Charity block...and advice needed.
Here is my latest venture. It is the block I am working on for the CQmagonline Juvenile Diabetes quilt. The theme is bears. Can anyone guess what I might be doing?
I welcome constructive feedback on this block. This is the first time I have tried to create a picture with piecing. I am happy with the results, but welcome comments from those of you with more experience.
Ben had his first soccor game today. They got whipped 6-0, but he was goalie second half, and stopped about 8 goals so it could of been way worse! He got player of the day, and we had to back to the club for 'prizegiving' in the evening.
I've been worrying a lot about Ben at school lately. He has settled in , and gets on alright in the classroom, but he still doesn't play with anyone at lunch time. I was watching him today at soccor, and he had no problems socializing with his team mates, who he hardly knows, so what is the problem at school? Let me stress that he doesn't seem to be unhappy. But I am. One of the biggest problems I have, and I know I'm going to come off completely shallow, and maybe a little racist ( I want honest opinions from you guys, so I have to be honest) is that he is coming home speaking like the majority of kids at his school. They are not european. Ben is the only european in his class. I don't have a problem with race of the other kids , more the 'class' of them. We live in low socio economic area -poor- and the school has a lot of transient kids, who, historically, have parents that couldn't care less about education. School is a care facility for these kids. I know this is a broad generalisation, but, it's true. I don't want my son speaking like them. It's not the words, it's the sound of the words, the pronounciation, and inflection. I HATE IT. He sounds stupid, and he will be labeled accordingly as he goes thru life, because of where we live.
He is constantly complaining about the other children in his class who are always getting the class into trouble, he finds the disruptive ones very frustrating. He wants to learn. I am worried that he will lose that energy and enjoyment he has for learning.
I am seriously thinking about changing schools, but it has its pros and cons. Ben is a shining light at this school. The teachers like him, and enjoy teaching him. He will always be encouraged and made to feel special...by the teachers. How long will it be before he segregated because of that. He has just turned 6. Most of the kids in his class are 7 and 8, he is ahead of most of them. The school I am considering, he already has friends from Playcentre there, it has a good mix of kids as it is in a mixed area that feed from low to med/high socioeconomic areas. But he will just be another kid there. But he will be with peers.
I asked Ben if he would like to change schools, he said no, his reason being that "there might be even naughtier kids there Mum". Ben hates change, it stresses him out big time. I'm thinkning of maybe waiting till the end of the year, but by then this speech thing will be well and truly set. I know it sounds petty, but to be european and talk like this -and all the stereotypeing that comes with it- is not going to open any doors for him in the future, and as he moves on to intermediate and college, although the mix of kids will be better, there will not be enough of a change to discourage him from speaking like this. HELP!
4 comments:
Oh, it's a hard one, isn't it? My DS is older than yours and he and DD both have 'school voices' where they use the local accent and slang, and 'home voices' where they speak like me - well a bit more like me, as we are not originally from these parts :) They do it to fit in and not be picked on. As I am sure you know :)
Thier school sounds similar 'classwise' to your sons. I toyed with moving them - they could both get scholarships to 'posher' schools and are currently among the brightest in their years. The school does run a 'gifted and talented scheme' to support the top 5% which they are in. They both get stick for being swats and for my son especially i did worry about this.
In the end I decided the choice was between being the brightest in the rough school or the poorest also-ran in the posh school. I went for brightest. I also became a school gorernor so i had some inside knoweldge to what is going on in school. Was this the right choice? Not entirely, because these things are complicated, many pros and cons to each choice. Is he happy? Would moving him make him happy? I think you already answered this when you talked about how he hates change. But he would adapt, they do.
Hug to worried Mum from been there and survived Mum :) You will too and so will he.
Jo, is it a "Teddy Bears picnic"
teddies sitting on a blanket having a picnic
Wow, that's a tough one and at such a young age! You don't prejudiced at all (I think that's what your concern was) but rather a concerned Mom about the welfare and education of her son. Fair enough! I have a friend who finally pulled her kids out of school in the U.S. and sent them back to her native home (Australia) for the reasons you cited. She didn't like what they were becoming. I moved a lot as a kid and went from brightest in the box to avg. to brightest - depending upon location. I ended up skipping a grade and always doing well in school. I think the key is 1) the teachers and 2) is the work challenging? Just a perspective cuz kids are always going to try to fit in and be cool.
Oh my...i can only go with my own experience as a youngster in a public school with us all being working class kids from the "poorer" families....my mother was a very very strong and "definite" kind of person...and she just simply did not allow us to speak in certain ways when we were home. No slang, correct pronunciation and all that. However, she started teaching us about language(and how to strive for saying what you mean as accurately as possible) way before we ever hit the schoolyard so when i got there everyone else sounded funny to ME.Have never picked up slang etc throughout life.In her interactions with us she always used language correctly and encouraged us to read. Through voracious reading I also learned how to speak and think without slang etc. Perhaps this is a way your son might be exposed to some other ways of expressing ideas.
Hope this helps, and no, i don;t think any of your comments are racist.
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