On Monday, Katie went to the local elementary school for some project that her Girl Scout troop is working on.  All the other girls in her troop were already there, of course, since they go there.  Katie alone had to be hauled in.

That night at dinner, she asked if she could attend that school.

“Um, no.”  I said.  “We’re moving in 3 months.  I don’t think putting you in a school for 3 months is beneficial to your education.”

She started crying.  I guess the other girls made school seem like a great place.  Plus, she has some ideas about what school would mean: she thinks it would be quieter than our home, she thinks it would be social and fun (but quiet?), she thinks it would be easier.

Because an easy A is better than an A earned because your mother made you do that problem over and over and over until you clearly understood and mastered the material and got it right.  She doesn’t know that even if she went to school, I would make her do the work over and over and over until she got it right.  Sorry, kiddo, I want you to get an education, one way or another.

“Do they have to memorize poems in school?” she wanted to know.  Right now she’s working on “Paul Revere’s Ride”, which is the most challenging one she has to do this year.  The other poems are much shorter and simpler.  She wants to go to school so that she won’t have to memorize poems.  Oh, the torture.  {sigh}

She’s also struggling with the history books, even the historical fiction.  “I want to go to school so that I don’t have to read books,” she declared.

We tried not to laugh out loud.  “Not only do you have to read books,” Fritz informed her, “you have to write papers on them.”

“They’re called book reports,” I said.  Our writing assignments are a bit different, and none are like the formulaic book summaries I remember from elementary school.

Her biggest complaint, though, seems to be the noise level in our home, mainly by those children who have completed their work or who have none.  Her attitude annoys me, because she is just as guilty of disrespectful shenanigans during school hours as anyone else.  But if anyone has any suggestions for effective sound-blocking headphones, I would appreciate it.

*******

Fritz has no illusions about the tribulations of attending school.  For one, there are girls there.  Horrors.  Secondly, he thinks school is much harder than home.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.  I don’t think he would have to memorize or even read much Shakespeare at his grade level.  He wouldn’t have Latin.  But, yes, he would likely have other assignments, writing assignments, that would frustrate him, especially if his mother demanded more editing and re-writes than his teacher.

But clearly, one thing about home school is an advantage.  At CCD last night, the teacher asked the kids what time they get up in the morning.  Most were between 5 and 530 AM to catch that school bus and be in the classrooms by 7 AM.  Fritz doesn’t get up until 7 AM.  I’m a morning person, and I honestly don’t know how parents get their kids out the door that early. 

Better them than me.

And now, off to begin our day.  The kids keep hoping that mom will keep typing, but we have much to do in little time.  Moving will disrupt our year, but at least the kids won’t have to change schools.