So today is supposed to be a strict day of rest. I have never paid much attention to the meanings of the Jewish holidays, but the Yom Kippur meaning interested me this year, as did the fact that, among the fast and other requirements, one must not wear leather shoes on this day. It is on this day that one's fate for the upcoming year is sealed by God. Over the past several days, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, one should have amended his or her behaviors and sought forgiveness for sins. However, in our part of the world, most of the kids are just glad for a couple of extra hours to sleep in.
I had to get up early anyway to get Brian's lunch packed and send him off to school. What do the Catholics care about this day of atonement, when they have their own? (or is every day a day of atonement for a Christian?) Megan is still asleep, at nearly 10, after being caught out in the thunderstorm last night while I was nowhere near to come and get her. Fortunately she was spared any bolts of lightning and made it to shelter by the time the downpour had ceased. Now she has a lot of homework to finish up before swimming tonight.
She's having trouble in an AP class, not trouble per se, but bad grades on a couple of tests and boatloads of work that overwhelm her life. It isn't that she isn't able to do it, but she has so little time that it literally takes all of it away. This is the most work she has ever had in any class. She has two other AP classes, English and Calculus, and neither is like this. She would never have signed on for AP History, but it comes hand in hand with English in her school. I'm concerned because they no longer weight the honors and AP classes higher than the regular. So she could potentially come through this ridiculously work intensive class with a C, and that would push her below in the rankings, favoring someone in a regular class who did almost no work for an easy A.
Certainly the colleges like to see AP classes on the transcripts, but it is worth it when these courses are literally choking the life out of you? Last year, E had honors history. with very minimal effort, she carried an A through most of the year. at the very end, when she really didn't care, she dropped down, I think to a B+. I am sure Megan is learning more, and she has to, because at the end of the year they are expected to take the AP exam. But when the entire class does poorly on a test, the highest grade being a 70 from what was the smartest girl throughout three years of middle school, one has to stop and think.
So I am going to call and just weigh in with the guidance counselor. We have a paper we're supposed to sign that deals with listing rank on the transcript, it's optional, and I never know how to fill that in. Ideally she would be able to take honors history and AP English, but I don't think that is an option. And she really likes the English teacher and doesn't want to leave her. Hopefully the teacher will turn things around. She told them on Friday that they will 'learn to hate three day weekends,' which I think was an obnoxious comment. Just her luck, last year there was a different teacher, and he was much more easy-going. So we'll see how this goes. The work in that class is taking her five times as long as from all her other put together: AP English, honors physics, AP Calculus and Honors Spanish 5. Go figure.
In other news, Kevin is traveling to meetings in Connecticut today and I am home with the house a mess and the dogs stinking. I should really take a walk for some exercise, but I am trying with that blasted F5 F5 F5 over and over again. I'm really getting fired up about it, and may call over to the district office to see if I can find out anything about why I never see any jobs, when other people are telling me they're getting assignments without even trying. If this is going to be a system based on favoritism and I can't be a favorite, then I might as well try to find something else where I will be appreciated, instead of sitting around waiting for someone to throw me a bone. This is so demeaning. Can't be a NJ housewife forever, you know. Time for atonement.
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