Asymptomatic

I've been offering some of my most valuable educational advice to Abby over the past year, and I think the number one thing that I tell her is also the number one thing that will help her be most successful. Cheat.

I think that many people miss this lesson in school, mostly because they don't teach it. It's one of my personal aims to make sure that Abby gets these important lessons early. For example, it's always important to question everything; teachers are often right but can be wrong just like anyone. And one of the more important of the important lessons is that you should cheat.

You might be concerned that I'm teaching Abby to copy answers from her classmates' papers. When Berta first heard me telling Abby to cheat on her homework, she was a little anxious and confused. I guess some explanation is in order....

Abby has been home with me for the past two days because the teachers a Downingtown Schools can't come to an agreement with their administration over how much money they should be making. We're lucky that Abby is very low-maintenence and that I'm able to be "at work" with her at home so that there's someone to keep an eye on her. Still, this teacher's strike is absolutely absurd, and I'll be happy to wait out the full state-allowed 23 days of strike to see a reasonable agreement reached - one that likely doesn't assent to the teachers' demands.

The teachers are asking for raises over 5 years totalling 23.75%. The board is offering them 18% over 4 years. It seems like a large gap, but think about this: It's an 18% raise in pay. That's higher than the average cost of living raises here. It's more raise than I've seen in 8 years. It's more than generous, but apparently it's not enough. An opinion article in the Daily Local News expresses my sentiments quite well.

The DASD board makes some great points about what is reasonable in terms of what the district can afford. Primarily, the surplus money that the teacher think they should have access to is a capital surplus. It's a fixed amount of money that won't renew after it's all spent, meaning that salaries would have to drop back when it's gone or people will be fired. ...

We had a conference with Abby's first grade teacher recently, during which she expressed mild concern over Abby's interest in school. She asked us specifically if anything really motivates Abby, since she doesn't seem to do anything more than the necessary work in her academics. While she's perfectly capable of doing the work, she doesn't really get enthusiastic about it.

Abby's always been her own self, and the one thing that she really does get enthused about is art. Abby really likes to draw, and even her teacher remarked that she's significantly advanced compared to her peers. She notices details that they don't and I have noticed that she is able to put abstract images on paper that I wouldn't even have thought of.

There is one particular crayon-coloring that sticks in memory. It was one of those "color this - win lunch" things that they give the kids at Ron's Schoolhouse - a picture of a backpack. I think Berta or I idly asked her to draw some things in around the backpack, not really specifying, but I was really expecting some basic school-related doodles. Instead, Abby drew a bunch of things to scale with the backpack. Some in the foreground, some in the background. There was even someone's foot and leg visible from behind the bag, and it amazed me that she could put the backpack in this whole scene - just see it in her mind and draw it....

Abby is in first grade and she has daily homework. Much of it involves writing. One thing that she is not good at so far in school is using that ridiculous three-line ruled paper, probably because she's been using the plain lined paper for so long already, even in kindergarten.

The problem with this paper is that there simply doesn't seem to be anywhere to obtain it easily.

While I would love to run out and pick up a ream of the stuff to use as scrap paper after Abby switches to college-ruled for second grade, it seems like a waste. Plus, even if I order the special paper, when I run out of it, there's no trekking to the grocery store to get a new pack. But I have a solution....

September always has a distinct flavor to it, doesn't it? The smell of a September morning always reminds me of driving by First Lake with the mist hanging over it on the way to school.

I've been having this feeling lately that I should be somewhere, and maybe it's that weird yearly pull from grade school. I had one of those dreams again last night where you can't remember your class schedule. I tried to cancel a class, and then re-add it, and during that time they managed to move the class to a different building. Stupid school dreams.

Still, I recall having new shoes for school, and new clothes. It seems like the time of year for that, coincidental as the trees start to change color (two in my yard are already losing leaves). I've been thinking about doing some clothes shopping, and getting my hair cut.