Another year!

Well, I knew it had been a while since I posted but yikes-since September??

This may have been our best year at Sudbury even if at one point I was sure I would pull them out.
I know I'm supposed to trust the process but it's hard. Amazingly though, everything seems to work out so maybe if I hold the lessons of this year in my heart it will be easier from now on. (Doubt it.)

Since we don't get progress reports or parent teacher conferences I will create my own.

Amelia: She took off. Served on JC for something like 5 months. Joined the sewing club and was introduced to the trials and tribulations of business when she busted her ass making stuffed animals, creatures, to sell at the Winter Gift Sale and only sold two-to me and her grandfather. Was involved with the Playground committee and they hired this guy Rusty Keeler to help them build a natural playscape. She was right in there pushing wheelbarrows and using a drill. Started reading chapter books. She's in a rush to grow up and likes hanging out with the older kids. Also got into playing Magic. She taught me but I haven't gotten the hang of it yet.

Desmond: The changes in Des are more subtle. He's learned how to read but isn't reading books. He pretty much just hangs out with his friends all day. More interested in music but refuses any instruction. Ray and I go back and forth on this because he seems to have a genuine talent for it. He also learned to play magic.

Cady: Cady has actually shown herself to be more independent and resourceful for her age than Des and Amelia were. I think Des just got certified for the microwave this year. I'm not sure if Cady is but she has no problem asking for help with it and she managed to acquire a couple of mugs to heat her stuff up in. One thing I learned about Cady is that she would rather ask for forgiveness than permission. We've had to sit down a few times and explain our expectations and standards that have to be met whether they are the rules at Sudbury or not. Also, I have had to rescue a lot of stuff from the morgue.

Ray: Still suspicious, still thinks it wouldn't kill them to have some formal instruction. Still worries but maybe a little bit less.

Me: Was asked by Amelia to stop posting stuff on the email list because she didn't like hearing about it in SM. There are three parents responsible for about 90% of the discussion on the list. I am/was one of them. It just occurred to me that she would go bananas if she knew about the blog. Went from loving the school to hating the school to loving the school again by years end. Why? Possibly from holding it to an unrealistically high standard, especially when you consider what they are trying to accomplish. "Democracy is messy" is a common refrain at HVSS. It's also imperfect and I found myself observing two separate situations with students, who were not my kids so I won't go into details, and became increasingly frustrated as I saw SM get it wrong, in my opinion (qualifying every statement with the phrase "in my opinion" is also very common at HVSS) , over and over again. Until they got it right. So this year I learned that I need to be as patient with SM and allow them their mistakes as I am with my own kids. Because, the majority of SM are students working through their own stuff. I wish I had come to this conclusion before sending an impassioned but inappropriate and wrong headed email to staff. Oh well, as I grow older (I turned 40 in December) I find it easier to work with some aspects of my personality rather than try to completely change it.

On a completely different topic, I read quite a bit of war diaries of Field Marshal Alanbrooke. He was the commander of the British Army during WWII. I realized that lots of short posts (or entries should I ever return to paper and pen) can be as satisfying as long meandering ones.