Random

Have you noticed how the word "random" is used these days?  I kind of like that sort of youthful slang, especially compared to some other terms. . . Anyway, my computer battery is running low, so this post will be poorly edited and random.

We've had three weeks of school, and they've gone well.  But I can already tell that I'm going to feel reluctant to record anything less than positive on this blog, so I'll start by trying to be brutally honest.  Our first week of school--when Emily was "doing school", and no one else was, she was really into it.  Then, when the junior academy had "back to school night" and it was time for friends and acquaintances to begin their new school year, Emily had some wistful feelings, and started to say she wished she was back in school.  I'm not going to strong arm her into anything that makes her unhappy, so we talked about it, and I asked if she wanted to return to the classroom.  She said, "no, let's wait a while."  It was abundantly clear that my daughter is a big fan of "fresh beginnings".  She loves the idea of a new start, with new everything.  Now, here she was with week-old school books, and kids at school were having a fresh start.  She had to laugh when I put it that way.  But to be honest, she felt left out and displaced.  

Also, unexpectedly (to me) was the fact that although our schedule is full, and predictable, she likened it to playing several computer games concurrently. . . .instead of playing one game, and playing it fully, she felt like she was playing several games half-heartedly.   So, that sense of "belonging" isn't happening yet.   With my motherly protective instinct alerted, I was on the phone looking for clubs that would fit into our schedule.  4-H never returned my phone call, and Pathfinders occurred to me.  We're still considering it, and pondering the necessity of adding still more commitments to our already over-committed schedule.

That particular crisis is over, although we're still considering Pathfinders.  It's been a couple weeks since the junior academy started, and Emily tells me she's getting into the swing of things, and doesn't feel so displaced.  The youth symphony is her favorite activity, but she also likes going to the school in the afternoon for choir, band, P.E., and handbells.  She has reflected that if she went back to school, she still wouldn't necessarily feel as if she "belonged".  That's the down-side of such a small community--there aren't many choices as far as friendships go.  She has several good friends, but the cohesive group of friends she went to school with for the last two years has dissolved into different locations.  

We had our first meeting with the charter school's teacher who will be Emily's mentor this year.  Emily took an online placement test, which serves as a baseline, to be sure we don't spend the year watching TV, eating bonbons, and "unlearning".  She'll take the test again in the spring.  It probably took all of 30 minutes, and Emily scored high enough that I hope she left room for some improvement.  We were assured that our academic program is very rigorous--Emily is taking as many units for credit as she is allowed to take, and we'll just consider the rest of the classes good learning experiences.  I had some questions about whether or not grades were assigned. . . .they are; so, Emily will have a bona fide transcript with letter grades on it.  Now, I need to pay attention to test scores, and grading criteria.

A week or so ago, when I was searching for a place to "belong", I contacted an old homeschool friend with a daughter close to Emily's age.  They were having a homeschool get-together that day, and we were invited.  The group meets quarterly, and the purpose is to promote reading.  The kids get together and play games, enjoy a snack, then share the books they've been reading by giving an oral report or description.  It was a hot day, and the kids got all sweaty playing together outdoors.  It filled me with nostalgia, because like most homeschool gatherings, it  was family groups, not groups of same-age kids.  Kids four years old were playing games with 16 year olds. . . .and yes, that does work, when the older kids have learned to be gentle and inclusive.  We hope we'll be able to participate in the quarterly get-togethers with this group.  It was fun to listen again to tiny people describing their favorite books.

The next post will be about how we've learned to organize schoolwork for the days vs. the weeks (Emily and I are incompatible--I want to give weekly work, she wants daily.)