Okay, okay, I will post this (edited)
Everyone I’ve told this to has said “ah HA HA he is YOUR KID” so I guess I’d better share.
I brought down a rubber duckie that Noah wanted (it had somehow migrated to a high shelf) and he said as clearly as possible, “Dddd uCK!” Which was very exciting, so I said, “Yes, that’s a duck!”
“DddUCK!” says Noah
“Right!” I said, and of course unwilling to just leave it there I said, “And what does the duck say?”
“EeeeeeEeeee!” squeals Noah.
“Close! But no, the duck says quack, quack,” I say, good mum that I am.
Noah gets pretty insistent, “DdddUCK! Eeee! Eeeee!”
“No,” I say, just a faintest touch of a hint of perfectionistic smarm in my voice, “the duck says QUACK, QUACK,” honey.
Noah grabs the duck and squeezes it and lets go.
The duck says, “EeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee.”
~~~
Added: School scores are out on these province-wide standardized tests (not like NCLB but not especially benign either). I know the tests are only one way to get information about the school and I’m not sure I set too much stock by them overall. But but but.
Our local elementary school? Scored in the usual high end for its grade 3 students. But the grade 6s? Seventh percentile. WTF? I suppose I’d be labelling myself a problem parent already if I called now and said “Hi, I have an 18 mo old in the area… WHAT THE FUCK is going on in your senior grades?”*
The French Immersion school in the area? Dead last in both. In the PROVINCE. Oh yah I’ll be sending Noah there… not.
Sigh. Education angst. Already. Time to start saving.
* I actually sort of want to, because it’s a small school and I’m guessing either a girl-spat hours before the test, or stomach flu the day of. But - ??? I’ll be watching next year’s scores for sure.
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LOVE it. Uh, the duck story, not so much the school story. Having the exact same problem down here. The elementary and middle schools Jamie will attend get stellar ratings. The high school? Not so much.
Love the duck story.
About the school scores, are you looking at the recently released report that ranks schools against other schools in the same socio-economic demographic? Yes, the sudden drop off is worrisome, but is that 7th percentile for all schools or 7th percentile for schools in neighborhoods like yours? Which is still bad but possibly not quite as catastrophic, depending on your neighborhood.
And yes, stomach flu seems like a possible explanation.