Reading Buddies

BOOK 'EM: Shortly after breakfast this a.m., CJ and Annabelle (with no prompting from me) curled up together on the couch and started reading their "Get Well, Pikachu!" book aloud to each other, taking turns reading the pages.

It was the same book that CJ had asked his dad to read to him last night - much to our surprise. It was the first time I can recall CJ point blank asking someone to read him a specific book. He's always a willing and polite listener, but being the instigator was a big switcheroo.

"Get Well, Pikachu" is not "Wuthering Heights." Heck it's not even anywhere near being a Newberry Medal winner. It's just a first or second grade reading level branded book hoping to appeal to kids who like the Pokemon game and/or cartoon. But you know what? In my book, any book that makes kids want to read is a good thing, so I was very pleased to see the kids enjoying it together the way they were.

At one point I overheard Ananbelle say, "You're a good reader, CJ. You're really good at your consonants!" How sweet is that?

SKIP TO THE VILLAGE: While Annabelle pranced in pink (at ballet), CJ and I went to library where we were just droppers (we still have too big a stack of books to get to at home, so I forbade myself to check out more this week). During the "free dance" finale at ballet, Annabelle wore a "new" uber pink-and-frilly Disney Princess dress scored from the Goodwill outlet for less than a quarter. She was a Discount Princess. :)

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD: After ballet we made a maiden voyage to Hollywood Video in the village. For a few days now, CJ has been asking about these magical places he's heard of. Places you can go in and get movies and - more importantly - video games! And so, for the first time in seven years (how is that possible?), I found myself standing in a video rental store. It was like stepping back in time. I can't even begin the calculate the hours I spent in video stores with Rick and Ken when they were kids. (And today I recalled once when Rick was about 6 he started running - well walking - away from home. He told me he was going to the video store. He was a moviephile from birth, I swear.)

Anywho, we quickly found the video game section of the store, and I thought CJ's head might explode with all the possiblities spread out in front of him. He eventually decided on a SpongeBob game and then we had to do the first timer sign up and check out thing. I made certain to explain to CJ it was just a rental, that even though cash (well plastic) exchanged hands, we were not buying the game. The occasion gave me the opportunity to talk to the kids about the differences between borrowing (like items at the library or tools from neighbors), renting (paying to keep something awhile) and buying (paying money so something's yours for keeps).

&*$%# ?s: One of the library books we're trying to finish is the chapter book "All About Sam." In the most recent chapter, Sam took his pet worm to a pet show at the "liberry." Unfortunately for Sam, before the judges got around to his worm's box, the thing had squirmed away. Sam was, of course, beside himself. In an attempt to calm him, Sam's older sister told him that King of Worms was probably tunneling his way home right underneat their feet. At that Annabelle asked, "How do worms dig through the dirt?"

"Um, with invisible shovels in their invisible hands?" I feebly suggested. Neither Bee nor CeeJ would accept that, though. I will admit to heaving a sigh and having a fleeting thought along the lines of, "Why oh why must you be so damn inquisitive? Can't we just read a book for fun and lead an unexamined, unquestioning life for five flippin' minutes?" Sigh again. Of course, I didn't say any of that. Instead, I smiled and trudged over to the computer and found out that the muscular contractions of worms sends them forward and little hair-like structures (setae) dig in to hold them there until the worm contracts again. They also have a muscular piece called a prostomium that protects the mouth while they're boring through the earth. And I also discovered a new Internet resource:"The Yuckiest Site on the Internet." A Discovery Kids product, there's even a cute interview with Eddie Earthworm, who dishes dirt (get it? get it?) on himself and other worms.

So, obviously, we are all better off for Annabelle having asked the question. Even if it meant I had to get my a*& off the couch.

REAL SCHOOL NEWS: Last night, via a unanimous vote of the school board, Seattle Public Schools decided to return to a neighborhood based model of assigning students to schools. The action means the end of what has to be viewed as a very noble idea (desegration, increased diversity and opportunity), but it turned into an experiment gone horribly, terribly, awfully awry in the execution. So much went so wrong with the assignment system. (In fact, one school assignment tiebreaker they used was deemed unconstitutional by no less than the United States Supreme Court. (And needless to say, defending their practices all the way to the highest court in the land was supremely expensive. That $$$ could have bought a whole lotta books or bricks and mortar. ...)

Only after we moved to Seattle did we learn about the school district's completely wackadoodle system of supposedly letting families choose to send their kids to any school in the district, with the key word being "supposedly." As we learned from personal experience, their anyone-anywhere system involved ridiculous amounts of hand wringing and wrangling on parents' parts, crazy 'tie breaker' algorithms, smoke, mirrors, money and completely off the hook expenditures on transportation.

Under the new plan, students still can apply to attend any school, but they supposedly won't get in if the school is filled by those who live within the school's boundaries first. (One odd aside, in the last draft I read, if you don't enter a school at an entry grade level - kindergarten, sixth or ninth grades, you could be SOL even for your neighborhood school, which seems ridiculous and bizarre and potentially discriminatory to me.)

On paper, neighborhood schools seem like a great idea for a number of reasons, a couple being saving big $ on transportation, it's "greener," it creates a sense of community beyond the school walls, and it's logical/easier to understand. There should be a whole lot less waiting and frantically wondering where The Powers That Be will decide to send your kid to school. Instead, you can know that if nothing else, they will have a seat in your neighborhood school. What a concept.

That said, this district already has such a great divide between the haves and have nots and it's quite possible the chasm will get even deeper under the new plan. And IMHO, Seattle Public Schools were already a big, hot mess. Even if the change is for good intentions and the longterm betterment, this wholesale shift is going to add some big time tumult to a district already on shaky ground.

Magnolia Preparatory Academy is growing more attractive by the day.