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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Day 7-Gratitude

I worry a lot about our children's education.  Not just my children, but all children in the USA.
For example, did you know that:
  • out of thirty developing countries, the USA ranks 25th in math and 21st in science?
  • Approximately 7000 kids in our country drop out every day?
  • High school dropouts are 8 times more likely to go to jail?
I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer (especially when my intention this month is gratitude), but I had to put a voice to these worries.  I struggle with what to do.  Should I be home-schooling?  How can I advocate for my children in public school?  What can we do to improve our education system?
So now on to gratitude for the day...
I am grateful that I got a chance to volunteer in my son's classroom today...that we got to play with paint and glitter...that everyone was praised for their unique gingerbread men (or women).  It always amazes me how different the art turns out, even when they are given the same exact materials and the same exact instructions :)  So cool!
I am also super grateful for the teachers that my children have...they are all wonderful and work so hard...they should be praised every day...
And even though I worry about our schools, and I worry about how well our children are being educated, I am grateful that they have public schools, that they are safe and warm, that they all have the supplies they need, and that we as parents have the freedom to choose where and how our children will be educated.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear me, I thought it was only our country (UK) that was having trouble with education it must be a world wide problem. Perhaps if they just let the teachers get on and do what they do best 'teach' we would not have this problem, but as a mum of a teacher that is not the case, to much paperwork and not enough classroom work but hopefully our new government will get a handle on this and we may see an improvement. have a lovely day.
Beverley
www.beverleylovestosew.blogspot.com

Bold In The Soul said...

Ok so for this day I am grateful for all the people who came to my garage sale this past weekend! They are helping to pay for the ticket Jason got this morning for $256!!!!!!
Sigh, poor guy, I feel terrible and I am so thankful we have this extra cash to pay it and move on!

Adrienne said...

i wouldn't panic about the recent report if you are in a top performing school district. what you see is a comprehensive report... it would be interesting to see the demographics in those numbers.