first day of school

The boys have started school - RAD school, that is. Revolutionary Artistic Development School of Brooklyn. Couldn't we have predicted my kids would end up somewhere like this? Having done my due diligence in researching the local public schools and applied (unsuccessfully) to the only private school I would send my kindergartener, I decided our little pseudo-homeschool was the best option for him and for his little brother. So they are both getting an alternative education. I say alternative only because they are the only kids in the neighborhood not reciting the alphabet on a daily basis and having flashcards flipped while their eyes and brains glaze over. They are, instead, enjoying copious outside time; learning the art of listening to friends; tending to their own plot at the Fort Greene Park Garden and eating the lettuce they grow; and ending their days in a Compliment Circle, which should be mandatory for all of us, frankly. I think there would be fewer wars in this world. Yes, I am a product of hippie parents, but the RAD school seems like the most relevant, sensible solution to my issue of how to educate my kids in this world.