My family is filled with public educators. I believe in that model.
me too! it killed me to have consider a private school - and that was a disaster. ha.
my daughter was quietly content to observe all that was going on around her, politely sitting and listening to the presentation (geared toward parents) re: kindergarten readiness skills that parents should "work on" over the summer... all of which she knew.
seriously - it's like you read my mind. i'd met with a GREAT new principal at our local PS a few months ago, and i was SURE DD would be going there next year. then we went to the orientation night so that DD could have a look around and meet some kids. we walk in and sit down and she slings an arm over the back of her chair, looks at her contemporaries screaming and running around the back of the gym, gives me a world-weary eyeroll and says, "WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS?" she then listens actively to an hour of presentations about curriculum and fundraising. she leads the applause, she asks several questions during the Q&A, she behaves like she's 40. and people are staring, like always.
i came home and cried. my poor husband (who only made the end of the orientation - dang transit!) couldn't understand how the meeting could have been so scary for me. i'm not really a crier - i tend to fall more on the "rage" side of things - but i just had this sense of rising panic. she's just. so. different.
i think i'm going to go and systematically read through all your posts, HK - i feel so incredibly hopeful now. thank you, again - i'm a fan.
