O is for Open Opinion.

I like to express mine. I let my kids express theirs for the most part. Though it can drive me insane. Actually I do believe it’s healthy and can be a good course of action when the opinion is expressed in a calm, respectful and honest way. Even though I don’t always like what I’m hearing, I still believe in expressing an open opinion.

N is for New School.

Though my daughter is still homeschooled, she has technically started a new school this year. She has joined an virtual school online. It is different than anything we’ve done before. Most of her day is spent in front of the computer. She has lessons including text, video, power points and class chats. All her courses are outlined and scheduled for her. She has a daily calendar which tells her what to do. The new school has some things for us to get used to, but so far so good.

M is for Mishandled.

Which is how I feel about the president’s speech to students. It’s not that I did not want my kids to hear it. It’s just that the whole thing was mishandled. It was done in such a bad way, and caused many people to become upset. I don’t feel like anyone has the right to “feed” something to my kids without my consent, including the local schools or the president of the nation. The schools have to have prior consent before showing any other media presentation, and I feel like they should have followed their own rules in this situation as well. I think Daniel Huberty does a good job in his letter to Secretary Duncan explaining how this situation was completely mishandled.

L is for Ludicrous.

Which is the way they built my son’s high school. It is at the end of a dead end street with only one way in and out. This is the first year the school has housed all four grades, 9-12. Each year there have been more students than projected. Now with even more students and more of those driving, traffic is horrible. My son is having to leave earlier and earlier just to make it to first period on time. And after school all the buses jam the parking lot. They get to leave first and all the student drivers are backed up waiting. Yesterday morning the cops tried running the traffic lights. My son said they only made it worse. He made it with two minutes to spare before first period. That means it took about 40 minutes to go three miles! Ludicrous!