Whoops

I don't think it will be terribly surprising to anyone that I dislike the public school system.  I'm not referring at all to the teachers- there will always be a few great teachers, a few terrible ones and plenty that are adequate.  I think the system as a whole is broken, with the results of standardized testing being held more important than actual learning.  I watch year after year as both of my kids- kids with very different learning styles and personalities- sink into boredom and frustration the third quarter as learning is replaced by test preparation, and then testing and then more testing.

At work and at home I believe strongly that if I am going to complain about a problem, I better at least be actively trying to come up with a solution.  I can certainly accept help from others, but as a responsible adult I should never just expect others to solve my problems.  Some issues are much harder than others, but if I'm having an issue with the tigers, I come home and email other zoo people who work with tigers.  I post questions and google and try to find answers.  I don't whine to my boss and expect her to do all of my work and solve the problem.  Likewise with the kids, I go to other parents or even the internet for advice, but I don't just dump the problem on Gene and expect him to deal with it.  (Unless the problem is new baseball cleats for Logan- he can deal with that.)

School drives me completely nuts because I feel like I'm in completely over my head.  How can I possibly address issues that are driven by the federal and state government???  How can I complain when I feel like I can't do anything?  How can I possibly make time to do anything when I'm already too involved in too many other things?  I know I would be a terrible homeschooler.  I don't have a lot of choices in private schools and really have equal issues with them.  I feel stuck and like I'm being a bad parent- but really, how bad can I be if pretty much everyone else is doing the same thing?  I can't be the only parent in Peoria who feels this way, but what can be done?

Certainly not what I have been doing!  Or I suppose I should say what I have NOT been doing.  This year by the second semester I became so frustrated I pretty much stopped caring.  I literally never looked at Logan's homework folder and never once saw any paper that Kaylin brought home.  I warned both kids that if they had something like a permission slip or needed money for something they BETTER let me know or they were going to miss the field trip or fun and I'd never know about it.  I completely forgot about lunch money, was never sent any notices and the kids were never pestered at school.  They used to only get cheese sandwiches if they owed more than $10.  Well, I went online the night before the last full day of school and each kid owed over $100.  Uhhhh.....  Yeah, I have no excuse for that!  Whoopsies.  Fortunately, both kids are good students and good learners.  I don't need to look at every worksheet and as long as I know they understand everything, I don't care about letter grades.  I mean, Kaylin's straight As in gym do not reflect ANYTHING in reality!  Let's just say that she is most likely not going to grow up and be an athlete.  I am not proud of her accomplishment, though I am proud that she apparently participates enough and is good enough in class to avoid being noticed.  A for Acceptable :)

Right now, I'm just glad the year is over.  I'm glad Logan is done with primary school.  I will start the new school year in the fall with a much better attitude.  I always do.  But...  How do I keep a good attitude when second semester starts and all fun ends and the drilling and drilling for tests begins?  Do I fall into silent acceptance?  Do I start a revolution?  Do I block it out to the point I forget to pay lunch money for a really (REALLY) long time?  I don't know.