Another Brick In The Wall

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:15:33 GMT

"I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework." ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

Someone please tell me there is more to life than homework. OY! My son spends nearly 8 hours at school and then comes home and works on homework for 2 hours. There is something seriously wrong with that. Wait, I feel a song coming on...

...we don't need no education...we don't need no thought control...no dark sarcasm in the classroom...teacher leave those kids alone...

The government and the public education system has sucked all the fun out of learning and instead, replaced that with No Child Left Behind and meeting standards and needing to meet their quota of kids scoring "proficient" on the most recent round of standardized ~~torture~~, er, I mean, tests. All of which leaves no room for fun. We're too busy making sure those kids can pass those standardized end of year tests, by golly! No fun for them, no siree. No inspired learning. No creativity allowed. Disclaimer: I am not bashing teachers...it isn't their fault. They are doing what they are mandated to do and they have the hardest jobs in the world. They have been more than wonderful in our educational journey with Jacob.

Just let me have my rant, okay?

Both my kids hate going to school.

And frankly, I don't blame them.

But I would never say that to them.

In other non-ranty type news...Can you say "Road Trip"?! Jacob and I spent a fun weekend in North Carolina visiting with my family. Emma had a very-important-could-not-be-missed birthday sleepover to attend and so she and Hubby stayed home and had some father-daughter time...after she got home from her sleepover, that is. And that allowed Jacob and I to have a nice mother-son road trip. First road trip for The Edge, I might add.

He sat in the front passenger seat like the half grown person that he is. I looked over there at him and realized how much he is growing up. Here's what he spent most of the trip doing--->

Yeah. Gameboy. He did read some and watched a movie. But he does enjoy his gameboy. It was quality time, nonetheless. We chatted a bit. Nothing too serious, but it was precious just to be with him.

I also spent time with my younger brother, Scott, and his family (who were down from Delaware) and my older brother John and his family. If you have been reading a while, you'll recall that Scott and his wife, Lisa, had a baby girl, Olivia, back in May. She is quite adorable and what a set of lungs that girl has! Woo! Such a Cutie! I spent time with my mom and both my grandmas as well. We spent Saturday at the park enjoying a music and art shindig, put on by Scott's friends, Mike (musician) and Sarah Blair (artist) who are brother and sister, and both extremely talented young folks. Scott (pictured) is also a musician, the worship pastor at his church, and I don't get to listen to him play very often. It was a very enjoyable day. Sunday was spent at church, where my brother John is the pastor. It was a treat to hear him share and then have lunch at his house with our whole family (minus my dad, unfortunately, who was out of town and Hubby and Emma). It is a good thing to be within driving distance of my people.

Yeah, spending time with my people definitely balances out the crazy homework.

Now Hear This!

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:27:47 GMT

My niece is here!

Congratulations to my brother and sis-in-law, Scott and Lisa, on the birth of their baby girl, Olivia, who joins big sis, Victoria and big bro, Joseph. She was born Sunday afternoon. All is well.

Brag photos to come...

Big HUGS and KISSES from Aunt Joell...

Red Van Ramblings: Family

Another Brick In The Wall

Now Hear This!