Thursday, October 04, 2007

Trapped under the fuzz of an ever present headache.

I have had a migraine for the past few days, and therefore have not been up to much beyond nursing the baby on the couch. Sadly, this also means that not much of interest has occurred, except for back to school night, and national delurking day.
The Great Mofo Delurk 2007
(If you lurk, say hello! I will try and hit the blogs I skulk around in and say hello as well!)

To begin with, Marlena's school is located in one large "group learning" room. Yes, her class is separated from the other classes by a few bookshelves and a chalk board. I would find that learning environment beyond distracting, but Marlena (and her teacher) assures me is it not. Her teacher is very nice, and seems very interested in teaching my child to love education, which is by far more important than teaching her social studies and math at this age. Even better, she only has 18 students in her class, instead of the 28 she had last year. This means smaller groups, more individual attention, etc.

Their class cubby has it's own computers, a mini-library, and a little fold up closet for the kids stuff. It is a cozy and colorful little set up.

Of course, while we as a nation spend billions on the war in Iraq and research for more advance people killing weapons, my child's teacher is limited to two reams of paper per month, for a class of 18. She often has to send the children home with a book, instead of sending the kids home with homework, simply because she is out of paper to run copies of the homework off on.

Lee and I will be giving her a case of paper this week, because really, REALLY?

She also requested a donation of glue sticks for art projects, as they are almost out of glue.

In fact, in lieu of bothering all my friends and family with the myriad of fund-raising items that are sent out each month, I have a new plan. I won't be asking you all to buy wrapping paper through the school, or cookie dough you don't need, or sausage and cheese sets. Instead, I am going to ask you to please send me a small check to support Marlena's education. After receiving said small checks, I will confer with her teacher, and then go to Costco or Staples and buy the supplies Marlena's class needs for the year. That way we can all participate in her education directly, instead of through an intermediary who will skim 50% to 80% of the money off the top. You can also click on the ChipIn widget on the sidebar to contribute.

I am so tired of seeing my daughter's education suffer for lack of money. I am tired of seeing companies make money off of school fund-raising. Why on earth is it more acceptable for a cookie dough company to sell cookie dough through the parents and children, and donate half the profits to the school than it is for each parent to send the school a check at the beginning of the year? I don't want the added calories, I just want to support my child's education.

So, that rant is over, for now. Oliver, having fallen asleep in his johnny jump up again, is playing my tune. He awoke as soon as I moved him from what appeared to be a hideously uncomfortable position, but was apparently actually quite cosy, and is now demanding to be held.
Oliver asleep in his Johnny Jump-Up:

4 comments:

Cat said...

While Elliot is yet to be in public school, I've seen his preschool classes lacking supplies. I've done two different things depending on time of year: buy school supplies as they clearance at Target. Who can say no to $.10 box of crayons (no, they're not crayola but kids need crayons!). And construction paper and scissors and glue. Or, I've given a gift card to a place of the teacher's choosing. You're putting some of the work on her, but she might find things on sale and have project ideas that would never occur to parents. Regardless, I think your idea is great. And, those of us that can cover the gap should - not all kids are so lucky. At the start of the year I read on someone's blog about their kid's school supplies. The list was extensive but the supplies went into a general pile and were redistributed. It narrowed the haves and the have-nots.

As for the migraine - that sucks. Sorry.

Yvonne Montgomery said...

Boo headache! Yay proactive responses to educating Miss Bear! (Chipping in soon, not today.) And what a cute baby boy. Babies are like cats: disturb their sleep at your peril.

Amy Y said...

I hate school fundraisers. The only one we participate in is Boxtops for Education because I don't have to ask anyone to buy something they don't want. Our teacher is pretty good about asking for things she needs (ie: reams of paper). Of course, she only gets 5 from the 22ish parents. Nice. But they get those kids all ramped up at fund raising ralleys and it makes you feel like an ass for not participating... Ugh.
Oh, and I'm not a lurker. But you probably already know that :)
Hope your head feels better...
My kids used to sleep like that all the time! You'd think they'd wake up with such a crook in the neck!

ellen said...

Luckily for you since you aren't home owners in the boro, you don't pay the astronomical property taxes too. I pay out the arse and yet there isn't enough money at our school either. I'd gladly write a check at the beginning of the year if it'd get me out of all the fund raisers. A lot of parents don't have that option.

Now if you get Marlena into girl scouts they do fund raisers too... want to buy some nuts? JK.

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