Three Kings Day
Last night, my cousins came over to celebrate Three Kings Day - actually, a belated Christmas gathering. It was much effort getting the house clean enough for guests, but fortunately mom made about 90% of the food- which was excellent. I really enjoy these cousins, and it's kind of interesting that all of us (who are within 3 years in age) started reproducing around the same time - as you might guess from the picture of Anthony and his peer-kin. It was an absolutely lovely evening, but I was exhausted at the end of it - partly from the energy expense of hosting, and partly from loss of blood! Early in the morning, I sliced open my palm when I broke a pitcher trying to wash off the front step - my steps now look like a crime scene. Later, I was cutting a nail with scissors and managed to cut a chunk from the adjacent finger. And later, trying to open a can of biscuits, I RIPPED MY FINGERNAIL IN HALF. Like halfway down where it grows to the skin. Ewwww. In movies, they do that to people to get information out of them. I would tell you anything before doing that again.
I had a conversation with one of my cousins about education - they're sending their daughter to a private pre-school that "costs more than UGA." I asked if they would send her to public school or keep her in private, and it was hard for her to answer. Because politically she's a liberal and supports the public school system. But on the other hand, she's a mother with "just one child" that she wants the very best for. I think that's a dilemma for a lot of liberals - the public good is the priority until it comes down to your own child. But when I think of Anthony and school . . . I only worry about his safety. If I can trust the school he goes to deal with his peanut allergy, then I have no qualms with public school. It just doesn't occur to me to worry about the academics that much - maybe I will later on - because I feel like I got so little, academically, from my schooling. (Moreso from the extra things - band, chorus, newspaper.) And yet, I've been able to do what I've wanted in life - I found a career suited to my strengths and was able to develop those strengths through experience and higher ed. That's what I want for Anthony. I'm not an ambitious enough person myself to worry that he might have to go to a state school instead of . . . I don't know, M.I.T. or Yale or something. I just want him to aquire good basic skills - literacy and numeracy - and to be interested in things and pursue those interests. I hope that the public school will be a place where he can do those things.
posted by Nancy at 1/07/2007 10:32:00 AM
11 Comments:
OW! Quit cutting yourself. Are you trying to be emo or something?!?
Jesus - your descriptions of your self-mutilations made my stomach turn! I'm amazed (and glad) you were able to enjoy the rest of the day. ;)
Walter Benn Michaels was on the CBC this morning peddling his book The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality. It sounded really interesting. Apparently it's causing quite a stir in North America.
Anyway, one of the things he mentioned was how (hopefully I won't misrepresent him too much) the left is complicent in the sins of the right. How they want the world to be better, but just assume certain things will never change, like having universal health care in the states, or abolishing the private school system. He said something akin to schools would be better off if they were equal and ergo, got enough funding. But many liberals, while wishing life was great for everybody, aren't willing to sacrifice much. Himself included.
I was pretty impressed w/ the interview and plan on reading the book.
That should've been "complicit".
Sorry.
Helly, I think I was, but subconsciously. . .
Heather, great comment!!! Thanks for the info and link.
OUCH!
Also, I'm pretty much with you on the schooling issue. I got far less out of my public education (and private elementary) than is worth mentioning and everything turned out pretty much ok for me too. I've got the feeling B will have problems in school because he's so active. If his counselors threaten to have him drugged so that he will sit still then I'll go looking for an alternative.
-Sandy
What I would hate is if my child was in a public school (or any school) where she didn't feel challenged. I went to public schools my whole life except for one year - 10th grade. I was the kid who was quiet, who always did well, who never had to study. Everything came pretty easily (except math, after a point) and I never learned to apply myself or to work hard. I thought I was so smart because I'd always been told I was, but when I got out into the wider world I realized that my education was deficient in lots of ways, and most of all I didn't have any good work habits. I became a lazy learner. The one year I went to a very small, liberal, private school changed my life. For the first time I was challenged intellectually, and I felt more alive than ever before. So, while I would like to support the public schools...personally, I wish I had been able to go to the great private school for longer. I wasted a lot of time doing stupid busy-work in school when I could have been really learning and growing.
There's a similar debate going on in the UK at the moment since it emerged that government minister Ruth Kelly has enrolled one of her four children in a private school.
Wouldn't you just hate to be the child of a politician?
p.s. Thanks for the link Heather!
oh my Lord, wouldja stop hurting yourself? (Does it still hurt?)
The school distinctions matter much more in the "developing" world than here. Unless of course it's a truly bad, unsafe, poorly equipped and poorly staffed school. Yet even in terms of daycare/pre-K, compare the "curriculum" at McPhaul's to oh, Jack and Jill's.
I meant to write earlier re: peanut allergy. This was a huge discussion here because there was a kid in our school with a severe allergy. He is now in high school, but each school he has attended changed rules/menus etc to make the entire school peanut free. The high school even took snickers etc out of the vending machines to make sure he didn't accidentally come in contact with it. I talked to some of the teachers at the elementary school, thinking of Anthony and they all said the same thing: teach him early to be careful and care for himself. Don't depend on the school to do it. They said that other kids would sneak in peanut products and try to give them to the kid with the allergies, even sprinkling peanuts around his desk. It was a real problem. That made me so nervous for Anthony! It seems many kids didn't like losing things like peanut butter and took it out on him. Hopefully the kids there are a little more accepting than the ones here.
Okay, that's it, I'm home schooling. That's just horrifying.
I guess I missed delurking week. Anyway, I think it depends on the quality of the school system. Here, I send my boys to private school. If the public school district we're in was better and safer, I would have no problem sending them. If I lived where my home town is, it would definitely be public. I really don't look at it from a political point of view.
Post a Comment
<< Home