Most of the time, I try to come up with a narrative about the Daughter. This time, just the calendar.
This fall, she was playing soccer. Unfortunately, in the very first game, fairly early on, she got kicked in the foot, left the game in pain, and never returned. But she was back in action by the following week. She likes playing defense, and is more interested in protecting her team’s goal rather than making a goal. However, for her homework, she has to write sentences, and she has allowed that someday, she WOULD indeed like to score a goal. That phase ended on November 2.
Both last year and this, there were two weekends where she had soccer, PLUS two rehearsals of the Albany Berkshire Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, in which she will again be an angel. The performance is Saturday, December 21 at 1 pm in Albany.
Much to my surprise, she wanted to try out for the church musical of The Lion King. Not only is she participating, she’s going to play the pivotal role of the young Nala, young Simba’s best friend. She gets to sing some lines by herself, and make a few dance moves. She has played the soundtrack – this is NO exaggeration – over a hundred times since rehearsals began in September. One day she played it FIVE TIMES, and she always goes to sleep listening to it. The production is on March 2, 2014 at our church.
Then there is the aforementioned homework. I have railed about it in my Times Union blog HERE and HERE and HERE In brief, the new Core Curriculum is making my daughter sad and anxious, and she’s not the only one. It’s not that I oppose standards. I do object though to inane questions (see third link just above) put together by non-educators, which what the EngageNY syllabus adopted by the NYS Department of Education has deemed appropriate. Homework takes too long, and chews up both her and my time. Makes me cranky.
So exciting about her role in The Lion King! Way to go, Lydia! So proud of her. Guess there is no denying it’s in her DNA….
I’m in total agreement with you on the subject of the Core Curriculum. I do appreciate the concept of academically challenging our children, but some of the questions, quite simply, fail to make sense. In looking at the homework assigned to my second grader, I’m very concerned that in an effort to expand their thinking, the basic skills needed in life are being overlooked. While I realize that computers are changing the world, there will always be a need to have basic mathematical problems and spelling worlds memorized – skills that are being phased out. The challenge I now face is how do I help my children learn these “basics” on top of the hour’s worth of homework that both bring home every night, while juggling activities that improve their socialization skills as well?
It’s great that your daughter is going to play in the Lion King.
I love that musical.