I am a control freak! If I do not do things then they will not get done, well, at least not correctly. No one can keep this house going like I do. What would my family ever do without ME! I suspect chaos would reign.
I know that I am a control freak and I can't help it! Well, today I had to turn over my teaching duties for at least the next three weeks to my husband. It was hard...REALLY hard. I made sure that each child had the books they needed in separate piles on the table. They each have an accordion file with all of their worksheets and assignments for today were in the appropriate slots. I spelled out word for word what they were to do today and I gave a copy of these instructions to each child and to my husband. I made sure that he knew the way that I do things. He then had to pry the reigns from my clenched fist. I was sure that everything would be crazy while I was gone.
Guess what happened while I was gone? NOTHING! I do not mean that the children did nothing, I mean that nothing went wrong. The kids were done with their work in no time flat. They did not beg for breaks, they did not whine about the assignments, they did them and that was that. They don't do that for me! They think that everything is negotiable and will stop just short of joining a Union to have some collective bargaining power.
My head is spinning. While I am glad that things went so well, I am starting to think that I am not the glue that holds this whole thing together. How can that be? How can my husband possibly be able to do my job? How is that possible? Oh my....I wonder if the world would keep on spinning without me? Oh, surely not, I mean it does revolve around me...right?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
When Homeschooling Attacks
For me, the decision to homeschool came out of the blue, caught me by surprise, and smacked me right in the face, no joke!
My 14 year old, 8th grade daughter Morgan wouldn't get out of the car one morning at the school and she cried and begged for me not to make her go. She couldn't give a definite answer as to why she "hated it there", she claimed that no one was mean to her or anything it was just that she felt that she didn't fit in. She has had a poor attendance record for the last few years because she was always "sick" in the morning so she stayed home, or if she was made to go to school then the nurse was soon calling for us to come pick her up because she was in her office complaining of "this" or "that". Right there in the car, out of no where, I asked her if she would rather be homeshooled. I don't know where it came from, it just popped out of my mouth, and she said yes. I rearranged my school schedule, I am a full time college student, and I began researching methods, buying books and trying to figure all of this out on the fly. A few weeks later I discussed with my 4th grade son the idea of him homeschooling as well. I wasn't sure about it and neither was he, so we didn't make a decision.
One afternoon I needed to pick up my son a little early from school. He was 10 and in the 4th grade. I went to the office to sign him out, when the secretary called his classroom to have him sent to the office because his mother was there to pick him up, the teacher told her to have me come to the classroom because she wished to speak to me. As I neared the room, my son came out to get his things from his locker, as I neared he said to me in a strange and hurried manner "Mom, I don't want to be homeschooled". I knew right away that something was wrong. A few seconds later I was approached by hos teacher. She was asking me if Caleb was going to be homeschooled. I told her that it was something that we were discussing because one of is sisters was already home. She proceeded to tell me that she had heard of this through one of Caleb's friends and that she had talked to him about it and that she had told him that homeschooling was not a good idea and that he should not leave school. She wanted to inform me that he no longer wanted to homeschool and wanted to know if I had already talked to the County Superintendent about all of this. I told her that I had not yet made a decision and I put my hand on Caleb's back and we walked away.
On the outside I was calm and collected, but on the inside I was screaming....EXCUSE ME! Who do you think you are telling me what I will and will not do with my children? Who are you to tell my child that what his mother may decide for him is wrong? As his parents we will decide what is best for him. That minute is where it hit me. That second is when I realized that teachers think that they can impose THEIR ideals and morals onto our children without even being concerned with what we, THEIR PARENTS, want to impose on them. A teacher had the power to undo the things that we try to instill in our children. They have this power because we, as parents, give it to them. We send our children to them for the majority of the day for the majority of the year. We tell our children to behave and do what the teacher tells them to do. Why did I not see this before? Within a few days the paperwork was filed and he was at home where he belonged.
This are the instances that brought us to homeschooling. It was abrupt and unforeseen, but a welcome change that I am glad that we have made. Now....if only I could figure out what the heck I am doing so I do not doom my children to failure...I guess that is entirely another post.
My 14 year old, 8th grade daughter Morgan wouldn't get out of the car one morning at the school and she cried and begged for me not to make her go. She couldn't give a definite answer as to why she "hated it there", she claimed that no one was mean to her or anything it was just that she felt that she didn't fit in. She has had a poor attendance record for the last few years because she was always "sick" in the morning so she stayed home, or if she was made to go to school then the nurse was soon calling for us to come pick her up because she was in her office complaining of "this" or "that". Right there in the car, out of no where, I asked her if she would rather be homeshooled. I don't know where it came from, it just popped out of my mouth, and she said yes. I rearranged my school schedule, I am a full time college student, and I began researching methods, buying books and trying to figure all of this out on the fly. A few weeks later I discussed with my 4th grade son the idea of him homeschooling as well. I wasn't sure about it and neither was he, so we didn't make a decision.
One afternoon I needed to pick up my son a little early from school. He was 10 and in the 4th grade. I went to the office to sign him out, when the secretary called his classroom to have him sent to the office because his mother was there to pick him up, the teacher told her to have me come to the classroom because she wished to speak to me. As I neared the room, my son came out to get his things from his locker, as I neared he said to me in a strange and hurried manner "Mom, I don't want to be homeschooled". I knew right away that something was wrong. A few seconds later I was approached by hos teacher. She was asking me if Caleb was going to be homeschooled. I told her that it was something that we were discussing because one of is sisters was already home. She proceeded to tell me that she had heard of this through one of Caleb's friends and that she had talked to him about it and that she had told him that homeschooling was not a good idea and that he should not leave school. She wanted to inform me that he no longer wanted to homeschool and wanted to know if I had already talked to the County Superintendent about all of this. I told her that I had not yet made a decision and I put my hand on Caleb's back and we walked away.
On the outside I was calm and collected, but on the inside I was screaming....EXCUSE ME! Who do you think you are telling me what I will and will not do with my children? Who are you to tell my child that what his mother may decide for him is wrong? As his parents we will decide what is best for him. That minute is where it hit me. That second is when I realized that teachers think that they can impose THEIR ideals and morals onto our children without even being concerned with what we, THEIR PARENTS, want to impose on them. A teacher had the power to undo the things that we try to instill in our children. They have this power because we, as parents, give it to them. We send our children to them for the majority of the day for the majority of the year. We tell our children to behave and do what the teacher tells them to do. Why did I not see this before? Within a few days the paperwork was filed and he was at home where he belonged.
This are the instances that brought us to homeschooling. It was abrupt and unforeseen, but a welcome change that I am glad that we have made. Now....if only I could figure out what the heck I am doing so I do not doom my children to failure...I guess that is entirely another post.
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