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Sorry for the little hiatus, I'm back though. Was invited to be a part of a 2 week long online Mom Study. When I was told about it I didn't fully know the amount of time it would take me to do. It is a lot of work but as soon as I got rolling, I was able to knock out a bunch of stuff at a time. Anyway, it's good to be back at it.

So this week for us and next week for some is OAA Testing in the schools. Now...the schools have had standardized tests like this since I was in school. I am no way against it, I think it's fine and does serve a purpose but when I was in school I don't remember it being a huge deal, like to the point that I was stressed out about it. I would know the tests were coming up, I would take them, do as best as I could and move on to the next lesson. As a mom with kids in school, I am a little perplexed at the fear they put on the kids to do well. With a daughter who already deals with a little bit of anxiety, this isn't something I would consider worth stressing out the kids over. For at least two weeks before they were scheduled to take these tests, Anna would come home saying, "OAA's are in a couple weeks, I really have to study and go to bed early. I am so nervous, what if I don't do well, my teacher said I won't graduate to 5th grade or go to Swings-n-Things for our field trip?!" I assured her that it was nothing to stress over and to just do the best she can.

Now...don't get me wrong, I am all for studying hard to get good grades and going to bed early, that all is great advice but when they start throwing in that they won't graduate to the next grade level or won't be able to go on a field trip, that's where I draw the line. That is NOT okay in my book to tell the kids. They even went as far as to send home a letter that us parents had to sign about the importance of doing well on the test and NOT to finish early and if they do finish early to use that time check over their work a couple times. If they don't do that they will not be able to participate in the upcoming field trip. OH PULEASE!!!! That just makes me angry. First of all my child WILL NOT be held back because of a poor grade on a standardized test, that's for darn sure. Second, she will not be left out of a fun end of year field trip. I don't care how the school wants to spin it, that is not a productive way to ready the children for tests. That is just instilling unnecessary fear in them. What about the children who aren't good test takers? Do they get preferred treatment or do they just have to perform or else? Anna came home from school last Friday and said, "My teacher said that she will provide the mints but we are allowed to bring a water bottle to school to have during the test." Yeesh, while that all is very nice it's a bit overboard, don't ya think? Are a couple mints gonna help with test taking? I guess the whole way they go about it is a bit overboard. I have never heard of schools putting this much emphasis on these tests. Is it only me?

Let me put this into perspective, unless your child doesn't answer any questions, totally goofs off and doesn't care, nothing is going to happen!!! Nothing! So why am I so worked up over this, well because they work up my kids to the point that it's all I've been hearing about from my daughter about how nervous and worried she is for the past 2 weeks. Again, let me say that I am not against them, just against the way they stress out the children over them.

I also want to say that I love our school system and am super happy with most everything. I have really admired and have had nothing but good things to say about each of my kids teachers, they have been wonderful. But no school system is perfect and could always use some tweaking on the rules and policies. Another annoyance of mine is when they send home the paper for us parents to sign to have my child measured and weighed. I can say I do not want her measured and weighed or okay it. I "always" choose to not have this done to my children. I don't think it's any of the schools business to know my childs weight or height. What do they need that info for? Some say it's to determine the proper weight in children of today but that, to me, is not the schools job. I certainly don't need them telling me that she is within the perameters of a good weight or overweight or underweight. So I don't allow it, I and my childs doctors will be the judge of that. They can teach and promote good health and hygene and offer healthy school lunches but that is as far as I believe they need to go.

Even though it's our children who are attending school, it is our job to be fully invovled in what's going on at the school and with what our children are into. I am always questioning things and talking to my kids teachers and admin. I give praise when praise is due and provide feedback with suggestions for improvement or even tell them when something is right on. I am not the know-all of school policies or procedures but I sure as heck know what works and what isn't working for my children.