It’s that time of year again at Moose’s school…ISAT time.

Now, he hasn’t been affected by this directly, yet. I believe the actual testing begins in third grade. But he’s already indirectly feeling the effects (and has been since he started in the Early Childhood program way back when), as they have signs up all over the school demanding quiet in the hallways, the teachers are constantly reminding them that tests are beings taken, and there’s a general somber feeling that clouds the school. Yes, they try to make it fun, too, by having special themes each day, but those end up being just another hassle, as he tries to locate the right color of shirt to wear each morning for two weeks.

Yes, I said two weeks. That is true bureaucracy for you. Perhaps if we didn’t take two weeks out of every school to test the children’s knowledge on what they’ve learned, the teachers would actually have time to, I don’t know, teach. Or maybe that’s just too reasonable of a thought.