iParent

As a result of the last court date, I am having to take the Apple Parenting Class. This was ordered when we got divorced a year and a half ago. I blew it off as I felt it was stupid. For some reason I see these mandatory obligations as Court Ordered Extortion. For the next 7 Tuesday nights from 6:30 - 8:30PM I will be found sitting in a room with six other people watching reruns of Oprah & Dr. Phil. We'll be learning about not beating the fuck out of your screaming kids at Target. I'm sure that after spending my $50 on this wonderful honor, I'm gonna be a much better parent. Shit I might just join the PTA!

Went to Buster's School last night for Curriculum Night. This has been the first opportunity to meet his teachers and hear from them what their classes are about. His school, "The Nova Project" is as progressive an educational concept as I have ever run across in the Public School System.

Here is a blurb from their site

"Nova is a small alternative high school in the Seattle Public School District, created in 1970 by students and teachers. Nova is an alternative school whose mission is to be a democratically governed learning community of broadly educated, diverse, creative and independent thinkers who work collaboratively and demonstrate a high degree of individual and social responsibility.

Far out huh? A school that has no grades (pretty much pass fail, however; has to meet the same state requirements [WASL] that every other school in the district does). Open campus, kids come and go as they please. No security. Students call their teachers by their first names. Most classrooms have a bunch of couches (in a semicircle inside an outer rim of school desks and tables) And an exciting feeling that the kids are engaged and learning in an environment that is clearly unconventional. Proof is in the pudding, this school boasts some of the highest SAT scores in the district.

I'm glad Buster is in this program, and more importantly. . . so is he.