Before the first day

As a quick intro: I'm a 40-year old mom, wife, writer and editor (but please excuse my blog style which includes bonus typos and grammatical boo-boos from time to time) who lives near Morningside and Guildwood Parkway. I love living in Scarborough; I grew up in the Beaches.

Tomorrow my son Noah enters grade one at Poplar Road P.S., which will be his first day in the public school system. Up until now he'd attended Absorbent Minds Montessori, partly because he was thriving there and partly because as a full-time working mother I liked the extended hours. (I'm on maternity leave until Januarya as I have a second son, Liam, who's seven months old.)

This blog is an experiment in chronicling my thoughts and experiences as my family experiences public school. With so many choices out there in Toronto - public school, alternative school programmes, private schools of many kinds, Catholic (also public) schools and homeschooling; what did I miss? - I thought it might be neat to connect with other people who are engaged in their kid's education and navigating all the choices, large and small, around that.

I'll also be honest right up front: Part of the impetus for blogging this was a gymnastics class my son took at Sir Wilfred Laurier High School a couple of years ago. The class was just fine, but I spent my time staring at stains on the walls, walking past bent lockers and holes in the ceiling. I was somewhat appalled: Is this the condition of building that we want our kids to be looking at as they work to become educated, thinking citizens in a democratic society? Or does it just not matter so long as the teaching's good?

I don't have any answers and I decided I would not pre-judge. But it is that kind of question that I bet will come up here.

I'm choosing to be public with who I am because I don't intend to say anything I wouldn't say in public, but don't be a jerk about it, ok? Thanks.