Cephalopods (a.k.a Why We Can't Attend an Arts Magnet)

[lydamorehouse]

Shawn reports this conversation from last night:

Mason: Are octopuses cephalopods?
Shawn: [After a moment of stunned silence]. Yes, honey, I think they are.

We went to Four Season’s Open House last night and Mason decided that it was _not_ the school for him. First of all Shawn and I felt that there was something just a little "off" about the building -- I don't know, something just triggers our "spidey senses." Mason had the same reaction. Almost immediately after entering the school, he said, "When are they going to let us leave?"

In comparison, he cried when we told him it was time to go at Crossroads/Science. We we still really love the Pre-K instructor and the arts emphasis is wonderful at Four Seasons, but Mason really needs a school with hissing cockroaches in their "Inquiry Zone" (like Crossroads/Science.) Did I tell you? He correctly guessed the gender of the cockroach Mr. Bill (the I-Zone instructor) had in his hand. Male hissing cockroaches has "horns" on its carapace, and Mason noticed that one did not. His observation surprised the teacher.

That's my boy. Three and a half.

Comments

WOW...

[holy-toledo.livejournal.com]

He's going to be a rocket scientist. He's going to cure cancer. That there's got to be one of the sharpest knives in the kitchen!

-Mel

[(Anonymous)]

That's fantastic. Art magnets aren't for every kid and if you want him to have a good foundation in science and math, then they aren't for Mason at all.

- CV Rick

Art Magnets

[davehd.livejournal.com]

There is a direct correlation between access to art education, and higher achievement in ALL subject areas. I hope your implication that art magnets can't provide a good foundation in science and math, was just an off the cuff bias for "academically rigorous" schools. I'd argue loudly, and for a long time that the critical control to look at in evaluating the quality of school, or the value of the education it offers, is in how high they set their performance expectations. A challenging Art Magnet would serve Mason, or any other kid, just as well as a Tech school. Further, the critical thinking skills learned in a good art magnet will open his future and better prepare him for the rigors of Junior High, where it might actually make sense to start focusing him on a science/math tract.

'Course, I put Raaf and Rowan in a school based entirely on the number of windows in the classroom, and the 'feel' I got walking through the halls. It's clear to me that the architecture is real point of evaluation when considering a school. Everything else will be transitory, but the kids is gonna spend six hours a day, 180 days a year inside whatever school he attends, and his success on every single day will most likely be fixed the moment he walks in the door and thinks to himself: "Man, I'm at school, and it's a damned impressive place. I like it here."

Re: Art Magnets

[lydamorehouse]

Yeah, actually, Dave, I think that it's about the windows for us, too. I should have said that Four Seasons (the Arts Magnet) actually scores very well in sciences in the later grades (better, I think, than the Science one), and our decision isn't quite so much about whether they focus on art or science, but whether or not Mason LIKES it there.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Cool kid.

One of the things I like about the preschool set is that they pick up the oddest things and then present them to you at the oddest moments. Fun and cool at the same time.