mawm

< 2003-08-28 : wonder if this zine still exists? >

wonder if this zine still exists? 2003-08-28 - 12:21 p.m.

"The Edgy-catin' Mama is a feminist home/unschooling zine that looks at the world of homeschooling WITHOUT the rose colored glasses. Edgy blows all those myths about homeschooling off the planet. If your kids are not little brain surgeons that read Shakespeare in their spare time then this zine is for you. If you are feminist, single, lesbian, poor, or in any way outside the mainstream and homeschool your children then this is the zine for you. Contributors always needed. Issue #1 is free and can be had by emailing me at:[email protected]. Subscriptions are $8.00 per year." (Nina)

From grrl and lady zines E

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Aesop's Room wish list 2003-08-28 - 12:02 p.m.

item 303
$11.95 Math for Girls

item 501
$58.50 Five in a Row (set)

item KK-2493
$17.95 German flower press

item LU130M48
$48.95 Aquacolor crayons 48-set

item MA-S02
$19.95 Beeswax crayons 16-set

item SB-3658
$19.95 Myths of the World

item UCB-001
$18.50 [Classic] Family Math

item PZ
$4.50 Piezo Rocks

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the fickle finger of Lowtide Elementary 2003-08-28 - 1:09 a.m.

I got a call from Lowtide Elementary, our neighborhood school, this morning. I went there earlier this summer to sign Jinx up for their "alternative" parent-participation K-2 program.

My nephew (or grand-nephew if you want to get technical about it) Rojo will be attending the same program at Lowtide, except as a first-grader. I talked my niece into it, actually. She'd rather send him to Dollarburn Elementary across town, but I thought this would good for him. He's had problems at other schools.

But I hemmed and hawed so long trying to decide whether to put Jinx in the school or just homeschool him that by the time I got there with all the paperwork, there was a waiting list. He was only second on the waiting list, though, and I am a great believer in signing on to waiting lists, because they have come through for me before.

So sure enough, mid-summer I get a call from the principal of Lowtide. Did I want to put Jinx in their alternative kindergarten class? By this time I had submitted Jinx's application to the charter school the girls are enrolled in, Labyrinth, through which I homeschool the girls. But I could still change my mind. I told her I'd call her back within a day or two, since Duff and Jinx were due back from Michigan the next day.

After much hand-wringing, I finally decided to do it, to put him in Lowtide, figuring I'd just pull him out if it didn't seem like a good fit. Four days after the principal's call, I called Lowtide a few times, always getting voicemail (though the principal had assured me she would be around). On the third try, I left a message.

I never got a return call from the Lowtide people, however. So I went ahead and started thinking about how to do kindergarten at home. Last week, I signed Jinx up for pretty much all of the kindergarten-age classes that Labyrinth is offering this semester (project-based enrichment class, science, Spanish for families). I'm in the process of ordering books and materials. And now, today, a phone call. There is a space available. Actually, two. Do I want one?

I am washing dishes and I keep washing, hoping my mind will come up with an answer. But I don't know what the answer should be, because I don't honestly know which would be better for Jinx. My mind is completely blank. I've already started the ball rolling, the wheel turning, the soup bubbling with Labyrinth. The lady is calling a long list of people and I can tell she doesn't want to wait on the line with me while I mull it over and wash my dishes. So I say no. I say no, not this time, thank you.

There was a similar call three years ago, from another school with better scores, telling me that contrary to previous reports, spaces had opened up in their kindergarten and did I want my girls enrolled? That time I said yes, and while I don't regret it (how else to get the firsthand experiences that would lead me more confidently to homeschooling), I think with Jinx it wouldn't be so much a choice as a postponement: a question of how long we could stick it out.

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