Lest I seemed pessimistic in the previous posts, be assured that I am not. My daughter seems to be enjoying school, and I figure the biggest bestest thing she's getting so far is the hanging out time with friends. That's mighty important. Not much is happening in the classroom.
She did have some math homework today, which took her maybe a half-hour to finish. They do math in class, too. They did a bit of art in art class. She was allowed to leave at the scheduled time, so it took three days to get it down. Everyone at the school has been very nice.
I call this Unmothering because that's how it feels to me. I'm no longer in the picture for a lot of her waking hours five days a week. As a homeschooler I was a kinda-unschooler. She was involved with a formal educational program one or two days a week with other homeschoolers, where another person taught her science and social studies. I hired math tutors and they would get through a school-year of material in two to three months, meeting once or twice a week. The rest of the time we pursued what interested my daughter. She is interested in art, and anything Japanese (including Anime and Manga, big time!). She is interested in names of native plants and what sorts of things they can be used for. She loves to cook. But it was lonely for her I think, though she never complained that it was. She is an only child with only one parent and that's how it's been for us.
So now my parenting is happening in only five to seven hours a day, five days a week. At 14 this seems okay, she is in a process of being on her own. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Meanwhile I am plenty busy with my own stuff and the tons of work there is. Most of it does not generate income, it's the work of life. I get done what one person can.
We're in the last month of summer. This is when the beautiful ironweed blooms, gracing roadsides and fields with a royal purple that nourishes the eyes. The moon is almost full and we had a gorgeous moonrise this evening. The days are warm to hot and the nights are cool. A fan pulls the cool air into the place at night. It's spartan living at the business on school nights, but it's comfy enough for now.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Days one and two of high school
After homeschooling my daughter for eight years, she has decided to go to high school. The only option around here is public school. Friends in the big city tell me it's small, less than 200 in her freshman class. It's huge compared to our little homeschooling community.
It seems so odd to leave one community and join another, without relocating. It feels unnatural for my child to walk into a big institution in the morning and have a day of activities that I am not involved in. Heck, I don't even know what's happening. Somehow I jumped through the hoops of getting her registered without thinking of this: I am trusting total strangers with my child all day five days a week. It sure did hit me on that first day. Previously, even when she was being taught by others, I saw those teachers every time, usually talked with them, and with the other parents. None of that in high school.
So I'll go in and meet the teachers, one by one. I have met her guidance counselor and spoken with the band teacher on the phone. I've exchanged emails with her science teacher. Tomorrow I'll seek out more of them.
The high school is like a living organism, with different systems, some which work together and others which are off on their own like a sympathetic nervous system. One part is oblivious of what the other is doing. Everyone has been nice and friendly and wanting to assist. The vast majority have kindly given me erroneous information with such authority that I am sure they thought it was accurate. There is a great lack of precision.
The first day was a huge waste of our time. Even dismissal at the end of the day was a dismal mess; they kept her and a pile of other students 20 minutes past the end of the day, for no apparent reason. (I have been assured that in a few days they'll get the hang of it.) There was a 2-hour orientation in which they said a bunch of stuff that can be read in the student handbook. Three of her seven teachers didn't even show up. There was an activity in English class that was suitable for second grade. Still, the new 9th-grader enjoyed her first day overall, and her second. On the second day one of the classes actually began getting into the subject matter. That was math, Algebra I, in which it was discovered that x squared is not x times four. We're moving mountains here! The band director is very nice, well-liked, doing the best he can. But they don't appear to be set up for new band members. My daughter said she felt out of place because everyone else is well-seasoned. We'll see how that goes.
I have to keep my opinions to myself. My child needn't fret about what I think of school. If she likes it, okay. If she doesn't, okay. I won't make her go; it wasn't my idea. So I'll blog here again, venting, if you will, even if it's too drab for anyone else to read.
It seems so odd to leave one community and join another, without relocating. It feels unnatural for my child to walk into a big institution in the morning and have a day of activities that I am not involved in. Heck, I don't even know what's happening. Somehow I jumped through the hoops of getting her registered without thinking of this: I am trusting total strangers with my child all day five days a week. It sure did hit me on that first day. Previously, even when she was being taught by others, I saw those teachers every time, usually talked with them, and with the other parents. None of that in high school.
So I'll go in and meet the teachers, one by one. I have met her guidance counselor and spoken with the band teacher on the phone. I've exchanged emails with her science teacher. Tomorrow I'll seek out more of them.
The high school is like a living organism, with different systems, some which work together and others which are off on their own like a sympathetic nervous system. One part is oblivious of what the other is doing. Everyone has been nice and friendly and wanting to assist. The vast majority have kindly given me erroneous information with such authority that I am sure they thought it was accurate. There is a great lack of precision.
The first day was a huge waste of our time. Even dismissal at the end of the day was a dismal mess; they kept her and a pile of other students 20 minutes past the end of the day, for no apparent reason. (I have been assured that in a few days they'll get the hang of it.) There was a 2-hour orientation in which they said a bunch of stuff that can be read in the student handbook. Three of her seven teachers didn't even show up. There was an activity in English class that was suitable for second grade. Still, the new 9th-grader enjoyed her first day overall, and her second. On the second day one of the classes actually began getting into the subject matter. That was math, Algebra I, in which it was discovered that x squared is not x times four. We're moving mountains here! The band director is very nice, well-liked, doing the best he can. But they don't appear to be set up for new band members. My daughter said she felt out of place because everyone else is well-seasoned. We'll see how that goes.
I have to keep my opinions to myself. My child needn't fret about what I think of school. If she likes it, okay. If she doesn't, okay. I won't make her go; it wasn't my idea. So I'll blog here again, venting, if you will, even if it's too drab for anyone else to read.
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