Games

Play is mostly what the little kids do. And I have no problem with that. These are the most poplular activities, as far as I can tell:

Fort building-The construction of the indoor forts has become more complex. they aren't just throwing a couple of blankets over folding chairs. This past week the playroom was totally transformed. There were two secret passages, stairs, a tunnel and a theoretical drawbridge. I was impressed.

Littlest Pet Shop-This is a toy that is very popular with the girls. I hate it and part of the reason that I hate it is because I screwed up and didn't realize how important it was to Amelia. She kept asking me for it and started saving up and I kept trying to talk her into other stuff until it finally came out that she really was the only girl who didn't have any pet shop stuff and she really felt left out. It reminded me that I need to respect the fact that fitting in is really important to Amelia. I was also kind of pissed because I thought "Hey this is exactly the sort of thing I was trying to avoid by sending them to this school!" but Sudbury does not exist in a vacuum. Anyway, they will play with that stuff for hours and they also trade their pets and accessories. Why couldn't they all be really into Playmobil? We looove playmobil.

YuGiOh/Pokemon-The game involves having battles with the cards and each card has different point values. What I love is that the school has a morgue of old cards that kids have grown out of so the little kids can buy 5 or 10 for a quarter. Sweet!

Chasing/Tag- I haven't bothered to ask the kids about the rules. I just like the names of the games:
Werewolf
Vegan Zombies
Ninja XX

Bionicles and Legos-There are huge bins in the playroom.

Board games are in the library. My kids like Clue.

I often see kids in the art room and lately the mom in charge of the craft fair has been holding workshops for kids to make stuff to sell.

People really start to hyperventilate at the thought of young children doing nothing but playing all day at school but I say, let them play. You know why? Because I have seen many young adults work work work through school, go to college, graduate and then basically do nothing for a few years. Because for the first time in their life, nobody is telling them what to do. And they are either burnt out or can't make a decision for themselves. I do not want a 26 year old living in my house, ruminating on what they are going to be when they grow up. No thank you.

Just throw us a bone, would ya

Ray and I were talking the other night and he admitted to having mixed feelings about Sudbury. We know that the kids are thriving and yet there is still this little voice whispering "But are they learning?" Ray said "Would it kill them to have a class? A half hour with someone organizing them...and doing..something." I suggested they hang a poster of a giant apple with a worm, wearing a mortarboard, poking out of it . He countered with the idea of hanging a cursive alphabet border around the tops of the mirrors in the dance room. He wants a visual cue, something that can connect their experience to his school experience. We had a good laugh about it.

I bet they could stick three desks in a closet and call it "the classroom" and it would make some detractors feel better.

I was trying to explain this conversation when chatting with a mom in the parking lot. I did a poor job of it because she looked horrified when I suggested the alphabet. I should have explained that it was our goofy way of dealing with a situation that takes us out of our comfort zone but I think she took me more seriously than I had intended and probably thinks that we don't "get" Sudbury. Oh well. When you are as talkative as I am with almost no internal censor these things are bound to happen. I don't know if it's the fourth kid or what but I have become a total rambler. It's so odd to hear oneself do it and be powerless to stop. See, here I go. Actually, that ramble took place mostly in my head because I can't type that fast.
Good night.

Yet another great thing about this school

Its great for Amelia because she doesn't have to time manage her play. So, if she's in the mood to play Littlest Pet Shop with the other girls she can and if she feels like playing rough with Des and his friends she can do that too. The girls aren't going anywhere. If she were in a public school where the playtime is rigidly defined everyday would require a choice.

I also think Sudbury is great for siblings. I've probably said this before but it has allowed Des and Amelia, who are twins, to separate on their own terms. I don't think they force separation for multiples in the public schools anymore but it would have been something to discuss and worry about and it just isn't an issue at HVSS. I think this is nice for other sibling groups too. I went to the same elementary schools as my sister and the same high school and most days we barely saw eachother even though we were in the same building because we were two years apart in age. I know that she always resented coming after me because I got good grades(although I was not necessarily a good student) and teachers expected her to be just like me. I resented it when people asked me why she was so different from me. We're very close now but I wonder if we would have been closer during our school years if we had spent time with each other instead of defending or discussing one another.

So far,at HVSS, I have noticed some siblings hang out together and some seem to go their own ways. So I guess it's just pretty regular.

Odds and Ends

We've been a little tied up so here are some odd notes and observations.

A sign posted in the hallway-
Computer co-op meeting
1 PM
to discuss the intense nature of the room

(Note-There are different co-ops for different areas of interest. There is a library co-op, a kitchen co-op, sports co-op and art co-op and probably a couple of others. They set up rules for certfication, maintain the equipment/space, fund raise for supplies, etc. The computer co-op fought very hard for the money to buy 5 really good computers. They also have a very complicated sign up process to use them which I know has frustrated Amelia in the past.)

The little kids have a new game called JC. Des explained it to me "Somebody does something bad and they get written up. Then they say they're not guilty but they are guilty so we have a trial." Hmm, I think they are missing a key concept of our justice system.

Amelia called me to ask if I knew where her friend's lunch box was.

Amelia had a bad week at JC. I know this because she gave me a long lecture about how the big kids don't get written up for anything but little kids get written up for "every single little thing we do!!".

When the kids were asked about their school by a neighbor they explained that Sudbury doesn't have classes or grades. Then they added "Who wants to sit at a desk all day and just be bossed around?" Amen to that.