concerning a girl who finds a kitten and asks her mom if she can keep it...hmmmm) was chosen this year. We weren't even notified, though! We found out by accident and rushed to catch the last performance. That silliness aside, all the plays were very cute; the Neverland players did a great job; and M3 got to go up at the end to receive some very loud applause and cheers. I think she was a bit overwhelmed! Afterward, the thespians chatted with her...it was very cute. A very fun experience...thanks, Neverland Players!

What has M3 been doing while she gets to stay home because her school has electrical problems, you ask?

Breakfast.
Lunch.
Thanksgiving dinner.

I got word today that the electrical problems are fixed and they will be back to school on Monday.

By the way...

M4's opinion of apple picking? "This is grand!"

Apple picking!

Every year Mark's colleague Luther and his wife Jenny (who are both seriously awesome people by the way) generously invite people out to pick apples on their land. Well, yesterday was a gorgeous 80 degree fall day to pick apples and tromp about....

M4 looking for minnows.

Big M and little M choosing the best apples!

My attempt at nature photography.

M3 on the bridge over the pond. Notice the stylish footwear.

M and M having fun falling out of the hammock.

There is a sweet little cabin they built on the land (no plumbing, woot!), and a thought occurred to me while we were there. So I asked Jenny if we could possibly rent it for a night? And she said no, we couldn't rent it, but they would love for us to come stay in it! Of course, the kids are over the moon at the idea! Jenny said we should stay a week (ha ha), and M3 immediately seized on that idea and said I would have to drive them to school, though. Yeah, I think we'll start with a weekend night.

Public school quality food for thought...

Thanks to Erik for pointing me toward the Stop Homework website, a site devoted to the argument that there is "very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school." There's a lot of good food for thought at the site, all of it deliciously debatable of course!! Now I know M & M need to learn to manage homework. We choose to send them to school (not that I haven't contemplated home schooling...sorry, kids, Mom would probably lose it). I do think socialization and learning to work with "the system" are both essential.

At any rate, the following was posted on the Stop Homework website, and it distilled my feelings about the d#*! reading log:

I Hate Reading Logs
by FedUp Mom

Every time I think we’ve solved the school problem something comes along to bite me in the rear. This week it’s the dreaded reading log. We found out about it from a letter the teachers sent home:

“Your child will be expected to read every night. We ask that you sign the log each night … We will also check the log regularly, in order to ensure follow through on your child’s part… Please sign the form below and return it to school tomorrow with your child.”

And now, the fun part:

“Thank you for your partnership in your child’s education.” (!)

And how does following the teacher’s directions make me a partner exactly? I feel more like an unpaid employee. Wait a minute — we’re paying them!

There was a little form at the bottom of the letter that said:

“I have read the above letter and agree to help my child by signing his/her log each night.”

I crossed this out and wrote in:

“We trust our daughter to do her reading.”

Then we signed it.

Then we sent the following e-mail to the teacher:

Teacher X: we have chosen not to participate in the reading log. We’ve experienced reading logs before and have these objections:

1.) They turn reading into a chore.

2.) They send a message that we don’t trust (daughter) to do the reading without meddling and micromanaging.

(Daughter) will do the reading she needs to do, but she won’t be logging the pages. Thank you.

I’m hoping that will be the end of it. I’m really tired of conferences and I’m sure we all have better things to do with our time.

Rocky Mountain National Park

M3 wrote this poem today. It seemed appropriate, considering I am so excited about PBS' doc on the National Parks which starts Sunday!

In these impressive slopes
There's many kinds of species
The soil's rich in nutrients
And though you may see feces

The Rockies are the greatest place
Intirely to be
A little sun and so much fun
To him and you and me!

P.S. Thanks to everyone for the supportive words re: M3's homework situation. We met with her teacher, and she was very receptive to our concerns. She said she'd "been paying more attention to M3" since I had stormed in on my rant morning. Maybe the attention is helping M3 stay on task at school or alleviating some of her frustration, because the homework situation has improved. Or maybe it made the teacher realize she was giving too much. I don't know...but it's working for right now!

Sometimes the cat is so patient...

Or maybe he's just too sleepy to protest.