Life has just got in the way, you know? Like I get up at 7am, am at work by 8:20am, finish anywhere between 5:30pm and 8pm, come home (usually via the grocery store and more often than not via Beer, Wine and Spirits, where if you are friends with me on Facebook, you will have been following the Mrs BWS saga of bad service - I should post those status updates here - apparently they are hilarious), cook dinner, check Facebook (and update on Mrs BWS because there is NOTHING on TV) and am in beddy-byes by 9:30pm, where I toss and turn until about 1am because HORMONES.
So, I rarely have enough "oomph" left in me to sit up and miniaturise photos (which I never had to do on Blogger!) and blog about a long forgotten about holiday. But it's a good memory for me, so I will finish the holiday posts eventually.
And so, here we are. I wanted to touch base with you, because we are in the process of trying to decide which school to send Wombat Girl and Video Boy to next year! Decisions, decisions...
They need something else better than a half-assed attempt at homeschooling from me. I wish financially I could stay and home and do amazing stuff with them and join in all the homeschool groups, but :-( I can't. So I think, on balance, they will be better off at school. We just need to find the right fit.
So we have been to see two schools nearby, had interviews, shown documentation and have been accepted by both schools. One a public senior school (Years 10, 11 and 12) who have a specialist Science/Maths program (which about 10 local kids take up) - the rest of the year is made up of a specialist sports program, which means many big, boofy football types wandering around the corridors. The other is a Catholic school, who have Japanese and a Learning Support teacher who actually does individual learning plans for the kids. Next week, the kids will spend a day in each school on "transition day" and will get to get a feel for each.
But you know what? Sitting in interview rooms, talking to teachers, is DOING MY HEAD IN. I can't get past that overwhelming feeling they don't "get" kids like mine. I have some ish-shues with some of the words that are coming out mouths:
- a vice-principal confusing ADHD and Aspergers (I mean, really?)
- a campus head asking Video Boy what he will do if he forgets his Ritalin (well, duh, he will follow procedure - he doesn't have to make the procedure up, dickhead)
- a Learning Support teacher who states that the research shows that acceleration of gifted kids leads to poor outcomes (what, like Miraca Gross' longitudinal study showing that for exceptionally and profoundly gifted kids NOT accelerating actually harms the kids socially and emotionally?)
- to the Head Teacher who wants to stretch them "sideways" because it's important they are well-rounded. (why is this? Show me the research!)
I dunno. Just a few alarm bells ringing.
But we also KNOW it's an imperfect system. We know there are opportunities (an actual real science lab, chess tournaments, actual read other children) which we aren't accessing through homeschooling currently. There are pros and there are cons. I'm just hoping that the cons don't away the pros...
I'll try to be back next week to let you know how the kids got on and if we are any closer to making a decision!
