Acquara Independent School

One of the things that will be on the top of my Miss List will be Village Home. It truly is a special place and one of the best models of education I have ever seen. I have often thought about whether I have the wherewithal to recreate the model myself elsewhere. Someday I want to see if Lori will let me sit down with her and just pick her brain. I bring this up today because I dropped Avery out of Little Villagers at the office and then went down to tell Terri that we dropped it. She gave me a hug and was all like, well, maybe he will come back when he is three or four? And I said, maybe. But don’t know. I started at VH with Little Villagers with Aaron and Naim FOUR YEARS ago. It is amazing. It is sad to think that I may never take any of my kids there again. I love “Teacher Terri.” So do the kids.

So, anyway, VH:

Discoverers, heard nothing about it. They did “the usual.” They took the play structure down, so they didn’t go out for recess. I’m hoping they replace it. Not sure what the deal is there, but it was kind of old looking. At least the park is still just a block away.

I only saw Naim bounce and pounce his way into drama. He is very happy there.

OK, Measure for Treasure. They are still working with clocks and time. But what is GOING ON there? There is this assistant who has come to talk to me after class and tell me how smart Aaron is and how good he is doing. At first I just thought it was small talk. Then Nik started getting suspicious last week that something was up with Aaron’s behavior. Like she was telling him he was doing good because there had been a problem before. Aaron mentioned something about a deal they had where he gets to play with Legos the last few minutes of class. Again, I shrugged it off and figured he can work it out with the teacher. So today, he comes bounding in after class with a package of Reeses peanut butter cups. He says the teacher and him have a deal again. I say, what is the deal and he again mentions the Legos. Then the teaching assistant comes in and again raves about how good he did and how smart he is. And I ask her, what is the deal you two have and where did he get the Reeses? She said that when he behaves he gets Lego time AND a Reeses because he told her that was his favorite. I’m like, “oh? has there been a problem?” and she waves me off like, “oh, sometimes it is just a little overwhelming for him. He is coming along.” And I’m like, what the hell is overwhelming code for? But then he got kicked out of the room we were in because it was a nut free zone and this mother is looking at me like, how dare you let him eat Reeses in here, and I’m all, I didn’t even know he had it until two seconds ago! But anyway, so the teacher went off and I never got to talk about it further.

So, I ask Aaron, why are you having to make all these deals? What does it mean to “be good?” He said it means he participates. And I basically made fun of him. I’m all, “you get a whole friggin’ candy bar to participate? That is like the bare minimum you have to do and you not only get Lego time, you get a whole candy bar? Not even a little mini Reeses but a Big one? Like, Aaron, don’t you think this is a bit ridiculous? I mean, nobody gives me or Naim a candy bar to just PARTICIPATE! Is she going to give you candy for BREATHING next week?” I asked him if any other kids had a deal like this and he said no. Then I asked him if it might make the other kids sad to see him get a candy bar when they don’t. And he said, “she slips it to me and it is a secret.” And the whole time we are having this conversation, he is getting more and more sheepish, like he knows he shouldn’t be doing this and that it isn’t fair. I asked him if he liked to participate and he said, yes. So I asked him why he needs to be bribed with a candy bar, then. And he basically said, “because I can.”

What’s next, she is going to give him Lego time, a case of chocolate and CASH? I mean, he is playing this to the hilt. He knows exactly what he is doing.  I think she is a volunteer mom, so maybe she is just trying to be nice, but I think it is absolutely ridiculous. And now I have to figure out what to do about it.  Ack, kid/parent politics. I never know how to handle.

Filed under: Drama, Math, Social Skills | Tagged: behavior issues, Discoverers, Measure for Treasure, Parent Politics, VH Drama |