Bridgewater Soccer Mom's view of the world

"Don't compare C & N!" That is usually the advice a parent offers a teacher. Yesterday Miss Teacher gave it to me. While most parents don't want unsolicited advice, this thrilled me. It means N's teacher (who C had 2 years ago) isn't doing it either. This is the 2nd time N & C have had the same teacher and the second time the teacher hasn't fallen into that trap. I hope I don't either. No matter what I say about the curriculum, the district and Bridgewater, I am grateful for my kids' teachers!

Over lunch I read about Everyday Math being reviewed in the Courier News . It's about time! This started a discussion between four Moms at N's friend's party. While we talked some math, language arts became the hot topic. Parent A has a kid who is dyslexic but she needed a lawyer to get reading help for her child. Parent B (hostess) has been asking for answers about our apparent lack of a coherent spelling/word study program at board meetings for years. She asked the board where has the program Bridgewater uses been tested before and was met with blank stares. She went back a month later, repeating the question still with no answers. I think it is a valid question. Perhaps I will ask it sometime too! I think she called BW a guinea pig. Is it? Parent C wants to know why the school district has no problem to call her for permission to test her older A-student daughter for the e-program, while she can't get her younger son tested for dyslexia for love nor money. I belie...

Yesterday I showed my Dad this blog. He liked it, but had one comment. A "who" should have been "whom". Who will teach my kids about "who/whom" since we don't have direct grammar instruction in BW (and my skills are remedial at best?)? GRANDPA will! He will relish this task, and no one I know has better grammar.

In 2 years we've managed to go down 8 slots. We're 91st in the state. Not good enough, BRRSD. Not nearly good enough!!! We're not in the top 75 NJ High Schools. PS Thanks, MB for the tip!

We are very happy today! N got to open his envelope and then did his form of the happy dance when he saw his placement. We know his teacher quite well, since C had her 2 years ago. She wonderful and probably the best placement for N, who hopefully will gain more self-confidence this year. The teacher already knows N so it will be a very smooth transition. As luck would have it, we ran into his upcoming teacher at Target about an hour after getting the letter. Miss Teacher said she was very happy that she will have N. What more could a mother want than a teacher who was happy to have her son in her class? Since I know Miss Teacher pretty well, I told her I hoped that she would place him with the extra help teacher for his challenges in writing. Poor teacher - she had her placement information one day and already a Mom is asking her for a favor... but she smiled and was not put out. I was planning to not be a class Mom this year. After 4 years in a row, I thought it was time for a break,...

This is the week when Bridgewater's elementary school population starts checking their mailboxes for placement letters. In past years we have been at my in-laws' home in Europe when it arrived. My husband called from the US, waking us in the middle of the night with the news. Then I fired up the laptop and e-blasted friends with our placement information, and waited for responses. This year N can open his own letter and read it himself, then call his friends to hear their fates. N struggles in school. He is young for his grade, but no one seems to know if his difficulties are due to maturity or other issues. Last year he was in a class with lots of challenged kids. Unfortunately there were too many kids with academic needs and N didn't receive the extra help I wanted for him. I'm afraid that he starts this year even farther behind. This year I will have to be more proactive if he doesn't get placed with the specialist automatically. I hate that. But as I write this,...

Had another encounter with the BRRSD. This time it was an e-mail exchange with Cheryl Dyer, the Assistant Superintendent. She has consistently shown an interest in improving the educational quality of Bridgewater Raritan schools and knows that it will take a lot of work. It seems she would rather have the teachers better trained to help a broader contingent of kids in the classroom. I am concerned that her plans are unrealistic. But she has a head on her shoulders, knows her stuff and really has sold me on her hopes to improve the district. Let's see what she can do!