The Season of Giving

An Anonymous reader posted this recently and it was so heartwarming, I wanted to repost it:

"My son's 5th grade teacher just received $1,400 as a Christmas gift from the 17 families whose children she has been teaching in a Waldorf School since 2nd grade. Quite a present considering we are not a wealthy school! The teacher makes less than 30K after over 30 years of teaching and most of the parents scrimp and save to afford tuition in order to avoid the teach-to-the-test, worksheet burdened, highly stressed public school system. The money was collected in less than 5 days by one simple email sent to each parent: "Contribute what you can. Our teacher needs money, not soaps or candles or chocolate." Some parents were only able to give a few dollars, others a few hundred. But in the end what motivates us is the love and dedication our teacher has to our children. Having the same teacher for many years means you develop a REAL relationship: love and hate, joy and anger, agreements and conflicts...like a family, you stick together and work it out. By the way, the teacher made beautiful clay ornaments for all the parents, and gave a jar of organic sea salt to a few who carry the volunteer load for the rest. True thankfulness all around."


What charities or organizations do you contribute to annually?  Here are some of my current favorites:

The Danville Library Foundation

The Alliance for Childhood

KFOG Live from the Archives - local food charity

The Bounty Garden

Habitat for Humanity

The Smile Train

Children's Cancer Research Fund

Challenge Success


What are your favorite charitable organizations?

Grass Roots Groups to Discuss Homework Issues

I recently received this email:

"I am amazed at how my son is drowning in homework this year. Is there a group of people at Monte Vista High who are working toward or vocalizing the need to reduce the homework load? I was thinking of talking to the administration but wanted to check with you to see if you know of a more effective way to approach this issue. It is really quite ridiculous!"

Perhaps this blog can become a way for people, especially those in the SRVUSD, to connect and form small groups around the issue of homework.

A small group can make a powerful change. In 2007 I invited ten friends to my home to discuss "The Homework Myth" and that led to my friend Julie and I taking our concerns to the district. A few months later a homework task force group was formed that rewrote the old, outdated policy. I was lucky enough to be on the task force. Now I think our policy is better, but can still be improved on.

See the side bar for a link to our current policy. You can always refer to the policy when talking to teachers or administrators with your homework concerns.

To my readers with students in any school in the SRVUSD: feel free to contact me at kerryleadickinson@gmail.com with your homework concerns. Let me know what school you or your children attend and I will put you in touch with each other.