So yesterday was report card day and I discovered that both of my kids in public school are on an ESL curriculum. :nono: :wall: Ok, ticked off yes. But I found out something today that can REALLY bite the school in the you-know-what!

Not hubby or myself had ever signed a PERMISSION form for any ESL curriculum and the school has never called me to inform me but they went ahead and did it anyways. Apparently that is highly ILLEGAL! So now I have the honour of reporting the school! :booyah: I got my info from a "reliable source". :eyebrows: I assumed it was just a special class every so often...nope, they're on the entire curriculum. No wonder! :doh:

Off I go to make an important phone call to the school board....:whistle:

I know what ESL means (English as a second language....right?)....but what kind of curriculum is that?? I mean, English is your PRIMARY language, right? What are they THINKING????

That makes me so angry.....:mad: :wall:

See, teaching means the teachER would actually have to take the TIME to explain things to the students so that the student can understand and comprehend what's to be done, right? I mean, that's just common knowledge. Well, they don't do that these days so they get lazy and drop the child DOWN who knows how many levels. Plus there's a big percentage of cultural difference in the school. Around here it's the Mennonites vs "English" folks. Weird to you guys, I know...but that's just the way it's always been. The Mennonite/immigrants from Mexico or even someone with a Mennonite - sounding SURNAME are more likely to be picked on...hence they all think that they need to be dropped down to ESL which does mean English as a Second Language.

And yes, English IS our primary language...only when I get upset or rushed do I bring out the German...LOL. The kids know what those short lil phrases mean! I didn't know a lick of English when I started school but that does NOT mean that my kids don't know it. Of course they know it! I've asked Luke (he's in grade 3) if he feels he can do regular grade 3 work. He says, yeah he can. But when he "struggles a bit" that's when they throw lower grade work in front of him. :rollseyes: I've been having him do regular grade 3 work at home...he CAN do it. These damn lazy idiots running our kid's education...:nono:

I didn't get to making the much-anticipated call yet. Much too much noise and drama since it was a PA day today. Isaiah managed to yank down and ENTIRE cabinet in the laundry room!! :eek: :doh: So Monday morning....and I've been advised to just go to the board...nevermind the school, they'll just put up a messy fight.

Boy-howdy! I'd be :ticked: big time! :nono: Get the :whip:!

:doh:

hmmmmm.....mebbe homeschooling for ALL your kids is in the future???

In Isaiah's words....YOU GOT IT, DUDE! :thumbsup: I wanna start in September. Hubby insists the kids stay in for at least the remainder of this year.

Good for you! :thumbsup:

wipe them out all of them.

Wow Lena, that would have flipped me out. How amazing...

Wanna know what's REALLY amazing? The school's superintendent knew NOTHING of the ESL program. Not how it starts, not if parental permission should be granted...NADA. :nono: So guess who I'm expecting a phone call from now? Our ditz of a principal. This oughta be fun. Seriously, she is one piece of work. :doh:

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Aren't you from Mexico?


Seems ok to me.

No, ya doofus. I am not from Mexico. The point is, my kids only know ENGLISH, yet they're being treated like they DON'T.

OH geez...guess what? They're in ESL because they (the school) ASSUMED we speak German at home. They ASSUMED that we would be ok with a change in the kid's curriculum without our OK. They ASSUMED that they didn't have to tell us what is going with the kids at school. Wanna know WHY they're in ESL? Because of our CULTURAL BACKGROUND!!!! I told them that we ONLY speak English at home. They then said that the grandparents speak German to the kids. I told them NO they don't. Grandparents speak only English to the kids. So they "apologized"...yeah, right...for not keeping open communication. What a load of BS!!!

I am still mad at them. Now they want me to come and visit. I told them I'd need a sitter for Isaiah. They traumatized him so badly that they have NO clue because they said that Isaiah is more than welcome to come, too. HA! Forget it! Isaiah has now filed SCHOOL under the same category as DOCTOR == high anxiety just GOING there.

I swear, these are just all a bunch of political morons. :wall: :nono:

And apparently, it's not illegal for the school to stick them in the ESL program and neither do they NEED parental permission.

They just helped me to confirm my decision for homeschooling next year.

That's just crazy, ridiculous, insane......annoying, aggrivating, frustrating....I can't think of enough!!

So are they OUT of the ESL classes now? Hopefully.....

Well, I asked how they do without ESL shoved under their noses. Oooh, they are WEAK and can't keep up with the rest of the class. Uh, WHAT?! I told them that they can do their work fine at home. Oh, but the teacher can't always be there for when they need help because of all the other students. Weak explanation. I know. :wall: So....I'm gonna discuss this more with hubby tonight. Then we'll decide whether to yank or not to yank.

They had their speaker phone on and the ESL teacher was there, too. She asked if Candace ever talks about her and what they do in class. I was like, NO. Candace doesn't talk about you or your class. Not sure how SHE felt about that...hehe. But no, Candace doesn't say a word about it.

So yanno, obviously there's a prejudice issue here. The other thing that crossed my mind is that since Isaiah was on an IEP/kindergarten curriculum (he is now in GRADE ONE! :thanks: ) they use this also as a "valid excuse" to pick on the siblings. Luke is already at the point where he feels neglected and left out in many places at school. He's not as involved with the ESL as Candace is.

You sure have a yucky achool system where you are. everything you've told us sounds just appalling...and now this ESL thing....what the heck?!? Were they really trying to justify by saying that their grandparents speak German so two generations removed should be in special classes? Even if they did they aren't the primary caretakers so what of it? Geez!!!

Keep us updated...