Epcot Inspiration

I should probably write a long blog post about the in's and out's of our amazing Disney adventure, and perhaps I will. But right now I'm working on a 4 am wake-up call with a midnight clothing and bedding change for the 3 year old while tearing through packed luggage on our last night of our trip. So I'm tired. But there is a lot on my mind. I've been itchy to move up and on. The night before we left for our trip, I attended curriculum night and was disappointed in the middle school. I know Logan will do well and the teachers really do amazing things. But between a lack of resources, 1 teacher who will be on maternity leave the rest of the year with a substitute that doesn't sound quite ready, no librarian, no music, foreign language if and when you want it only, and a few poorly worded comments, I was a bit of a wreck. From the reading teachers, "yes of course it would be nice if the children read every day, but time in class is plenty." I have a reluctant reader and these teachers were very girl-student oriented about everything, a sorority girl type- including cheers that I could not imagine my son doing. I just didn't hear anything that spoke to me on my Logan. Also, there are huge shifts in curriculum because of Core curriculum and every teacher mentioned "we're going to try this tactic to fulfill that requirement but we are not sure if it will work." "We have 9 math books for all of the 6th graders." "We don't have money for a librarian." "We are planning to tear apart the school to accommodate all the extra students, and hack apart their community spaces." "Well I'm not sure if the substitute is capable of teaching this whole concept, but she'll do her best. There's always next semester! (he won't be in the class next semester). "

So it was in this frame of mind that we headed to Disney for the days the children were off of school for this long Labor Day weekend. What an adventure! The Epcot ride pulled at my heartstrings. They spoke of our children's future, of entrepreneur-ship and pushing the limits. I feel like we have not raised our children to do this. There was a bit about Apple and ingenuity and the children being the future of our world, and it left me sad. More of our time is spent keeping the kids from fighting, trying to encourage them to do the minimum homework they have, keeping up with school skills over the summer, than encouraging some deep-seeded need or desire for learning. I'm not really sure how to encourage more, or to shift their thinking about learning to a different level of understanding. And knowing the children are in a school situation that is less than ideal, it just saddens me. There is never enough time for everything, but this one I'm kind of stuck on what would make it all better. And it makes me want to switch schools even more.