Open house today!

[Chicken lady]

I'm taking a goat!

i woke up at 6:00 and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm too excited. Today I get to see my returning students and meet my new students. If things go really well I'll recruit a few more kids for my new Tuesday class, and if not, it will get cancelled. I'm actually ok either way. I will still have 9 classes, which is the most I've ever had.

It was really astonishing to me yesterday when I laid out my handouts and realized I needed two tables!

[razz]

Enjoy your day and share your wonderful enthusiasm with your visitors!

[Chicken lady]

I Can't find the smiley face who is asleep.

they grow so much over the summer!

and I always forget how loud they are.

:)

[Zoe Girl]

Isn't it great to see them again! I have been seeing my kids for a week now. They are so much taller, especially elementary girls.

Do you have lots of sign ups for all your classes? What are the class topics anyway, I am always interested.

[Chicken lady]

I had one class that was full +1 before open house - that has never happened to me before. The rest are pretty solid. I've got one low enrollment that I am teaching anyway (for study hall pay) by my choice, and one that we are going to shift the ages on (by parent request) and give it a week before cancelling for low enrollment. Those are all pottery - ages 5 -18 (broken into groups) beginner to "applying to art school" or "sold work to the public last year."

i'm also teaching farming classes for the first time this year. All the way from kindergarten level city kids " chickens lay eggs" to high school "how does immigration policy affect farmers in our region?" Those all have solid enrollment.

My hieght winner is a 13 y.o. boy who grew almost 8" this summer. My "changes" winner is a teenaged boy who was a teenaged girl last year - he's coming in "loud and proud" so we're bracing for that. He's not signed up for my classes though, so I'll just be dealing with lunch conversation and dress code.

my personal challenges winner is a parent who told me "I see you're teaching some history of farming. We're Christian" (all I could think of was Cain and Abel?) I said "we're not going back that far." She said "We believe in creation. So I want to be sure you aren't going to be teaching anything that conflicts with that." (Lady, "Christian" was not the word you were looking for) "I don't think so. Mostly modern agricultural changes, pioneers, Europe, where plants originated? Some genetics but focused on selective breeding and modern techniques?"

i've got a student who can't touch pigs if they come to visit, some vegetarians who can't have animal rennet produced cheeses (the parents got a lot less uptight about listing and explaining when I told them I was vegetarian) and one father who wanted to know if we would be butchering anything in class (no.)

[Zoe Girl]

How interesting, i love all your classes. I am learning more about affluent parents this year. They are awesome at using the google form sign up and then of course have lots of questions. It wasn't too bad, just people asking for special things while i lose staff and try to adjust. So i am sending confirmations and had to cancel my fiber arts class the first session.

[Tammy]

If your teaching conflicts with their belief system then it's on them to find a religious school for their kid. Good grief.

[Tybee]

I like the way you are working with a diverse group of parents and respecting their beliefs, CL. I do think public schools are for all, and all includes a variety of religious beliefs.

[Chicken lady]

Oh, they've been with us before - they just drop classes they don't agree with. They really should leave, because what they need to worry about isn't a teacher saying "x happened in 12,000 b.c.e." They need to worry about their son falling in love with mr "loud and proud" or his sister.

i've never believed anything that I've wanted my children to believe that I didn't think would stand up to exposure to just about anything (heroin or torture being two exceptions off the cuff) so I can't really relate.

[Chicken lady]

We are not public.

we are non-profit and serve homeschooled students. We operate from an educational philosophy standpoint, rather that a creed, our core tenant is "respect."

[Tybee]

Oh, I am sorry. My bad, I thought you taught in a public school.

[Chicken lady]

Nope, I tried that. I am not constitutionally suited for a public school. Or many private schools. I am an excellent teacher. I am also a bureaucrat's worst nightmare. I once quit a job over a school policy I felt was developmentally inappropriate to the point of potentially harmful. (It wasn't really the best gig in other ways either, but at the time my back up plan was Burger King.)