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I can tell it’s almost spring.

The sun is still up when my husband comes home from work. The days are getting warmer. Sign ups for community supported agriculture, or CSA, (where you can get part of a farm harvest every week by purchasing a share in a local farm) are underway. Maple syrup is being celebrated. I have crocus blooming in my front yard. My floors are covered in mud.

And I have a renewed desire to shed the cocoon of winter. I find myself making excuses to stay out of the house, whether for errands or an extra trip to the park. The spring clothes that were still waiting to be put in the attic are going to be put on hangers instead. Even my recalcitrant daughter was excited to do some spring shopping.

As the seasons change, so are things in our lives. Redecorating, spring cleaning, and my desire to improve my parenting are all changes that I’m experiencing this month. Less yelling, more preparation, experimenting with techniques gleaned from a friend who read “Transforming the Difficult Child“.

It’s a good thing I am embracing change since the weather insists on changing so frequently this week.

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For all parents who, like me, feel a good education is the key to long-term life success, we seek out academically oriented extracurricular activities. Whether the children are in public school, homeschooled, or in private school, I am constantly on the look out for other classes, workshops, or activities.

Why would I bother to have my child spend hours on regular school work and then come home to do more work? There are a few reasons.

• I don’t want to compartmentalize learning as something that only should, or only can, happen in school.
• Every topic can be taught in a different ways, from traditional lectures, to books, to hands-on activities, to worksheets, to one-on-one time.
• What are the chances your child will find their passion or career in the classes taught in school? Even though math is needed for great technology careers, they figure out their favorite thing to do is program a computer or phone in math class.
• People teach differently and from different perspectives. Sometimes a kid needs to see material presented in more than one way in order to understand it.
• We prioritize what we value. If we actively make time for work, eating properly, hobbies, and learning it’s because we actively want to accomplish those things.

A very popular program that requires a full day’s time commitment is the Spark program at MIT on March 10th. MIT students prepare classes for students in 7th through 12th grade. The classes can be music appreciation, to math, to living on Mars, to figuring out how a toilet works. If driving up to Boston is not in the cards, there is also the Minds in Motion program in Middletown on the same day which only lasts from 1 pm to 4 pm. Some of the activities available for children in grades K to 8 include robotics, exploring Chinese, Circus skills, DNA, and television production along with a lot more.

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Shrek the Musical takes the parts we love about Shrek the movie and then sculpts the story to make it work really well on stage and with a lot of dancing. I was a little concerned that I might be watching the movie over again, but enough was changed to keep it fresh. For instance, my favorite part of the musical was a Broadway-chorus-line-style tap dance with the Pied Piper’s rats. You won’t find that in the movie anywhere.

I saw toddlers and teens enjoying the performance. There was not a single crying child I could discern through the whole performance. Some of the youngest kids were tired by the end of the entire 2 ½ hour performance, one was even sleeping, but the ones sitting around me were engaged.

The classic lines that parents have memorized because our kids love watching the film over and over again still deliver. Shrek the Musical even finds a way to add a few more zingers. It is still the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast that we enjoy with enough change to keep you on your toes.

With the exception of “I’m a Believer”, none of the songs from the original Shrek soundtrack are included in the musical.  There are 19 songs included in the musical. They are delivered with the professional quality one expects of seasoned performers.

The production values were amazing. The costuming was accurate, rich, and varied. The sets were beautiful and creative. We could peer behind bars and walls and watch the sun rise and set. I was a bit in awe of the number of different sets.

The show is on regardless of the weather!

What parents need to know:

There is an opportunity to buy snack food before entering the theater. The prices are better than a movie theater. If you are steering your young ones away from candy, maybe talk to them about not buying anything at the theater or getting only a water.  There are alcoholic drinks also available.

The Palace is a small enough theater that all of the seats provide a good viewing experience.

The intermission is about one hour after the performance starts and lasts 20 minutes; plenty of time for a potty break.

The actors are wired for sound, but the overall sound level of the show was OK. It was a little quieter than a movie without explosions.

Shrek paraphernalia is available for purchase. There is a stand close to the entrance with t-shirts and some ogre-ear head bands and other novelties for a keepsake. I did not check the prices.

At the end of the performance, there is a short duration of strobe lights toward the audience.

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I wrote before about our scheduled visit with my 12 year old daughter’s middle school. It was intimidating. Everyone of her teacher’s was there, including an extra student teacher, the principal, and the school psychologist with  just my husband and me.

It was hard. I had concerns but I couldn’t seem to get them heard. The teachers had their own ideas about what they wanted and we just kept talking past each other. When I tried to rephrase what the teachers were saying so I could understand it better, the principal yelled at me because, well, even though what I said was accurate, he felt insulted.

It was humiliating and nothing came of it. It was nice to see the teachers. They seemed genuinely concerned but, ultimately, would do nothing different.

I’ve heard stories of people in my school district struggling to get help for their children and having to bring in copies of the law or wait until their children were performing well-below grade level before getting results, but I thought they were the exception.

And that’s the end of that (and the whining here!).