Thursday Mamaw and Papaw had an appointment with a lawyer, (his advice - wait and see what happens) and Ashley had a band concert. Since the cousins were coming for the weekend on Friday, Mamaw and Papaw decided to spend the night to save themselves a lot of driving. Papaw thought it might be fun to take Kellen and Lydia with them. And why not let them accompany their cousins to school on Friday? It sounded reasonable to Tim and I.
Lydia was thrilled, and couldn't wait to go with Ashley to school. Kellen was happy to go with Mamaw and Papaw, but was down right nervous about spending the day in a public school, even if it was with Miles. Turns out Ashley's school does not allow visitors due to some past problems. Lydia was only able to eat lunch there. Miles' school was more than happy to have Kellen visit. Reluctantly, Kellen decided going to school with Miles would be more fun than staying home, or shopping with Mamaw, Papaw, and Lydia.
They all went to the concert, which reportedly was quite impressive for junior high band. Then they went around to meet some of Ashley's teachers. It was during this time that Kellen engaged in conversation with one of the teachers, and proceeded to tell her all the reasons that homeschool was better than public school. The teacher did not appreciate the lecture from a nine year old boy. Though I am glad he is proud to be homeschooled, I obviously would like him to express him self with a little more tact.
Mamaw and Papaw had a long discussion with him about being a polite guest in the school, and that sometimes it is better to keep your opinions to yourself. In other words. . . Kellen, Shut Up, and off he went to school with Miles the next day.
About the middle of the day I began to wonder, what if this all backfires? See Kellen really was afraid of public school. Last year when I was thinking of having him test with the public schools he was basically refusing to do it because he didn't want to go to school. It was that fear of the unknown thing. I thought going to school for a day would help him to see that it is not some big evil thing, to see how it runs, and appreciate the differences. But what if he went, loved it and decided he wanted to go to public school? I'm not anti public school, but we do have our reasons for homeschooling, especially for Kellen. I didn't want a battle on my hands.
When he got home that night, we asked him about the day. He gave us a basic run down of how the day went, what subjects they were studying, what he thought was hard, and what he thought was easy. Tentatively I asked, "Did you have fun today?" He responded, "Yes, but I wouldn't want to do that everyday." YES!
When I asked him why, the answer was less than inspiring, "Mom, I'm done with the books by lunch at home. Why would I want to drag it out any longer?" Apparently expounding on the virtues of his individualized curriculum, the real life applications of lessons, or the lack of unhealthy socialization was something more appropriate to tell a teacher he had never met before, but I'll take what I can get. We sent him to public school for one day, and that was enough for us all.
good grief! Your title about gave me a heart attack! Don't do that!
ReplyDeleteKellen is such a smart kid and still really loves to learn. I can't imagine how the system would snuff him out. That would be a shame. His deduction of the whole situation just proves how sharp he is!
ReplyDeleteMary Margaret is already making noises about wanting to go to school. (sigh) Fortunately we have a while before we have to deal with it.
ReplyDeletepublic school isn't always a negative thing
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI don't think public school is always a bad thing, like I said I am not anti public school, but I think homeschooling is better for our family, especially for Kellen.
Homeschooling is something my hubby and I debate quite often, not that one of us is against either type of schooling, there are benefits to be had from both. We are definitely unschooling for preschool though and we'll take it from there.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Kellen sounds adorable and fun!
You're one brave Mama! I probably would've been too nervous that they'd prefer the school and, like you said, that's not something I'm hoping for. I'm sooooo glad it worked out so well in the end. I had to chuckle at your son's reasoning. I know at least one of my children (the brutally honest one) would've said something similar.
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