Back Home Again
Well I think April is pretty respectable. We made it 7 whole months through the school year. Looking back I think that is an accomplishment, me being the renegade that I am. I ususally don't think of myself as a non-conformist, but I am. I have a hard time being pushed into a mold. After all, we are talking about a girl who spent most of her childhood traveling across the contiguous 48 states in an RV with her parents.
The problem is that I'm not sure I believe in school, at least school as our society defines it. My son learned a lot while he was participating in his 7 months of first grade, but I think it may have been an even split between things I wanted him to learn and things I most definitely did not. His reading is better yes, but he also knows a whole bunch more ways to tease his brother. Something about 7 year olds spending most of their day surrounded by 25 other 7 year olds does not seem to lend itself to the maturation process. That may explain that while his reading skills have advanced over the past year, his social skills seem to have digressed to an equal degree.
So after one more call from the school harassing me for keeping my son home too many days, I decided that enough was enough. The grace had lifted and so we are done with public school. I felt grace for the beginning, which was as much a sign to me as anything, that this is what we were supposed to do. Once I felt that grace had lifted, I couldn't keep going. I can say that I feel nothing but relief to be done.
Perhaps I can't handle school because I am too much of a free spirit, I don't know. The biggest reason I am thankful to have my son at home again is that he is so young and impressionable and wonderful. He is a sponge to thought and learning. This is such a precious time and it is hard to pass off that time to someone else, who does not have the same goals, desires and ideals that I do. It was hard to watch him begin to identify with outsiders more than with his own siblings. I am passionate about family and I think one of the things that makes a family strong is time spent together. It's hard to have time together when you are rushing to get little people out the door to school.
Well I could write a book on the subject, but I will spare you that now. All I can say is that I am so, so thankful to have my boy back at home again. He is a bright light in our home and I look forward to learning together with him.
The problem is that I'm not sure I believe in school, at least school as our society defines it. My son learned a lot while he was participating in his 7 months of first grade, but I think it may have been an even split between things I wanted him to learn and things I most definitely did not. His reading is better yes, but he also knows a whole bunch more ways to tease his brother. Something about 7 year olds spending most of their day surrounded by 25 other 7 year olds does not seem to lend itself to the maturation process. That may explain that while his reading skills have advanced over the past year, his social skills seem to have digressed to an equal degree.
So after one more call from the school harassing me for keeping my son home too many days, I decided that enough was enough. The grace had lifted and so we are done with public school. I felt grace for the beginning, which was as much a sign to me as anything, that this is what we were supposed to do. Once I felt that grace had lifted, I couldn't keep going. I can say that I feel nothing but relief to be done.
Perhaps I can't handle school because I am too much of a free spirit, I don't know. The biggest reason I am thankful to have my son at home again is that he is so young and impressionable and wonderful. He is a sponge to thought and learning. This is such a precious time and it is hard to pass off that time to someone else, who does not have the same goals, desires and ideals that I do. It was hard to watch him begin to identify with outsiders more than with his own siblings. I am passionate about family and I think one of the things that makes a family strong is time spent together. It's hard to have time together when you are rushing to get little people out the door to school.
Well I could write a book on the subject, but I will spare you that now. All I can say is that I am so, so thankful to have my boy back at home again. He is a bright light in our home and I look forward to learning together with him.
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