The kids will be homeschooled again. They are not learning anything. Keek misses, “new stuff, mom! We’re still doing what we were doing when school started! It’s so boring.” Fish says, “The kids in my class are so annoying, mom. They don’t even know how to listen.”
Fish has been straightforward with his dislike. From day one he said he’d rather homeschool. I made him go anyway. He dealt with his boredom and frustration. He made a couple of new friends. He misses his homeschooled friends. He misses going to the library where he can pick out any book. He’s been restricted to age appropriate material in the early reader section. I said, “It can’t be all bad.” and he told me it was.
Keek focused on the bright side. Everything is so easy. She made friends and has a best friend. She loves Drama. Only a couple of times did she have anything negative to say. Yesterday the bottom fell out. Through streaming tears she told me so much. Everything is so boring. I miss my real friends. I hate “L” she’s so rude. I hate stupid boys. They act like babies. I hate wasting time. I hate waiting. I wish people would stop talking so we could get the work done. I miss science. I miss art. All we do is color. I miss the library. I hate doing the same thing over and over again. I miss learning.
So ok. They are coming out. I told them we would make arrangements the next day. But Keek stopped me. She said she wanted to be in the play. She said she’d deal with all the immature kids. She’d handle the jealous girl. She’d do the boring work. And wait to learn for just one month more. She really wants to be in the play. So I agreed with her cool headed decision.
Fish said he really wants out. “I thought school would be fun. I thought I would get to learn new stuff, ” he said, “I thought school was for learning.” I asked him to try and tell me some good things about school. He mentioned his BF and his girlfriend. I asked if he would like to see them for a month more. He said no. He’d just call them and tell them goodbye. I laughed. Then he started negotiating with me. He said if I promised to make his lunch whenever he asked and let him be a car rider more he would go to school for just one more month. I conceded and that’s where we stand.
All in all I’m not surprised the way things turned out. I will miss the alone time. I will keep painting and trying to sell and I’ll study to be a Doula.
We all learned from this semester of school and have grown from it. We like to get up early and go to bed earlier. It seems like we get so much more done. The kids don’t wonder if school is some magical vacation place. They are well above the educational requirements academically. They are exposed to more stimuli and learn more because of it. We start homeschooling again with a renewed sense of purpose and faith in our abilities to work together, learn together and teach each other.
Ingredients
