Music Tour April 2009

Happy tax day!  "Hungry Girl" informs me that today is national Glazed Ham day.  Well.  Another reason to celebrate.

Last Thursday Emily and I packed a 5 day supply of clothes and departed in our Honda Pilot for the annual music tour with our little local school.  By the time we returned home, we added 846 miles to the car's odometer!  It was a fun trip, and included visits to family and friends in the "down" time. The school kids went ice-skating and skiing, but Emily wasn't interested in snow and ice.  The music groups put on six concerts in as many locations, and were very well-received.  I thought their music was fabulous, and recorded some songs to put on facebook.  Emily was reluctantly persuaded to play her clarinet with the band, so she was involved in two of the musical groups:  band and handbells.  All three groups sounded great, and it's obvious that Wendy, the director, invests much of herself in the teaching and mentoring of these kids!

The new schooling situation is working out beautifully.  Emily remains enrolled in the same public charter school she has been in since August 2008, but now she receives instruction at the "Basic Training" location three days a week.  Her classes there are English, Geometry, and Art. The English class is doing a study of Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.  At the end she'll do a "compare and contrast" paper on Christian's journey versus Christiana's.  Emily likes going to the campus (on the grounds of a local church), meeting the other kids, and having some structure to her days.  She also likes the days off!  Monday and Thursday school days begin at 9:45 and end at 2:45, and Wednesday's schedule runs from 9:45 to 1:00 pm.  This schedule allows time for the home study of French, Home Ec, Health, music lessons, and practice time.

It was interesting to see five other private Christian schools on the music tour, and compare them to each other.  The way they dressed, behaved, and responded to the music differed more than I would have imagined!  I've had plenty of time to reflect on the subject of private education versus homeschooling.  It's always interesting to hear people at church refer to "Christian education" as something that is available exclusively at private Christian schools.  Years ago a friend of mine wondered aloud why Wayne and I were willing to "sacrifice a Christian education" in favor of homeschooling.  Hmmmm.  

Attendance at the local private school for daily handbell practice has become. . . .I'm sorry to say. . .a burden.  We have learned a lesson by continuing to associate with the school.  It would probably be better to have two or more homeschoolers participating together, because a sense of "belonging" has been conspicuously absent.  "Outsider" would better describe Emily's perception of her role at the school.  Not fun.  Perilously close to a negative experience. No one is overtly mean, and she still has two dear friends there, but she is not a part of it.  No.  Next school year will contain no association with the school, unless she has a homeschooled friend to attend with her.  I'm grateful the school allowed us to do this, but for a shy and quiet kid, it doesn't work.

The school year is winding down, and so are we!