summer is over now boo hoo

hi. these photos are from a hip and multicultural kid event i took miles to today while rich and maya snoozed. it was a fundraiser for 826 valencia ,
an organization that promotes literacy and the writing arts for kids. they have a store on valencia which sells pirate supplies (you know, lard, hooks), and in the back they tutor kids from the neighborhood, mostly from latino families. they host field trips, and do tons of work in san francisco unified. we arrived at the fundraiser just as it opened and got first pick of many booths including face painting and hair braiding, become a pirate, make mexican paper art, dunk a writer (dave eggers i think, michelle tea, beth lisick). all the activities had these beautiful banners in spanish and english, everyone was super kid friendly. it's all volunteers. there was good homeade mexican food made by the parents of some tutorees. a climbing wall reaching up into a clear blue sky. and a good little jumpy castle with no line, in which miles had some moments of ecstasy. his spiderman face just covered in joy as he boinged all over the thing.

i got some good sugar from my son who told me he loved me more than getting a new toy every single day. nice to remember when he is refused to brush his teeth later on in the evening and made me headlock him still to get it done like i used to 2 years ago.

i am starting to feel super anxious about the upcoming school selection process. it seems to drag on for a full year. i'll be writing much more about this as the year goes, but i am in the information-gathering stage, mostly meaning i quiz every parent of a young school-age child i meet and ask them about their kid's school. the dad behind me in the face-painting line today told me they didn't get any of their SEVEN choices. we know some kids who were JUST assigned in late august to schools they applied for in december, after second rounds, waiting pools,etc. and i'm realizing i don't even know what kind of education i want for miles...do we go after the school with the best art/music/science/extras? best academic test scores? proximity? k through 8? a progressive creative arts charter school? spanish immersion?
i am someone who has chased down waiters after placing my order as i become overwhelmed with concern that i have ordered the wrong entree. this is going to be really hard on me. it's not just choosing a school--it's a big gamble as the most desired schools are mostly the hardest to get into. yikes. maybe we will homeschool.

last night i went to see rich's cover band play at el rio. my fabulous cousin and cousin-finace babysat. there were a lot of friendly faces from my past and it was a top-notch rock show. i met a friend of rich's bandmate who was a member of the punk band flipper (exciting for me). he told me his daughter was a senior at mission high, had been through sfusd k-12, and they loved this high school that had such a bad reputation. he said they had done a ton of work with her schools. i guess that's pretty punk rock, right? you learn despite what they teach you is what he said (i guess i've heard this before), and i think back to my school experience--i'd say 90% of the facts i learned in school are gone. use it or lose it. kids learn by following their interests. so how much does school matter anyway? i'm realizing i work in the field of education but i need to do some research to get past the NCLB brainwashing crap and find out what really is the best way to teach my kid. we will make sure to try and supplement his poor school with zoos and museums and classes (i'll write soon about the "achievement gap" in my district)--but then when will there be time to just be a kid?


i'll be babbling on about this subject much more as the year goes on. any comments about your own school experience/opinion about what schools should provide is very very very welcomed.

goodnight, love, jamie