It took one week in the our new elementary school for all hope to be smashed. My youngest daughter was miserable. I couldn't help but notice the other students were miserable...during just a five minute visit to the school, I saw two children crying hysterically. I overheard the exchanges between parents and children at the end of the day... and the all too familiar response to "how was school today"..."bad".
I could not do this anymore. Although I had reservations, I was ready to homeschool. I was tired of seeing meaningless homework, poor spelling and the sinking look when I dropped her off at school. I could see, slowly that her spirit was being broken. Then something that I had not seen in the previous district came home. The first lesson in "racial bias" came home. I tried to dismiss it as me looking for reasons to not like the school and filed it away. The straw that broke the camel's back came a day or two later when a weekly letter from the teacher came home. It was to inform us that she didn't know what they were going to be evaluating on report cards because the district had not shared that information with the teachers as of the moment. and I was determined to find a common core-free private school or teach her at home. My daughter was no longer going to be an experiment.
I began researching private schools in our area. I was absolutely sure that it was going to be something that we couldn't afford, especially after buying a new home. I thank God I did that search. I emailed them explaining in my original inquiry that I was looking for a school with no ties to common core, the data collection, etc. and expressed my concerns regarding where my daughter was academically. I received a response from the Principal of the school and she couldn't agree more with my views on common core and expressed regret that children are being subjected to this. She gave me some information on the school and offered to test my daughter to see if my concerns were justified.
We met the next day with the Vice Principal (who is also a teacher). We spoke in depth about our concerns. She gave our daughter just a basic test and as suspected, she is lacking the fundamentals in spelling and math. The teacher said that she was confident that with hard work and practice, she would get to where she needs to be. It wasn't going to be easy, but definitely a reasonable goal. At the end of our meeting, she invited our daughter to join the class to make bird feeders. I was impressed by the relationship that the teacher had with her students. They were happy and respectful and their knowledge impressed me. Just after that one brief interaction, we could see the spark again. She was having fun learning. We enrolled her. We couldn't afford NOT too. I verified repeatedly for my own piece of mind that common core would play NO part in her schooling and they happily confirmed it. No common core, no data collection, etc. The school is strictly parent supported and had nothing to do with the common core standards.
I have an older daughter as well, she is a senior in high school and I can't help but wonder what the damage has been to her as well. Common core has affected her too, it just wasn't as blatant and "in your face" as it is today. I hadn't noticed how much things had changed until my youngest was in school. My oldest has always been at the top her class, just recently receiving her letter in academics. All without much effort...or really any effort at all. She is wise beyond her years and one that you know can do great things in life, but truthfully, I am scared that when she graduates and finishes college, she will be one of the estimated 94 million people that can't find a job or career. I really believe that this generation is in for a very difficult wake up call in the "real world".
I have to say that walking into my youngest daughters old school and telling them that she would not be coming back felt great. They asked for a reason and I gave it to them calmly and honestly....I cannot do this to my daughter anymore...I want nothing to do with the common core standards. Saying it felt even better because there happened to be quite a few parents in the office that day. If I can raise awareness for just one of them...it would make me happy. The look on the Principal's face (who happened to be standing there) was priceless. Of course she rushed right over and quietly questioned what I objected to...So I gave her a list. I have to say by her response I don't think she expected me to be informed and definitely not as blunt in response.
My youngest has started her new school and we couldn't be happier with our choice. It feels truly like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. I can sleep at night. She is learning by using more traditional proven methods. She's not being trained to be a drone in society, she's being educated. She isn't sitting in front of a computer or an iPad all day (or any great period of time during the day). The change just after the first week was remarkable. For the first time since Kindergarten, I didn't feel like I was punishing her by dropping her off at school. The anxiety and avoidance with anything school-related is slowly dissipating. Her teacher told me that she is doing better than expected, that the only major obstacle is her self-confidence. To be honest that broke my heart, when I heard that. It's hard to think of my sweet little girl struggling to be confident at such a young age, but to know that there are scores of other children out there dealing with the same thing really is beyond words. What are they doing to these children? Honestly, what the hell is going on?
My fight is not over....I am still researching and will continue to do so and speak out and relay the perspective of those I come into contact with. I will be adding links to important relevant material that all parents should be aware of. We cannot let this continue. We have to take our children back.
I urge you to do everything within your power to get your children out of public schools (not into a charter school--a parent funded, school). My family has been very blessed to have the opportunity to send our youngest to a private school...It does come at a cost. I realize that times are hard and not everyone can do the same and I mean no disrespect. If you have no other option but to leave your child in public school, please do the research, get involved and start speaking out. These are our children. We are funding the education system. We are paying the salaries of those elected. More importantly, as parents, we owe our children we have an obligation to protect our children from harm.
