armed ducks

2-12-13

My ducks are lining up and they are ready for battle.

One of the school board people I had bombarded with emails last week contacted me again yesterday. She had left me a message on Friday to let me know that she spoke to the principal and that the school was looking into my complaint. Yesterday, she called to check to see if my complaint had been addressed. Poor lady was really just checking up, but she caught a lot of my wrath.

She told me that the principal had spoken to her and that she and Ms. Jenkins seemed to feel that the homework was appropriate for the age level. They also said that they would be more than willing to reduce the homework for Bobby if it seemed too much. This was the most condescending thing ever. I tore into this woman, explaining that it wasn’t that I wanted it reduced for my son. I wanted the homework in general to be reevaluated. She tried to explain that some of the work I mentioned was not mandatory, to which I said even if you take out the book reports and just look at the packet alone, it was more work than an 8 year old needs to do each week. She was very nice, but clearly not the one to be talking to.

She told me she would relay my concerns to the principal and have her contact me. By the time I was getting home with the boys I had a voicemail from the principal. She claimed to have emailed me yesterday morning (she did not) to set up a meeting. I emailed her back and told her that we would like to set up a meeting. I asked her if we could do this on the 21^st. Yes, this is not until next week, but we are gearing up for battle.

Ken took the liberty of doing some research for me. He spoke to 2 2^nd grade teachers in the Manhattan Beach School District. This is a school whose API is 957. They clearly know how to educate their kids. The teachers here also know that homework isn’t a crucial part of this education, especially for kids in grade school. One teacher said that they only homework assigned is any work not completed in class, which is maybe a page. The other teacher said she maybe only assigns 2 pages. All of the homework mentioned includes spelling. They only assign 4 days worth of work, also. If you compare them to us, it means that to their 2 pages, we have 4 worksheets and 4 sentences and 15 words.

The lady on the phone also mentioned that the principal and teachers at Halldale seem to think that the homework they assign should only take 20 minutes a night, 4 nights a week, not including reading. Fuck you, Halldale.

The other thing mentioned was that no other parents were complaining. Ken went and spoke to Jessica’s parents. Jessica is incredibly studious and in Bobby’s class. Ken opened the flood gates with her parents who feel as strongly as we do that the amount of homework is insane. I spoke to Jessica and she told me she does homework every single day in order to keep up. They told us that they are more than happy to add their names to the list of people unhappy with homework.

The plan now is to try and speak to some of the other parents over the course of the next couple days. We want to see if anyone else feels the same. I am even tempted to write up a petition. You see, I am not just trying to get my son special treatment. I am trying to fix this. These are good kids. They should not all be bogged down with homework at such a young age. They need to run. They need to play. They need to enjoy school. Right now, they are not.

I did have a minor panic attack after my conversation with the lady on the phone as I headed out to get the boys. I was worked up and in full anxiety mode. I even texted Ken how I should have taken a Xanax. He tried to get me one before I went in to get them, but he just missed me. It is probably for the best. If I can calm myself without it, it is better. Granted, I did turn to rum…

I spent the afternoon trying to get as much of Bobby’s homework done as possible. We slammed through a ton. He and Dax both seemed to understand that their mother was in a manic state. I wasn’t yelling or anything  (Still going strong on that!) but I think they understood the urgency in getting things done. I took advantage of this and we kicked some ass. Hopefully today we will finish his packet so that we can work on his biography.

The good news is I slept. I did wake up at some point and was up for a bit. Breezer was being all sweet and curled up with me like a little teddy bear. It was really cute. Once she did that, I was able to go back to sleep. I am a firm believer that cats seem to know when I need calming for sleep purposes and they provide their services. It is why I can never live without cats.

I managed to also print out invitations for Bobby to take to his class. I will be curious as to how many people show.