So, in my quest to continue to give the public schools a chance to provide some positive pieces to my children's lives, we attended a literacy night at a local elementary school. The premise was fairly simple: some of the teachers volunteered to come in and read some stories to the families (for no pay, of course, because certainly we as a society couldn't put education first and pay teachers for all the many things they do).
Well, perhaps others had a better experience, but I know for a fact that many did not. Let me explain. So, the first room we went to for a story started off her speech by announcing "Sorry I'm not dressed better for this event, but I don't like Goldilocks or Dinosaurs." as she's holding up the book (that I can only assume SHE chose.). It's kinda like when a student is giving an oral report, and begins with "Sorry that this isn't very good..." before they even begin. I was somewhat surprised that she would be so discouraging and negative to a group of people she was supposed to be encouraging to enjoy literacy.
After we suffered through her book (the book itself was good, but the delivery was monotone and clearly she did not want to be there...), families were invited into the cafeteria for popcorn. We noticed them starting to pop the popcorn as we arrived, and 20 minutes later they only had about 30 small bags filled. We grabbed 2 for the kids and sat down and ate. Once the rest of the 30 bags were gone (in about 2 minutes flat), the rest of the 50 or so families had to stand in a long, slow line in front of the popcorn machine to wait for them to pop more. Not very well planned at all, I'd say.
The time for the 2nd round of stories had elapsed, because there were still lines out the door for popcorn and apple cider. It was quite a cluster. My kids were getting fairly over stimulated (as was I), since other kids were restless and impatient all around us.
So, we left post haste and came home to read stories of our own.
I know the intentions were there...the execution, however...
Public school 0, Home school 1
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