17.6.10

School year is over --- Now time to get to work !

I wonder as the school year ends, one filled with bumps along the path, some smiles , lots of tears and joy on the final day, If my reactions to any issues this year,  made school a little bit harder for my daughter. You see, I know the Education law, very well. I know the policies and procedures of her school board. I specialize in working with families, engaging and working alongside them as they navigate a variety of life's challenges - including the Toronto school system. Oh yeah , and I am reactive in nature. ( with loads of tolerance too)

I think I may be (to some) slightly intimidating - and for that I am truly sorry. School is not the place it was when I was a kid, the teachers don't smell like cookies and have soft laps. They don't teach the children solve their problems the react to them, they have too many kids in their class, they have pressure to start teaching curriculum too early and they are in a crazy climate of expectations and change. I get all of that - but at the end of the day - Education is a right not only in this province but in this country - this whole half of the world - and the system is failing our kids. The schools need to start teaching to today's children, not the children of my generation or the one before. -- I get it is a process, I get it takes time -- but by then it will be another decade that has past. - but it will not be at the expense of my child's happiness and self-esteem. You want to see a pissed off mommy - mess with my kid!  (once I get past the tears of anger and stress)

Maybe knowing too much about the school system , is too much - I will work along side the school and do everything I can, but I expect the school to do the same, instead of hiding behind inexperience, or mistaken truths, and passive aggressive remarks- a school culture needs to support the community the children are in -- and this year I feel the school my child attends, and to be honest many other schools I know - were way off the mark. (  I am terribly grateful that I am not the only one who feels this way -- so for once - it isn't just me!)

I think the system overhaul that is needed isn't just in what they teach, it is in how they teach, how they communicate with parents and how they meet the needs of their community. Teachers -- and I know some good ones ( even when I am mad I can still say that !) play a critical role in the development of our children's lives - parents are the primary teachers and always will be - but a good teacher can take a child and raise her to the stars - a bad teacher can ruin her learning experience and create a learning history that is a struggle for years to come.

The school life of a child is one that should be cherished and  protected, it is one that they will never repeat again,and while the effects of any kindergarten difficulties will not be felt in college or the years beyond, it is the 13 or 14 years at the beginning of life that build the foundations for the next 75 years.

If you know a child, and I am sure you do, or you live near a school. Maybe a solution we could all start participating in, is supporting our schools and even the teachers,  and  educating them is the needs of our communities and finding what it is we as a society can do, to help raise the next generation of kids with strong foundations.  Parents don't need to be alone in this process - because even if you don't have kids -- someone you love likely does. Chris Spence the director of the 2nd largest school board in North America ( The Toronto Public School board) has a vision of hope -- do you know what it is?

This is in his Vision of Hope: (Chris Spence)

Our job is to teach the kids we have;


not the kids we used to have,

not the kids we wish we had,

not the kids who exist only in our dreams.


“In the global economy & society of the 21st century, all children will be left behind if their education is not organized with a global context in mind.”
                      GOLDMAN SACHS FOUNDATION


We know the problems , I am willing to be part of the solution -- are you?

offically off my soapbox!

And because I can't say it out loud at my house -- no more school , no more books, no more teachers dirty looks ---!! Yeah School is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I promise next year -- is a whole new chapter of success!

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