Where was I? Ah yes, my evil genius son had figured out before my very eyes that if I am not with him, I don't know if he's following the rules or not.
We had a long talk about trust and character. I said I wanted him to grow up to be a person who always does the right thing even if he knows he can't get caught doing the wrong thing. Amelia got in to it also and now they are allowed to chew gum at school and they won't try to sneak it home.
The chore chart is working marvelously. I suspect in a week or two they will start campaigning for a raise.
Amelia found someone at school to teach her to play chess. She is also trying to start a business that involves making paper bags but she keeps stapling the tops closed.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Money,Money,Money
The kids have discovered the school store.
I hate school stores. All they sell is crap so I'm a double bad guy-one for not giving the kids money and two for not giving the kids money to buy junk food. I understand they are often fund raisers but like all the other shit schools sell to fundraise I wish they would just ask me for a check.
Anyway,not only is there a school store but sometimes the kids have to pay fines for certain infractions, I think not signing in is one. Each student can open a discretionary account that they can draw from. We haven't gotten to that point yet. After a few days of being nagged for money we instituted a set of chores that they can do to earn cash. They have chores already that they have to do because they live in the house but this is extra stuff. We pay slave wages-filling or emptying the dishwasher for 5 cents,straightening up little areas for 10 cents,etc. The money they earn is what they have to spend at Sudbury. Amelia earned 2.25, Des 1.75.
This has led to a couple of interesting discussions. Amelia quickly realised that she was not going to have money to spend every single day so she decided to have one day to spend a dollar and she put the rest in her piggy bank. Des was a littled miffed that he wasn't getting as much as Amelia but since it was equated with how much work he did he couldn't blame it on me being unfair(a favorite pasttime). He decided that he would spend some money on gum and save the rest.
Now, I don't let my kids chew gum. It's bad for their teeth and, even though I hated teachers for saying this, it's a really unattractive habit. I don't chew gum anymore because I'm sensitive to some of the ingredients and it gives me canker sores. I told Des that he's not allowed to chew gum and he said "But mom, you won't be there so you can't stop me, right?" Not in an obnoxious way, more like he was reasoning out loud. Now, dear reader, how would you have responded to this?
I hate to end on a cliffhanger but I'm being paged by a wailing baby. Adieu.
I hate school stores. All they sell is crap so I'm a double bad guy-one for not giving the kids money and two for not giving the kids money to buy junk food. I understand they are often fund raisers but like all the other shit schools sell to fundraise I wish they would just ask me for a check.
Anyway,not only is there a school store but sometimes the kids have to pay fines for certain infractions, I think not signing in is one. Each student can open a discretionary account that they can draw from. We haven't gotten to that point yet. After a few days of being nagged for money we instituted a set of chores that they can do to earn cash. They have chores already that they have to do because they live in the house but this is extra stuff. We pay slave wages-filling or emptying the dishwasher for 5 cents,straightening up little areas for 10 cents,etc. The money they earn is what they have to spend at Sudbury. Amelia earned 2.25, Des 1.75.
This has led to a couple of interesting discussions. Amelia quickly realised that she was not going to have money to spend every single day so she decided to have one day to spend a dollar and she put the rest in her piggy bank. Des was a littled miffed that he wasn't getting as much as Amelia but since it was equated with how much work he did he couldn't blame it on me being unfair(a favorite pasttime). He decided that he would spend some money on gum and save the rest.
Now, I don't let my kids chew gum. It's bad for their teeth and, even though I hated teachers for saying this, it's a really unattractive habit. I don't chew gum anymore because I'm sensitive to some of the ingredients and it gives me canker sores. I told Des that he's not allowed to chew gum and he said "But mom, you won't be there so you can't stop me, right?" Not in an obnoxious way, more like he was reasoning out loud. Now, dear reader, how would you have responded to this?
I hate to end on a cliffhanger but I'm being paged by a wailing baby. Adieu.
Monday, September 10, 2007
A typical day
Someone asked me what a typical day is like at Sudbury.
the school is open from 8:30 to 4:30. My kids usually get there by 10. Every kid has to sign in as soon as they get there. There is a large refigerator in the near the entrance where lunches are stored. There are also cubbies where the kids can keep other stuff, coats, backpacks,etc. Once they are there, the day is theirs to spend. There is a playroom, a computer room, a library, an art room, a kitchen, a music room, and a couple of other rooms and lounges that are multipurpose.
Everydayat 11:00 is JC. The Judicial Committee meets, looks at the write ups from the day before and calls people in to discuss them and mete out justice. Both staff and students serve on the committee and both staff and students can be written up.
At some point in the afternoon cleaning assignments are handed out. They involve sweeping, vacuuming, emptying out garbages,stuff like that. The staff cleans the bathrooms.
Every thursday at 1:00 is the school meeting. This is democracy in action! An agenda is posted and during the meeting votes are taken on various motions that are brought before the group. A staff member told me that at the first meeting of this year, the staff was outnumbered by the five year olds.
When the kids leave for the day they have to sign out.
When is lunch? When they are hungry.
When do they spend time on academics? When and if they feel like it.
What do they do all day? Whatever they want. That's not exactly true. Sudbury is very unstructured in terms of content. The kids are encouraged to follow their own interests. However it is highly structured in terms of what behavior is expected and allowed. They hold the kids responsible for their choices but not with abstract threats like "how will you get into a good college or how do you expect to get a good job if you don't do your homework?" but in a very concrete way by having immediate consequences for their actions. It can be as harsh as getting suspended or as simple as missing out on an activity because they didn't sign up or having to do a cleaning job when they littered. Its really funny when you walk into this school that is basically set up like a house with no bedrooms and has the reputation of "the kids can do whatever they want" and one of the first things I noticed were all the signs and lists and rules that are posted everywhere.
What does the staff do? I'm not sure. the administrative stuff definitely. I think their role is to help the kids achieve their goals. So if a kid comes and says, I want to play the guitar, they might show them where the music room is. If a kid comes and says "i'm bored" they will probably say "Well, you should try and think of something to do. Would you like a suggestion?"
I'll tell ya, its not easy to send your kid to a sudbury school. It takes a real leap of faith.
the school is open from 8:30 to 4:30. My kids usually get there by 10. Every kid has to sign in as soon as they get there. There is a large refigerator in the near the entrance where lunches are stored. There are also cubbies where the kids can keep other stuff, coats, backpacks,etc. Once they are there, the day is theirs to spend. There is a playroom, a computer room, a library, an art room, a kitchen, a music room, and a couple of other rooms and lounges that are multipurpose.
Everydayat 11:00 is JC. The Judicial Committee meets, looks at the write ups from the day before and calls people in to discuss them and mete out justice. Both staff and students serve on the committee and both staff and students can be written up.
At some point in the afternoon cleaning assignments are handed out. They involve sweeping, vacuuming, emptying out garbages,stuff like that. The staff cleans the bathrooms.
Every thursday at 1:00 is the school meeting. This is democracy in action! An agenda is posted and during the meeting votes are taken on various motions that are brought before the group. A staff member told me that at the first meeting of this year, the staff was outnumbered by the five year olds.
When the kids leave for the day they have to sign out.
When is lunch? When they are hungry.
When do they spend time on academics? When and if they feel like it.
What do they do all day? Whatever they want. That's not exactly true. Sudbury is very unstructured in terms of content. The kids are encouraged to follow their own interests. However it is highly structured in terms of what behavior is expected and allowed. They hold the kids responsible for their choices but not with abstract threats like "how will you get into a good college or how do you expect to get a good job if you don't do your homework?" but in a very concrete way by having immediate consequences for their actions. It can be as harsh as getting suspended or as simple as missing out on an activity because they didn't sign up or having to do a cleaning job when they littered. Its really funny when you walk into this school that is basically set up like a house with no bedrooms and has the reputation of "the kids can do whatever they want" and one of the first things I noticed were all the signs and lists and rules that are posted everywhere.
What does the staff do? I'm not sure. the administrative stuff definitely. I think their role is to help the kids achieve their goals. So if a kid comes and says, I want to play the guitar, they might show them where the music room is. If a kid comes and says "i'm bored" they will probably say "Well, you should try and think of something to do. Would you like a suggestion?"
I'll tell ya, its not easy to send your kid to a sudbury school. It takes a real leap of faith.
Leting Go
Each morning the kids and I negotiate their pick-up time from school. I'm always trying to get them to stay later, they always want me to come earlier. When I drop them off, we negotiate the amount of time that i'm going to stay with them before leaving. They refuse to just get out of the car and let me drive off. I have found myself getting a little impatient with them sometimes and thinking, aren't they a little old to be this clingy?,before coming to my senses and remembering that they are only 5 and in a new situation.
Today, Desmond brought a backpack to school but he had no cubby to put it in because when a staff member was helping them to choose cubbies and put their name on it, Des didn't feel like doing it. I reminded him to make a sign and find a cubby as we were walking in and told him he could ask the staff. One staff member was there and I told her what was going on. I told Des he could ask her and he said he was shy. She said "I can't make him ask me for help." I said I understood that, I was just trying to get him to take care of it before he got sick of carrying around his backpack. She said to me, very gently, "Well, when he gets tired of carrying it he'll leave it somewhere and then he'll get written up and then he'll get himself a cubby." I had an "aha" moment and thanked her for reminding me of one of the reasons why I had picked Sudbury for my kids in the first place:because they respect the fact that making mistakes is a part of the learning process. This little interaction also reminded me that I'm having some trouble letting go myself.
Today, Desmond brought a backpack to school but he had no cubby to put it in because when a staff member was helping them to choose cubbies and put their name on it, Des didn't feel like doing it. I reminded him to make a sign and find a cubby as we were walking in and told him he could ask the staff. One staff member was there and I told her what was going on. I told Des he could ask her and he said he was shy. She said "I can't make him ask me for help." I said I understood that, I was just trying to get him to take care of it before he got sick of carrying around his backpack. She said to me, very gently, "Well, when he gets tired of carrying it he'll leave it somewhere and then he'll get written up and then he'll get himself a cubby." I had an "aha" moment and thanked her for reminding me of one of the reasons why I had picked Sudbury for my kids in the first place:because they respect the fact that making mistakes is a part of the learning process. This little interaction also reminded me that I'm having some trouble letting go myself.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Week one
The kids have finished their first week. Amelia is having a great time. On wednesday she was certified to use the vacuum cleaner, on thursday she was certified to use scissors and pencils and on friday she was certified to use watercolors. She went to her first school meeting on thursday and was excited to learn that next week she can make a motion to go to the yellow boundary(the school has three levels of boundaries outside, orange, yellow and blue. Orange is for new students and visitors, yellow is about 30 feet past orange and you have to be attending the school for at least two weeks,or attend two meetings,I'm not sure, for blue you have to be able to tell time and you have to be with another person who is certified for blue). She voted on something, we're not sure what, and made a sign for her cubby. She also played on the computer, which she was happily surprised to discover that you don't need to be certified to use. She did call twice, once because she fell and hurt her knee and once because I had changed the pick up time and she wanted to know why. The school is open from 8:30 to 4:30 and the only attendance requirement is that at age 6 they have to go for 5 hours a day and at age 12 they have to be there for 51/2 hours a day. It's great.
If I didn't ask more questions and if Amelia didn't happily fill in the gaps, the only thing I would know about Desmond's day is that he often forgets to eat. He pretty much has had the same experiences as Amelia but he approached his first cleaning assignment with considerably less gusto. I had a hard time figuring out the story but apparently he was either supposed to sweep the porch or he thought he was supposed to sweep the porch but he wasn't sure how, so he hid for anywhere from 1 to 6 hours before someone either told him it wasn't his job or that he should do the best he could. We had a talk about how if he had asked for help in the first place it would have been cleared up but I suspect that this will be a regular problem for Des because he doesn't like to help. and he freely admits this. One of my hopes for Des at sudbury was that he would come to accept that he is going to have to contribute to the welfare of whatever community he is a part of, that it's not just mommy and daddy who expect that of him.
We'll see.
If I didn't ask more questions and if Amelia didn't happily fill in the gaps, the only thing I would know about Desmond's day is that he often forgets to eat. He pretty much has had the same experiences as Amelia but he approached his first cleaning assignment with considerably less gusto. I had a hard time figuring out the story but apparently he was either supposed to sweep the porch or he thought he was supposed to sweep the porch but he wasn't sure how, so he hid for anywhere from 1 to 6 hours before someone either told him it wasn't his job or that he should do the best he could. We had a talk about how if he had asked for help in the first place it would have been cleared up but I suspect that this will be a regular problem for Des because he doesn't like to help. and he freely admits this. One of my hopes for Des at sudbury was that he would come to accept that he is going to have to contribute to the welfare of whatever community he is a part of, that it's not just mommy and daddy who expect that of him.
We'll see.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Day one at Sudbury
My kids started at a Sudbury school today, since a few people were interested in the experience I've decided to devote my blog to their year at school. I don't really have enough time to follow my original path for the EBC anyway.
So, a little background. I had intended to homeschool my kids and only heard about Sudbury when I wanted to take my younger daughter to a playgroup there. I had to go to an information session before we could sign up and as the school's founder explained the philosophy and the structure it was like hearing my own thoughts on education echoed and taken even further than I had imagined. Google sudbury and you'll find a bunch of websites that will explain what they are about better than I can. My focus will be on my family's experience as we see theory put into practice.
My 5 year old twins have two very different learning styles. Desmond is a little sponge. He loves facts, he asks a million questions and isn't always concerned with the practical application of what he's learning. Amelia, on the other hand is a doer. We call her our eager beaver. Whatever is going on, she wants to be a part of it. She asks one question, over and over-"Can I try?" Despite their different temperaments, they are very close and for the most part supportive of one another. We chose a Sudbury school because we felt it could meet both of their needs and they could stay together or separate on their own terms. I wasn't surprised, when I picked them up and Amelia came rushing up to me exclaiming "Mom, I had my first cleaning job today and I got certified to use the vacuum cleaner and I'm going to have to go to JC (judicial comittee) tomorrow because I found somebody's soda bottle when they littered".
All Des said was, "I'm hungry. I was too busy to eat." When I asked what he had been doing he said"Playing."
Rereading this paragraph I see that there are a few terms I'm going to have to define. Before you can do pretty much anything at a Sudbury school, you have to be certified. For example: To be certified to use markers you have to show that you know how to put the top back on and where to put them away when you're finished and that you know what you can and can't write on. It's a pretty useful tool because the kids have to demonstrate that they can handle whatever level of responsibility is needed to participate in various activities.
At a Sudbury school, students are not only expected to follow the rules but to help enforce them. Anybody can write anybody up for breaking the rules at a sudbury school, that includes students writing up staff. The judicial committee is the body within the school that handles discipline and everybody serves on it at some point, including the 5 year olds. During their visiting week Des and Amelia were called into JC for running in the halls and throwing sticks. Des summed up the experience by saying "Oh man, when you break the rules they take you into this room and talk forever !"
I will have to end here, because its quite late. I know this post is all over the place, please bear with me as I figure out how best to present our experience
So, a little background. I had intended to homeschool my kids and only heard about Sudbury when I wanted to take my younger daughter to a playgroup there. I had to go to an information session before we could sign up and as the school's founder explained the philosophy and the structure it was like hearing my own thoughts on education echoed and taken even further than I had imagined. Google sudbury and you'll find a bunch of websites that will explain what they are about better than I can. My focus will be on my family's experience as we see theory put into practice.
My 5 year old twins have two very different learning styles. Desmond is a little sponge. He loves facts, he asks a million questions and isn't always concerned with the practical application of what he's learning. Amelia, on the other hand is a doer. We call her our eager beaver. Whatever is going on, she wants to be a part of it. She asks one question, over and over-"Can I try?" Despite their different temperaments, they are very close and for the most part supportive of one another. We chose a Sudbury school because we felt it could meet both of their needs and they could stay together or separate on their own terms. I wasn't surprised, when I picked them up and Amelia came rushing up to me exclaiming "Mom, I had my first cleaning job today and I got certified to use the vacuum cleaner and I'm going to have to go to JC (judicial comittee) tomorrow because I found somebody's soda bottle when they littered".
All Des said was, "I'm hungry. I was too busy to eat." When I asked what he had been doing he said"Playing."
Rereading this paragraph I see that there are a few terms I'm going to have to define. Before you can do pretty much anything at a Sudbury school, you have to be certified. For example: To be certified to use markers you have to show that you know how to put the top back on and where to put them away when you're finished and that you know what you can and can't write on. It's a pretty useful tool because the kids have to demonstrate that they can handle whatever level of responsibility is needed to participate in various activities.
At a Sudbury school, students are not only expected to follow the rules but to help enforce them. Anybody can write anybody up for breaking the rules at a sudbury school, that includes students writing up staff. The judicial committee is the body within the school that handles discipline and everybody serves on it at some point, including the 5 year olds. During their visiting week Des and Amelia were called into JC for running in the halls and throwing sticks. Des summed up the experience by saying "Oh man, when you break the rules they take you into this room and talk forever !"
I will have to end here, because its quite late. I know this post is all over the place, please bear with me as I figure out how best to present our experience
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