What the Heck is this?

Welcome, REACH parents. You're probably wondering what the heck this blog is all about. Well, if you are like me, you have a child in your family who is a little bit different from any other child you've ever known. Maybe she learned to talk on fast forward so that you got insights into the language acquisition proccess you might have otherwise missed. Maybe the kid started drawing pictures at a very young age. Maybe he learned to read without instruction. Maybe she corrected her teacher's math, um, in front of the other students (ouch!).
You might have thought that when your special kid, the one with the vivid imagination and tons of drive, hit elementary school, the school system would acknowledge their giftedness and plan to do something about it. You may feel frustrated that this is not always the case.
Our school district seems to be going backward in some respects. We don't evaluate children until the end of the second grade. By that time, your child has spent three years in school without any attention to his or her needs.
Our district also seems to have an aversion to advanced math and science instruction for our elementary and intermediate school students. Recent years show a gradual removal of advanced math instruction our classrooms in favor of a "differentiated classroom experience". The reasons for this shift may be ideological, structural or something else. Your child may be telling you he is bored and isn't learning anything new. If you are work in a profession where math and science are used routinely, you may find this trend alarming.
But what can you do about it? That is what this blog is all about.
Last summer, I attended a conference on something called "the netroots". Netroots is a term that refers to grassroots organization that occurs on the web. The philosophy behind any grassroots organization is that if you don't like what is going on, you have a responsibility to change it yourself. Don't wait for a leader to do it for you. Become the leader.
But, you ask yourself, how do I do this? I'm one person. I don't know much about how things work. How do I find like minded individuals? How do I research my area of interest? How do I contact the people who can make a difference? How do I organize this? And where the heck am I going to find the time for all of this?
A blog is one of the solutions to these questions. Here are some of the benefits of blogging:

*There is no set date and time. The blog is always here for you to connect to others.
*The blog can serve as a bulletin board. You can schedule events and broadcast them.
*You can post your concerns anonymously. Your email address will not be shared.
*The power of the community to research and share information is virtually limitless.

In short, a blog can serve as a nucleation site: a place where bonds can be made easily and without too much organizational effort.
This blog is in its infancy. There is plenty of space to add links and hear your points of view. Let's use this resource and organize so that we can become powerful advocates on behalf of our children and all of the district's children.
Do I have any takers? Please use the comments below to post your thoughts, ideas, links, etc.
First item on my agenda: I'd like to have an organizational meeting. It doesn't have to be elaborate. If we put our heads together here, we can pre-organize it and live blog it for those of us who can't attend but would like to participate.
Things I'd like to cover would be:

*Official name of our group
*Officers. (Necessary?)
*Funding (dues? PayPal? Any left over funds from older REACH group?)
*Mission, philosophy, values
*Committees (Extracurricular, field trips, school board and REACH staff liason)

I'd love to have other front page posters write content for this site. If you are interested, contact me at redkimba@earthlink.net.
Have at it!