What are public schools for?

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

What are public schools for? Current mood: groggy Well, the boys are in bed early tonight. Littleman was very sick yesterday, out of the blue. He couldn't even keep water down. Finally after another puke around 2 am I was able to very gradually introduce some diluted Gatorade, and it stayed down. He slept well after that and today has been his normal self again! WTF?? Well I am glad it resolved so well so quickly. I have still been cautious with what he eats and drinks, but it almost seems like he was never sick. I may even let him go to montessori tomorrow. Anyway, so here it's barely 9 and I am "free". I'm exhausted though, from dealing with Littleman last night and then (when he was finally settled) helping Sweetcheeks who woke several times in the night. I got a broken nap this afternoon but I think it just left me more groggy. I think I will just do some minimal tidying, put the pot of homemade chicken soup in the fridge (mm, the house smells good!), take a nice hot bath and go to bed. Before that however, I wanted to share a quote I found in one of the homeschooling books I am reading. It is giving some background information on how public schools began in the United States, most of which I now recall studying but had forgotten. Horace Mann was one of the reformers who advocated a new public schooling system. He recommended common schools to produce urban workers who would be "more orderly and respectful in their deportment, and more ready to comply with the wholesome and necessary regulations of an establishment". There you have it, folks- that's what public schools are for. And they are generally very good at it, aren't they?