Red Flags?

Darn, I promised a book report! Well, the Obama book was way too boring for any real reading. So I did a quick skim and found out he didn't even write it. No author at all -just campaign propaganda. CHANGE and all the stuff he will do for us if elected. Well, I 'm not too interested in what politicians SAY. I want to learn more of what he has DONE, and can't wait to see what he is going to DO.

Instead I read/skimmed Scott McClellan's, "Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception". Skimmed because I kept thinking it's time to move on, this guy is done. But it was interesting enough to read a lot of it. It confirmed everything I really believe about this administration. Bush Is a Good Guy (sorry bush haters) who really cares and believes in freedom for all. He felt so passionate about spreading democracy globally that he led us blindly into a war with an insane faith that we could win it. He had really good intentions, but intentions that I don't support.

America has no business going around the world knocking off dictators and enforcing freedom. There are too many bad guys out there for us to take them all on. We can't afford it, it doesn't work, and it isn't right - no matter how good it sounds to spread liberty throughout the middle east. We have been against it from the beginning. Brent, I and . . . Senator Obama. Unlike Hillary.

I've checked out a lot of books this week trying to win the library raffle for a Wegmans gift certificate for Thanksgiving groceries. One ticket in the can for each two books I check out. Pretty good chance winning with 6 patrons in one family. We may have to start going every other day instead of just once a week. And just skim and turn 'em in.

Speaking of skimming- Savannah has been strongly accused of it. For the past two years she has had teachers that adore her. They acknowledge she is a speedboat and that she races through every assignment and every book that you place in front of her, but love her for it and recognize she's special.

I went to her parent teacher conference a few weeks ago planning on hearing the usual raving reviews. Instead I was told repeatedly that she is seeing RED FLAGS. Apparently reading 7 Harry Potter Books in 2 weeks is a very BAD thing, not something to brag about. According to her teacher her reading speed (179 wpm) indicates that she is comprehending very little. I just couldn't even believe we were spending the whole conference talking about red flags. The other red flag was that she prefers to work independently and gets bored in group work. No surprise there. But I wanted to be fair and do a little research so I went straight home and had her take some comprehension tests online.

Now I am seeing red flags -About Myself! My fourth grader scored better than me. After several tests I determined that the child is brilliant. Now I just need to convince her teacher. I have been patient with her because Kennon had her last year and learned a ton with her. But my two girls learn very differently. One of the things that makes me the angriest is that she has assigned her to a certain reading level and won't budge. Savannah read every book in that level in the classroom in the first 2 months and asked to move on to level T. Her teacher tells her, "I don't see how that could be possible. I don't know what to do." Hello, let her move on to the next level!

Or I am taking it to the next level. . . ."Hi, this is Mrs. Casper calling, May I speak to the principal?"