Yesterday we received a welcome letter from Ashagre's teacher. In it she explained, among other things, that the first theme the class will be exploring is "All About Me." Immediately my adoptive momma sensitivities kicked in, and visions of activities requiring baby pictures and family trees flooded my brain. I wrote the teacher, explaining a bit about our family and inquired about the All About Me assignments. Here's her response:
"All About Me" will focus on the concept that although we physically look different, we all have the same basic needs such as a need for food, water, shelter, fun, love, etc. We will read many children books about similarities and differences. We will talk about where our skin tones come from (ancestry, melanin, the physical climate we live in etc.). We will also talk about feelings and how everyone has them. Some activities include self portraits using skin tone colors, making "mini Me's" (which are little cardboard skin-toned people shapes that they decorate), and making our own skin-tone playdough.
My only response was a candid thank you. What this school lacks in true physical diversity (something we take seriously and are certainly not writing off that easily) I think it will on some levels make up for in its dedication to helping develop self-aware, personally responsible global citizens within an communicative and supportive community. I am really excited to see how the lessons the kids are learning at school influence family life and vice versa. I truly believe that this school is a great fit for our family. 
Sounds terrific! I just sent a HUGE email to your dakotacorey hotmail account...is that still your email address? Lemme know what you think!
ReplyDeleteGot it Sarah. Thank you! I can't wait to check out the files you sent.
ReplyDeleteSorry if you posted before and I missed it, but I don't think so. What school are they going to - not by name, but is it your neighborhood public school? Public magnet? Charter? Private? Parochial/religious? Curious about the choice you made and why. I suppose this may be appropriate for a blog post of its own, if you feel inspired.
ReplyDelete@ Paige. It would be pretty hard to not give the school away by answering your question too thoroughly because it is pretty unique in our community. I'm not sure I want to do that on the internet. I will say that it is not our neighborhood school even though we have heard nothing but good things about the neighborhood school (we're fotunate to be burdened by the dilemma of too many good choices). It is a public charter school. We did not want to send the kids to a parochial school because we are a non-religious family and we really wanted to stick with the public school system. We chose this school because of its dedication to teaching kids how to think, not what to think, and its strong emphasis on building self-awareness and appreciation for everyone uniquely for who they are. What totally sold me in the end was the opportunity I had to meet the oldest kids at the school and see who they had become. They all were confident, comfortable in their individuality, well spoken and extremely thoughtful (not something you routinely see amongst middle schoolers). To me this was proof that the school was effectively doing what it was aiming to do. While the school is public, we're going to have to make a lot of sacrifices and adjustments to make sure our kids succeed there because there is an intensive requirement for parent involvement, and if you've ready OPS for a while, you know time is something B and I have very little of these days, but we decided that we want our kids in this school so badly that we'll do what it takes to make it happen. Hope that answers your question...I actually started a post about choosing schools way back in January when we were going through the lottery system to get into this one (before our kids were even home), but it never really went anywhere and I abandoned it. We'll see if I give it another shot later.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the thoughtful and helpful answer. Nice work choosing a terrific school, Mom and Dad! I'm glad your family will have the opportunity to be a part of that community. Our kids attend a public magnet and even without a particular requirement for family involvement, your kids' school becomes your community to a certain extent. It is a very positive and enriching experience when you enjoy and respect and feel at home in that community. Good luck with the first day of school!
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