RE: [Discuss-sudbury-model] Newbie with Question

For me the answer would depend on what the contract up front was. One thing
that kids in democratic schools and unschools learn to do is to negotiate
contracts! If he made a commitment and you relied on that commitment to
purchase the instrument, then I could see you all sitting down and
negotiating a deal that might mean practicing for a set period of time or it
might mean selling the trumpet and working out a way to pay back some or all
of the balance or it might mean you agreeing to "eat it" this time with the
express understanding that future deals will be clearer in their
requirements on all sides or it might mean something else.

The answer to your second question is "yes", I suppose, or people wouldn't
be enrolling their kids! I always found that the kids played in their
neighborhoods anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Sometimes we had to negotiate
deals with the local public schools to allow the ids to be on teams and do
other activities that our taxes were paying for anyway.

~Alan Klein

-----Original Message-----
From: Mary Torgersen
Again, thanks for all the thoughtful input on this. I guess the general
consensus it to let him come to it on his own. I can certainly understand
that perspective. The other issue with this trumpet is the 'commitment'
part. Whether or not he comes to love or even like the trumpet, shouldn't I
expect him to honor his commitment to practicing? We paid a bunch of $ to
enroll him, and it was his idea for the lessons... I'm feeling as though he
should practice at least for a few months, and then he can decide what he
wants to do.

On a separate note, do people feel that the benefits of being at a SV school
outweigh the costs of removing your child from his community in order to
attend th school? Any thoughts on that? We would have to drive 45 minutes to
take him to the school here in Massachusetts, and I worry that removing him
from his community could have negative implications down the road.
Received on Thu Dec 02 2004 - 12:53:34 EST