A Good PTA = A Good Village

Since my daughter entered 1st grade last year, I've been blown away by how much is handled by our PTA and what a service it is to our school and our community.   Roughly once a month there is an event at school for families.  In this school year, SO FAR, we've had:

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  A Dads and Kids Pizza Party - getting dads more involved
  
  
  
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  Ice Cream Social - because everyone loves ice cream sundaes!
  
  
  
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  International Night - celebrating diversity in our community
  
  
  
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  Mark Daniels Show (Magical Story Telling) - encouraging the love of reading
  
  
  

All of the events are free, and all of them are very much enjoyed.  In these social opportunities, the kids and parents and teachers get to meet and interact in a fun and casual way.  Very little true "school business" is discussed, as the focus is on fun.  However, these casual interactions make more serious business later go much more smoothly.  Parents meet the parents of their children's friends and before you know it, parents are picking up each others kids and doing all kids of stuff to help each other.

Why is this important? You know the saying "It Takes A Village To Raise A Child"?  Well, the village WILL raise your child.  The village includes the kids' friends and their families, teachers, scout and club leaders, coaches, ministers and church leaders.  With a little help from the PTA, you'll be meeting and interacting with many members of this village.  So you'll know where to encourage your child to spend more time (or less), and how to "frame" certain issues for them when discussed at home.  You can better apply your values when you are able to intelligently discuss commonalities and differences between your family and the families of your child's friends.

As your child grows, so will his or her village.... Getting involved and staying involved takes a lot of work, but it's worth it.  Consider joining and being active in the PTA at your child's school.  It will benefit you more than you know.

Much can be accomplished when determined and creative parents work together for the good of their collective children.

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For more information on Loudoun County Schools, Check out These Posts:

Find out how to sign up for automatic emails and texts about school closings and how to pay for your child's lunches on line with a credit card.

Bookmark the student schedules for Loudoun

Learn how to support the schools in your community through your "Loyalty" cards (the membership cards to grocery and drug stores).  It's free!

Hide Your Eyes, Kids! Cover Your Ears! Obama Wants To Talk To You!

Did you hear all the uproar about Obama wanting to give a “back to school” speech to the children of the US? There was even more uproar here in our county (Loudoun) about our superintendent’s decision not to feature this speech at our schools. Then later, there was controversy because the superintendent made a last minute reversal of this decision, sorta. He said it was up to the teachers – the teachers who already had their day planned.

Apparently, all this attention caused Obama to rethink his plan, too. I understand he re-wrote his speech after hearing the criticisms. I hope it was not just the criticisms from Loudoun County, but here in the county seat the roar was deafening and I couldn’t tell if anyone else was whining or if it was just us LoCo’s.

I have to be honest here… my family is fighting an attack of what might be H1N1, and so I haven’t been paying that much attention. Plus, I didn’t care really. If the kids watched it in school, or if they didn’t, I would discuss it with them at home. If they hadn’t seen it, and I liked it, I could show it to them at home. If they hadn’t seen it, and I DIDN'T like it, I could show it to them at home. Yes, that’s what I meant.

You see, I think my kids should make educated decisions and not be sent to the mushroom school (where they’d be kept in the dark and fed… ah, er, poop). Whether my kids are 3 or 22 (I have 4 kids and this is their actual age range), I want them exposed to different ideas. As a parent, I do not believe it is my job to protect my children from hearing, seeing or experiencing the world… but to ENCOURAGE it. And, to give them the defenses they need to survive no matter what the world throws at them.

The most valuable of those defenses is education and my values. Let them hear what others say. If I disagree with it, I will explain why. Young kids will adopt my sentiments, older ones will consider my point, the educated ones might challenge me. Perfect. Those are the kids I want – independent thinkers with educated decisions. People that can listen to the point of views of others, consider it, and then challenge it…. Respectfully, not fearfully.

I hear so many political comments based in fear and hate. Come on guys, this is America. We can do better than that. Let’s have educated discussions… and this starts with listening, EVEN to our President.

In any case, now that it’s all said and done, I ask you… did you hear the speech? Did you watch it? What did you think?

I thought Obama’s speech was a nice attempt. He lectured my kids, and put it on You Tube so that next time I think this stuff needs to be said, I can email that clip to my kids. They won’t hit play…but they weren’t going to listen to me anyway, and now I can save my breath. There was no political agenda in the speech, not that I heard. He wanted them to work hard. He tried to inspire. In my opinion, he fell short of inspiring… but again, it was a nice attempt. It takes a village to raise a child… and this time I felt like Obama was on my side.

On a larger scale, I think we should make this a tradition. Since schools all start back each year at different times, and the first day of school is very overwhelming for all, I really think that the speech could be better timed. But, once a year, I’d like for our President (no matter who it is) to go to a high school and give a speech (with no political agenda) intended to inspire our youth. Maybe during education week? Maybe at the end of the summer, just before school starts back for the year?

And maybe the speech should be watched with parents at home, and then re-aired in school. Instead of “what did you do for your summer vacation” the first paper could be “how I am the future of the country, of the world”, or “did the President’s speech inspire you?”; or "if you were President, what speech would you deliver to the kids of America?".

What do you think? Your comments are encouraged!

Back To School

Today is the first day of school here in Loudoun County.  I logged onto Facebook this morning to share my bus stop photos, and to see those of my friends.  I read comments from parents whose children are off at a boarding school or college, parents of kids yet to enter school... and of course, the sorrowful, hopeful, proud parents posting and sharing their photos from bus stops all over Northern Virginia.

Sniff, sniff....

Once we've all gotten past the nostalgia of remembering our own school days, and particularly first day jitters, we'll need to get organized.

To help you get into the swing of things, below is the student calendar for students in Loudoun, and links to the calendars for Fairfax County and Prince William County, too.

In case you failed to send lunch money this morning, Loudoun (and several other jurisdictions), allow you to set up an account with Cafe Prepay and use a credit card to pay for lunches.  I pay through Christmas break now - in case you are wondering, that's 69 school days here in Loudoun.  For elementary school, that's $169.05 and you're paid through the year (there's also a $3 administrative fee).                                   

Also, remember to sign up now (while you're thinking about it)  for alerts for school closing.  Technology makes this much easier than when I raised my first two kids.  In Loudoun, you need to sign up for Loudoun Alerts. You can sign up ONLY for school related closings or take advantage of all the other alert types they offer.   In other counties, you can register for alerts at Schools Out (http://www.schoolsout.com/), Loudoun seems to have opted out of this system this year.  Through both systems, you can get emails and texts telling you of emergencies, weather related closings or other significant events at your child's school(s).  Don't let your child be the ONE that doesn't get picked up!

Last, but not least, get your pens and pencils ready for filling out those forms tonight.  It's the biggest parent homework night of the year!

A word of caution - beginning in 6th grade, I stopped bringing home my emergency cards and such for my parents to fill out.  That is so I could give the answers I wanted them to have.  That way, I didn't risk them calling my parents when I got in trouble and I never worried that my handwriting on the "please let Vicky leave early today" notes would match up with that on the signature cards.  So, just in case your kid is that smart, beware.... some thing's up.  Every parent signs those cards on the first day of every school year - don't believe your kid if they say anything different.  (Gosh, thinking back, it's a good thing that there never was an emergency with me, huh?  My parents would never have known.) 

Aren't you glad I was not your child? 

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Check out these links to local school calendars for the areas I work on a regular basis:

Loudoun School Calendar, Fairfax County School Calendar, Prince William School Calendar
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For more information on the Northern Virginia area, visit my web site: VickyChrisner.com