Sunday, November 8, 2009

Autumn madness



Well we have had enough drama packed into this year to last a decade . I am hoping I have had my fair share of crises for 2009. There have been very few gaps to blog and as I write now I am also micro managing squabbles between children with one eyeball on the computer and the other on the watch out for potential mischief. Silence is always a bad sign.
Both Gabe and Grace have started at new schools . Grace at her new High School LACHSA -specialising in the Arts where she is studying Drama. She had to go through several grueling auditions to get a place . It is a 15 mile commute on the freeway from our part of town and luckily I have joined a car pool along with several other "Moms" and we take turns to schlep across LA . I am learning terms like "freshman' "Sophemore" etc . Going to the school is like walking on the set of "Fame" , youths doing piroettes in the halls, singing at full blast and trombones playing in the corridors . The children all have vocations and seem to love the school. I breath a sigh a relief that its no longer about competative child spoiling ...that one is not "less than " for not wearing the $200 jeans that are so' In". It no longer "So and so has a credit card and a new lap top and a digital camera and an account at Nordsrums , not to mention a giant flat screen in their bedroom etc etc" and so "Why can't I?" We are so lucky to have found good public schools where material pressure is noticeably less.
Gabriels school is near the airport and mercifully take s the yellow school bus departing at 7.20 am sharp . The school "Open Charter Magnet" which is a constructivist school where children learn about subjects in context rather than from a curriculum . Gabriel has responded well and has regain his love of learning . The children do not sit at desks , they move around the class room, they do writers workshops they explore , they garden..The whole thing is inspirational..and he has learnt more in this public school in a month than he did from his previous private school in a year.