The Circus

February 28, 2012 / Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

One of the seemingly endless awesome and totally unconventional things about my kids school is that one of the classes offered in middle school is Circus Skills. Yesterday, the middle school circus class performed for the younger kids and I have to say Noah and Zoë were impressed. Even more so than they are by the traditional type circus performances. They were amazed that kids they knew could balance something on their chin, juggle and walk on a ball at the same time. Or hula hoop and walk on a ball. Or ride a bike with one wheel while juggling, etc. They start learning these skills in Drama starting in preschool and they are built upon until middle school.

They were even more amazed when I told them that they too could be in the Circus at school. I am not preparing my children to be clowns–which is what some people would think. One of the reasons we chose this school is because of its diverse curriculum and the effect that curriculum has on kids. My kids go to a school where anything is possible. Where kids are encouraged to take risks and to learn that they are capable of far more than they even believed they were. My kids will learn Circus skills. They will also learn to rock climb, rappel and belay. They will learn that they can spend a night in the woods by themselves.

These are skills that kids needs to be the next Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or Blake Mycoskie. Or any other person who started something from nothing more than a dream. While I can say all of this because my kids are privileged and I know that the academic offering of their school offer the same challenges and require the same risks, I can also say that every student in every schools need to be believed in and believe in themselves.

I love that my kids go to a school where the impossible is made possible. What if all schools offered that?

His First Taste Of Awesome

January 31, 2012 / Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

Noah has wanted to learn to read for a long time, but was just not ready. I subscribe to the idea that when kids are ready, they will do things. I try very hard not to push them. We make lots of things available and when they want to write the alphabet they will. When they want to paint they do, etc. I know enough to know that you can’t (and maybe shouldn’t) rush development. Rushing one area of development can leave another area bypassed. And while for my own “look at my kid” desires, I have let reading go. We have level 1 readers that he sometimes would pick up and we would sound out words, etc. But it was always more frustrating for him than anything. Because anyone who knows my son, knows that he likes to succeed and be good at things. Failing at something or not being able to do something makes him extremely frustrated (that is putting it mildly–often he can go bat shit crazy).

Anyway. Our bedtime routine is pretty simple–brush teeth and read. I usually read a chapter from a Magic Treehouse book to Noah and then book to Zoë. Sometimes we flip and I read to Zoë first. But it’s pretty simple. Well last night, Noah had to move some of those goofy decal things that stick on the wall but you can move them from place to place, etc. So, I read to Zoë. Noah asked if he could get one of his “easy” books to look at while I read Princess Winter Wishes or some nonsense like that to Zoë. I said sure.

So, I finished reading to Zoë and then Noah asked if he could practice reading tonight instead of listening to me read. I said absolutely. He is learning words in school and they have a word wall and he is starting to recognize words and read them when he sees them. So, he started reading the book. And we talked about the words and I help with sounding some of them out. But he was able to read a good portion of the book without my help. My heart swelled. But that wasn’t the best part.

When Noah finished, he laid backwards on the bottom bunk, eyes wide and said “I am so proud.”

We then read it 3 more times and had to try a few other books as well.

“Reading is AWSOME Mom.”

Yes reading is awesome little man. He had to read the book to his dad this morning–twice and to his sister once.

He still has along way to go before he is a reader–but he is well on his way and is ready.

It Really Takes All Of Us Coming Together

December 14, 2011 / Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

Today’s post #1001 is a bit anti-climatic after my 1000th post yesterday.

If a two years ago someone had told me I’d be sitting in the same room with someone from the Walton Family Foundation and working with them to create better educational options, I would have laughed. I would have thought that our causes were so totally separate. That sentiment would have been clouded by our vastly different political views. I would not have not been able to see past our political differences to see that we want so many of the same things.

Before I started working with charter schools, I have to admit I was anti-charter school. Part of that is that I didn’t know enough to form an informed opinion–but I did anyway. As most of us do about things that we think we understand. There are just somethings that you have to investigate and really examine before you can make a decision about the movement. There is something we could all learn from this movement. This is a movement that transcends political lines. It transcends socioeconomic status, even though many of us working towards reform are middle and upper-middle class. It is a movement that highlights the dissatisfaction with our current educational system. It is not a movement that privatizes education. Are there private donors in the game? Yes. Part of that is because charter schools are not given the same funds as traditional public schools. In some state they are given about 50% as much money as the traditional public system. The only way to make up that gap is to seek funding from these big philanthropic organizations.

Many of my ideas about education reform have changed. Much of that once I had kids and that was even compounded by the fact that my kids are black kids. I began looking at the disparities in our education system with a different lens–that of a parent. I am fortunate that I can afford (with major scrimping and sacrifice) to send my kids to a great private school. Would I like a great public option? YES. Would I like a tax credit to offset some of the cost because I live in a school district that doesn’t have high or even moderately performing public options? YES.

What I really want is an educational system that serves everyone equally and provides choice. Public school options should be similar to private school options. I should be able to pick the school that is best for my kid. I should be able to pick the school that works best for our family and provides the education I want for my kids. Each school should be different. Each school should be able to define for itself and its community what type of school it is going to be. This is why I have moved over to the pro-charter camp. I want choice. I believe all parents should have choice and not just parents who can afford private schools. All parents should have choice.

So I will continue to sit in the room with those who I once thought couldn’t be more different than me. But we are all working towards the same goal–what is best for kids. Giving kids and parents the choice that is rightfully theirs.