I don't get sick very often, or so it seems to me...and I just plain don't feel well. My head hurts, and I have a cough. I feel tired and listless. Just getting up this morning, after getting up with Camille several times last night (she has a cough, too), was hard. Jonathan and Sonja needed showers, Sonja had to do a math paper she (we) never got to last night. I got them brushed and cleaned up and fed and dressed and out the door, all except for Evelyn. Evelyn says she doesn't feel well. She is now watching, "The Little Mermaid" with Charlotte Claire.
Mirielle has someplace to go today, but I was thinking of waking her soon and asking her to look after these girls so I can go back to bed for a while.
So thankyou for the comments enouraging me to homeschool. Last night, I read a paper from Evelyn's teacher informing us that she would have 30 minutes of homework each night. Okay, the child gets home from school at around 4:15 each day, and starts getting ready for bed around 8:15 (ideally)....that is four hours. Four hours for dinner and play and picking up her room and reading books. And the teacher thinks it is no problem taking another half-hour of her day??! Ooh, I am getting closer to pulling them out....I mean, she is in fourth grade. The homework for her is just grunt work. Sonja is in second grade, and she has a math sheet each and every day. She is a whiz at math, and it only takes her a few minutes. Samuel is in 8th grade, and he brought me the mandatory pile of papers to fill out and sign, and apparently one got overlooked or lost in the shuffle (I wonder how that happened, I only had that ONE pile, not eight OTHER piles! ha)..anyway, he got assigned an afterschool detention for not having one of the sheets. So he is supposed to sit there staring into space because of this. Ooh, no way. I told him NOT to stay. If they call me, I will take care of it. I know, I know, they need to teach the kids responsiblility....but they go about it all wrong. Punish the good kids for every little infraction, treat the kids like prisoners, two minutes between classes, hurry don't be late OR ELSE!.....and fill those backpacks as heavy as possible, because even though the kids are there all day long, there is never time to go to the locker at the end of the day! Ooh, I am getting there....
I think I better get Mirielle up, the sun is hurting my eyes, and writing about school is making my head pound...and I didn't even get to the part where they try to make the kids sell stuff to benefit the PTO, AND the lucky company who has millions of naive schoolkids as their unpaid sales force.....
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8 comments:
OMG! I am there with you sister! My daughters were going on and on this morning about the kids in their classes that would get to have this really special day on Friday because they SOLD the most of these stupid Entertainment books! AND..my children have to watch these WINNERS as they get to enjoy special treats and time out of the classroom! And what do my children get..I mean, all they ever do is get good grades, apparently that is not worth celebrating!!
I have one in 4th grade, 1st grade and Kindergarten. I am planning on Homeschooling next year for the 4th (will be in 5th) grader. I have read some great books on it, and will attend a homeschool conference here in the spring to get ready for it!
Good luck in your choice.
Maureen
I'm sorry that you are feeling ill. I'm feeling it too; the headache and the tiredness...ugh.
I was just telling my mother (a former teacher) that I feel like we aren't doing enough because we have allotted 2 hours for schoolwork, and since we have the school room where we are so focused we are FLYING through it in far less time. She reminded me that in school NO child gets TWO HOURS of instruction...they stand in line, go to recess, eat lunch, listen to discipline, etc.
I have 4 that I'm teaching this year, and with the dedicated space it's almost too easy. If you took that 1/2 hour of homework time and converted it to actual school work that you set up, along with counting the educational things that she is doing on her own, you would be doing more than she is now, IMO.
Stepping off my soap box here...I don't mean to be a bully for the homeschool team, but I really want you to know that there is support if that is what you choose.
Sorry that you are sick, I hope you feel 100% better ASAP. (((Hugs)))
I hope you feel better soon. I know when Zai was taking an hour to do his homework (in year one) I decided that enough was enough. Home schooling has been one of the best decisions we made -now the children finish their schoolwork by early afternoon.
My kids were selling those books tonight. They had fun with it (I told them only in our immediate neighbourhood!) and some of the proceeds go to our school. They put in a whole new playground last year as a result of fundraising efforts last year!
Your kids get home so late! That would be sad:(
Wow! That is maddening! I think it's so unfair that the kids are at school all day and then they load them down with homework. Well, what were they doing all day at school? Why can't they have a time of rest? My friend says her daughters have about 2-3 hours of homework every night and they are only 10 ad 12 years old and it was like that for them a couple of years ago. I homeschool because I don't have any good schools around me but it's tough because it takes the entire day. I'm no supermom and I'm still trying to figure out sibling rivalry and how to put a stop (at least some) to it. I'm about to have a baby in a couple of weeks so I need to get things in gear. Homeschooling truly is sacrificing of our time, but in the end, I just have to pray for God's strength to figure it out better and make it go more smoothly. At least each kid only homeschools for a couple of hours each day verses being in school ALL day and then coming home for more homework and chores.
By the way, thanks for posting on my blog! :D
When one homeschools her children, do they really have to learn math? Is it important to actually DO schoolwork or can we just play all day? I like playing...
Seriously, in my days of actually instructing my children (when they were smaller) some of them were done with their school work well before noon, sometimes as early as 10 o'clock in the morning. There were stragglers and math took a bit longer for the older kids, but we had plenty of time for play and field trips. Now? Well, I'm just looking for it to be over so I don't have to think about it anymore. It's a whole lot more fun when the kids are little and everything is new and exciting.
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