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Political Spectator – I couldn’t agree with you more because that is precisely my story. Prior to starting school my neighbor served as my babysitter, and I specifically recall watching Sesame Street almost every day, and I am sure I learned a small amt from that. So TV in and of itself is not awful, the content of programming is what makes it terrible for kids.

K Teacher, your comment seems to suggest that the parents of students of other states with higher scores than GA are reading more to their children and that is why they do better. If I had to guess, the parents in other states on average are not reading any more or less than parents in GA read to their kids. As an involved parent, I get a bit irritated when I continually hear from educators how parent need to read to their child, do this, do that, etc… Frankly speaking my wife and I (and many other involved parents we know) feel as if we are practically home-schooling our kids after they come home from school each day AND on the weekends, for that matter. As a result, they do well academically; but if we were to completely halt all of our homeschooling efforts and left it up to the schools, I am certain that their grades would immediately begin hovering around a C average as opposed to the A’s with occasional B’s that they receive now, and none of them are the sort of kids that cause issues in class or who are not attentive and engaged in the classroom. I am not sure if the problem is the teachers or the entire system of public education (though I lean more towards the latter).

It further pains me that everyone talks about preK education and the importance of children starting school ready to learn when the public schools are not truly equipped and ready to receive children who are truly ready to learn. There are many high quality preK programs that exist (my experience has been in Christian preK programs where the Abekka curriculum is used) where by the age of 4, students are already reading fluently and comprehending and have pretty much covered the entire kindergarten GPS. By the time they are ready for public school they are already on an assessed 1st or 2nd grade reading level. Unfortunately in schools I am aware of there is nothing in place to challenge those students when they enter kindergarten!!! And I do not consider the gifted programs or skipping a grade (as a result of socialization concerns) as the answer. Personally speaking, my children are not gifted; they have just been exposed to and taught things at a time in their life that is a bit earlier than some. As a parent it’s as if you’re screwed if you prepare your child, and screwed if you do not. I realize that every child may not start at that level, but why would we not have a “formal” system in place in schools where there is at least one teacher in each grade level that is there to receive kids that happen to be about one year or more ahead of grade level? I specifically say “formal” because many of us realize that there is an informal system in place of getting your child in the “right” (read “qualified”) teacher’s classroom year after year. Although I am aware that this exists, this still pains me because as a parent it simply means that process of insuring our kids receive a good education like having 2 additional full time jobs between my wife and . So for teachers, if you have to wonder why some of the more involved parents give you a hard time from time to time— perhaps it’s because we feel a bit bitter and TIRED because we spend much of our time homeschooling and trying to “work the system” to insure our child can have a shot at being able to compete with their global counterparts! I know that people hate this model, but those children should be grouped together in the same classroom and in my opinion if they are kindergarteners, they should be taught the 1st grade curriculum as opposed to repeating work that they have done 1 or 2 yrs prior!!! That is insane! If we truly embraced the children that start school ahead, and keep them on that trajectory once they enter the public school system, is it not conceivable that we would begin to see higher gains on the NAEP and other standardized test? Also I find it interesting that in some schools (event top performing school in Cobb) you see that grade level scores in some schools seem to trend downward from kindergarten thru to about 4th or 5th grade. Makes me wonder what is going on, or not going on, that a child can start off at a high level in kindergarten and then be average or below average on standardized tests by 2nd or 3rd grade. Some of that could be due to parents with advanced kids getting frustrated and removing their kids from the school—I am not sure.

I am not suggesting from my comments that teachers are the sole issue because I realize there are policies, procedures and methodologies that may dictate much of what teachers have to do in the classroom. The entire system of k-12 public education needs to abandon the bureaucracy, and the one size fits all models. If we can do that successfully in GA, then maybe we will start seeing our NAEP scores increase to the point that we can all proud of our state’s academic ranking.

If the public education system can not right the ship on its own, then choice options (charters, vouchers, hb251 transfers that offer true choice, tax supported scholarship, etc…) need to be significantly expanded so that we can increase the odds that the needs of INDIVIDUAL children will be met.

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Soooooo... it's been 10 years since the BIG Millennium change. I've been trying to think back over these ten years. I'm realizing that I'm doing good if I can look back over 6 months and remember what happened! But here is my attempt to bring out some highlights of the minutia I call life... over the decade that is to be known as the "oughts". I "ought" to have taken notes!

2000 - We started the new millennium off right! We brought it in with a HUUUUUUGE party at our house! About 20 ten and twelve year olds congregated here for mayhem and madness and a huge pajama party while their parents thanked me WHOLE heartedly for providing "free" babysitting so that they could go enjoy their own celebrations -- guilt free. I don't like adult parties anyway, so this suited me just fine! It was win-win, and most of all, my kids won! They all had a blast! ... In July of this year, the 3 younger kids and I took an 8 day trip to Disney World. We learned a few things. We learned none of us likes Florida in July. And that if you're GONNA do Disney in July, stick to Blizzard Beach! That was the ONLY attraction/area of the theme park that they all loved! It really IS imperative to stay in or near water in Florida in summer! We won't EVER do that again! ... This was also the year we added Jewl to our family. She was born in June and came to us in September. She is getting to be old and crochety now. Arthritis is settin' in... :(

2001 - Sadly I have no memory and no pictures or diaries or notes of any kind to help me remember this year. I know my kids were 24, 14, 12 & 12 .... but other than that I can only tell you that it must have been one of the years that we had a computer crash and all the pictures were stuck on it. Surely we were too broke to spend money on something like data retrieval. Amanda was living in Colorado. Mathew was in 9th grade and the twins were in 7th... so I was likely teaching between the Middle and the High School that year. Other than that... I'm lost.

2002 & 2003 Were rough years for my family. Mainly for my youngest, Derek. At 12 years old, his very best friend got cancer. (He was actually diagnosed in Oct. 2001) All of '02 was spent worrying, praying, loving, crying, and helping Scott and his family in any way we could. Scott had Ewings Sarcoma, a very invasive cancer. His treatment started with removing a large portion of bone from his leg, followed by weeks and weeks of chemo. My Derek was such a trooper in sticking with Scott, and anxiously going over to play any time Scott was feeling up to having him visit! The boys got into battling WarHammers ( it was something Scott could do sitting in his wheelchair) and I got involved with them! When Scott was having some of his better times, I would take the boys down to the War Hammer store and let them have battles with other enthusiasts. When Scott was granted a wish from the Make A Wish Foundation, his wish was for an astronomical amount of War Hammer merchandise. A limo came and took him, his brothers and 2 friends to the War Hammer store, where Scott actually shared his "wish money" with his friends so they could each get something too! Then they were all taken out to dinner at a restaurant and then home again. That was a big day for our Scott. It wasn't too long after that that the cancer came back with a vengeance. His leg was amputated in an attempt to save his life... but God had plans for Scott in Heaven. Scott went home to Jesus on March 23, 2003. It has taken a very very long time, and I'm not positive, but I think Derek has come to a certain peace with it. He was a very VERY angry young man for a long long time. I won't say it was ALL on account of Scott's death ... Derek had anger management issues before this... but he changed after Scott's death. And it wasn't for the better. .... Oh! And 2003 was the year that Mathew got his driver's license. And the year I started wishing I had made him wait 2 more years!!! LOL!

2004 - More than likely our 2nd computer crash -- after which I finally LEARNED to start having prints made of at least SOME of the pictures! Amanda was 27, Mathew 17, and the twins 15... THEY moved to the new High School to finish their last 2 years... and I stayed at the old one. That was the first time I wasn't in the same school with my kids. It was their choice. When the new school opened I certainly could have moved to it -- and it was much closer to my home so it would have been nice. But I wanted to stay where MY friends were. They each had the option to move on or stay - and they both decided to move on. Derek later changed his mind... but it was too late. Krysti had to remind me of that and I really can't remember another bloomin' thing about this year! I'm sure that one of the kids is going to read this (just cuz they never do, but now they will) and say "MOM! How could you forget that was the year I blah blah blah blah blah! I can't believe you FORGOT that!" LOL! And then I won't be able to believe I forgot it either. But right now, I'm drawing a blank! If they remind me, I will come back and make revisions! I'm now seeing WHY I should at least keep a prayer journal... hmmmm...

2005 - The highlight of this year had to be a 3 week vacation in Texas, where I got to meet my grand nephews for the first time, and my grand niece for 2nd time... EVER! The boys were 3 and Rhi was 4. They were adorable and I spent the first week spoiling them as much as I could! Krysti went to horse camp for the first week and Derek, his friend Jacob, and I stayed with my niece, her hubby and the kids for the first 4 days and then we stayed in a hotel on the River Walk in downtown San Antonio for the last 3 days. The boys, who have grown up entirely in the country just wanted to spend a few days in the BIG CITY! They loved it! Then the boys flew home, Krysti's camp was done, and she and I headed for South Padre' Island for 11 days! It was awesome! A vacation neither of us will EVER forget! Horseback riding on the beach! ParaSailing! Bungee Jumping -- Krysti did! I did a reverse bungee experience! That was exciting enough! LOL! And on the way back, visiting King Ranch! That was an impressive experience too! ... This was also the year my TWINS got their driver's licenses! They EACH had to clock 40 hours of driving time before they could take their driving test and get their real license. Krysti got this pretty much taken care of on the drive from San Antonio to South Padre and back! It was wonderful because the roads long and straight and were wide open with very little traffic! Derek was another story. But let me tell you something... getting through THIS was the hardest thing I ever did as the mother of twins! It's amazing I have a red hair left in my head! God really loves me.

2006 - This was the year of physical change for me. The year that Amanda moved home to get her life together, and I decided to take advantage of her being here to get my health in order! I allowed her to urge me on to a 65 pound weight loss. I never made my goal of 100 pounds that year. But 65 was good and I felt 100% better! How unfortunate that I have allowed all of that weight to creep back on and need to make 2010 another year of physical change! Oh! This was ALSO the year I became a BLOGGER! Is it really possible I didn't know any of you guys before 2006??? Seems like we've been friends forEVER!

2007 - THIS was a big year! And without a doubt the BEST of my "oughts"! In January I returned to church, my mind set on getting reacquainted with my Lord. In May my twins graduated from High School. In June I officially joined the Lutheran church. In September I turned 50! In October we had our first (but hopefully not our last) Blogger Babes Bash -- 8 of us met in Savannah for a week of fun and laughter! And right after Thanksgiving, I became Nana - to an already 3 year old Luz! And in December, MIL moved in with us. Talk about ending the year with a BANG! I "ought" NEVER to forget this year!!! I really didn't realize until just now what a pivotal year this was in my life.

2008 - This was a year of adjustment. Getting used to having Mom living with us and knowing that she needs someone with her 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All. The. Time. It was a difficult adjustment to make. I am a very free spirit, and had JUST gained my freedom from toting kids here there and everywhere. I was really spreading my wings and starting to FLY! I think God decided I might have been trying to fly too far. So he gave me a few extra pounds to carry! It didn't STOP me -- maybe just slowed me down a little lot! I also went through a bit of resentment because I have looked sO forward in my life to being a Nana, and having Mom glued to my side every time I had a chance to be with Luz was NOT the way I had pictured being a Nana! But life is what it is and God has a reason for every single thing. I don't believe his reason was to "ruin" my time with Luz... so it must have been to enhance Mom's time! Orrrrr... to teach me something... like tolerance... obedience... patience... self-control... PICK one! But He also gifted me with opportunities that I might not have otherwise had! I realize now though WHY God called me back to Him in '07! He knew I was going to need His strength to get through this.

2009 - Without a doubt the biggest highlight of my year this year was my trip to Wisconsin and getting to meet Dr. John and Betty and their fabulous family! Not just to MEET them - but to visit with them for an entire week! They just cleared their schedule and made room for me! Every single day for a week! WHO does that??? THEY do that! It was sO awesome! .... Two other highlights were Luz's very FIRST tap/ballet recital - in which she had a solo performance! And her very first soccer game - in which she scored a goal!!!


So. That closes out the past decade... It had it's good and it's bad. But God was with us through it all, and has certainly blessed us more than not. I thank Him for His grace and mercy and praise Him for His never ending goodness. And I ask Him to remain with us in this new decade and to increase my love for Him and to draw my loved ones into His warm embrace. I ask Him to bless your new decade as well.

What do I look forward to in the next ten years? Another son-in-law. Two daughter-in-laws. I hope a whole slew of more grandbabies! I hope! I hope! I hope!!! Health would be nice... but that ball is sort of in MY court. *sigh*

What do you look forward to in the next decade?