life, love & laundry
Life’s too short…
…not to take the path your heart directs.
I talked to Noah and as of tomorrow, we’ll be doing our own thing.
Friday really drove home my decision. We were both bored. We were both annoyed at the endless quizzes (after EVERY lesson). We weren’t even enjoying things that should be fun. Learning became boxes to check off a list.
While we only did two weeks in this public school academy, Noah did really well. He aced all his tests, he declared his GT Math class “stuff I already know” (not true but a testament to the ease at which he was learning it). He didn’t whine or complain, ever. And he took a lot of what he learned and extrapolated on it in his spare time. I don’t have too many complaints about the curriculum, itself other than the lack of structure and a decent layout for the ELA class which probably should have met daily instead of 3x/week.
My problem isn’t so much focused on the type of learning as the red tape and oversight required by the public school system. As a homeschooler, I enjoy my freedom. I’m also pretty much accustomed to being in charge of my child’s education. So it felt like a constant slap in the face to have to do these “accountability quizzes” after every lesson in every subject, every day. I am not against testing. I think testing can be a great tool to reinforce information learned and check for gaps in learning. When used sparingly like at the END Of a unit or chapter. Not after every lesson. I’m the teacher…I teach my child one-on-one, not in a classroom with 30+ other kids. I absolutely know what my child has or has not mastered. I do not need a quiz after every daily lesson to prove it. It’s redundant.
There is also an issue of Noah’s differentiated learning levels. Like many homeschoolers, because he has not been in a regimented classroom with tightly controlled curriculum, he’s all over the board in terms of learning level. He’s a strong reader, he has an amazing vocabulary, he grasps math quickly and easily above his grade level, he has a large scientific foundation but his small motor skills are lagging behind. He’s not a proficient writer, by any means. I’m not at all concerned about that. I have raised enough reluctant writers to know that there is absolutely no benefit in rushing it. He will write just as well as his brothers – both good writers who started out very reluctantly – when he’s ready. The big benefit to homeschooling is that Noah, in third grade, can easily do 4th grade math and lit, middle school science and 2nd grade writing. This kind of differentiation in learning level just isn’t practical in a public school setting – virtual or otherwise.
But at the end of the day, I also intimately recognize that the number of years left when learning can be “fun” is extremely limited for Noah. Let’s face it – by middle school there isn’t much “fun” in learning. I mean, we try to make it less-than-dull but at the end of the day, geometry is boring. And I’m ok with that. I am perfectly ok with the knowledge that school is work and work isn’t always fun. I just don’t agree that the whole “school is work” philosophy begins in elementary school. At least not early elementary school. And I really truly felt that we were pretty deeply engrossed in “school is work” and it doesn’t feel age-appropriate to me. There are still LOTS of fun ways to make math fun for an 8 year old. Why not seize the moment? I won’t have another shot at this later, with Noah. And hell – I may not have a shot at it at all with Addison as she is still VERY eager to go AWAY to school next year.
So we are pulling from the school what we loved, dropping all the quizzes and accountability B.S. and adding in lots more reading and science experiments and fun art projects and nature studies and meditation. And I feel 100% better about this choice that puts relationships and quality above all else.
Teegan is still doing, and will continue to do, the virtual academy. He loves it, it works well for him and challenges him accordingly. It’s a good fit.
Well it was ALMOST good news
Blah. Just when I thought we had a perfect middle school learning solution! Seems that the middle school failed to mention that their GT students would not be served if they opted to move. I found this out after the “choice” time frame has passed and after I opted to move to the private school. None of the literature nor the online conference regarding this change mentioned that GT students would not be served. And since the GT students are basically just receiving textbooks from advanced grades and nothing all that special, it never occurred to me that their needs would not be met. Plus also the private school? Offers the exact same GT classes. So why should anything change? And why had no one actually contacted us to let us know? I found out about this little loophole on the school’s message boards when another parent posted about the problem.
And so we return to square one. Do we stick with the crappy public school and all its bureaucracy and red tape and teaching-to-the-test so my kid can learn at his level? Or do we go with the private school where we will be “in charge” again but apparently lose access to the ELA and Math courses that we’re currently working on (and acing, incidentally)?
Meanwhile I am having these HUGE compulsions to withdraw Noah. This isn’t based on any struggle Noah’s having. He is doing well. It has to do with my own vision for how young children should learn best coupled with my intimate knowledge of what Noah needs both academically and emotionally. In the past I feel like he hasn’t really received from me what he needs mostly because I haven’t been fully available due to work and other commitments. I wasn’t sure I’d be up to the task of really giving him all he needs this year either. But now I see I’m spending just as much time working through these lessons as I’d spend doing things in a way that I feel better feeds his heart, soul and mind. I feel more confident in myself, I guess. And I feel really guilty about the past lost time and I really feel compelled to focus on his needs this year, all year, and fill his cup emotionally and academically in a way that this curriculum will not really allow. Noah likes the curriculum, though. He doesn’t love it. He doesn’t beg to do it. But whenever I ask, he’s clear that he likes it and is happy to keep doing it. I have a feeling he’d feel that about anything, though. So this is a big struggle for me – my instincts versus the “good enough” (which also happens to be “better than previous years”) program he’s in now. Do I follow my instincts? What if they’re wrong? Then it will be too late to go back. But what if I don’t follow my instincts? The clock is ticking and I feel like we have to act fast. He isn’t getting any younger. I’m running out of time and opportunity to fill his cup in the ways you can fill a small child. Next year he’ll be in 4th grade and that is definitely moving toward “Tween”. I can see the signs already. I feel like it is now or never.
These compulsions, by the way, go hand in hand with my still-present driving desire to move back home to Michigan. They are definitely related. The thing is? I can’t just hop in a car and go to Michigan today. That requires months of planning and strategizing. I CAN however, start educating my child the way I think he should be educated today. So it’s hard not to just pull the trigger. All it would take it one complaint from my kid and I’d be done.
This is an interesting turn of events
Just when I was finally starting to really get into a groove, we received an email (followed by a webmail and then a phone call) from our virtual academy. Turns out? Their funding for an enrollment expansion for the middle school grades was denied.
Interesting since I didn’t even know it was up for consideration! They processed our enrollment as if it was a done deal. No mention that they were pending consideration by the state for expanded funding while concurrently accepting new students as if they already had it. Fascinating. A little digging led me to discover that the same thing happened a few weeks ago with the 9-10th grade classes. They would have been new classes this year and they were rejected.
So they are looking for volunteers willing to switch from the public school option to the national private school option.
This? Is like the middle school lottery to me.
What this means is no more public school oversight. You k now the annoying red tape I really resent having in my life, as a homeschooler? The stuff I begrudgingly tolerate for the trade-off of being able to use the curriculum my tax dollars pay for? Yeah -that stuff. It means my kid can work as fast as he wants. And I don’t need to mark attendance or “prove” he did school on any given day – the work will speak for itself. It means no state testing! And, with that, no endless preparation for said state testing. In other words? All the good, none of the bad.
I am SO excited and relieved. It has gone from a “best available option” to a “best case scenario” for my middleschooler.
And the best part? It’s tuition-free. So no cost unless we want to continue next school year. The normal tuition is upwards of $5000/year.
The first of many school-related rants
How is that for a pessimistic title!
In the grand scheme of things (like compared to two years ago), this isn’t a huge deal. But it’s one of those things I forgot about public school (and to be fair, private school is likely very similar). And it bugs me to no end.
I don’t much like working with some teachers. There, I said it.
Like, for instance, when a third grader’s teacher emails with typos in every single email….it gets under my skin. An occasional mistype is acceptable. But every correspondence? And errors that would be graded down on your typical third grader’s work? I don’t know. I have trouble letting that go. I mean it isn’t like she’s terribly overworked. She’s a virtual academy teacher…which means she “teaches” nothing! *I* do all the teaching. All she has to do is send emails and make phone calls.
Then there was a response sent to an email of mine that implied guilt along the lines of “I’m not perfect! I am trying as hard as I can” which was *very* overly-defensive to a simple question I had about a presentation outlining our required hours in which she opened with a totally different number of weekly hours than she listed at the end o f the presentation. This response? Sent to the ENTIRE class even though I sent her my message privately. That’s a little off to me.
Moving on…
Teachers at this virtual school have to outline how the grades will be calculated for each subject. Students submit daily mini-quizzes, bigger chapter quizzes, much bigger tests and portfolio items. Every single class doesn’t grade the mini-quizzes at all and divides the grade between quizzes, tests and portfolio items. Every class but one math class. This math class includes the mini-quizzes. But the teacher couldn’t just divide the number of mini-quizzes equally. Each mini-quiz is worth a unique portion of 100% – some are 1%, some 2%, some 3%, etc. Totally random. It is also a crappy way to grade because mini-quizzes are usually 2-4 questions long so it takes mis-reading a single question or zigging when you meant to zag on the computer (all of which has happened) to fail the entire day, regardless of how much you may comprehend, how well you did with the other assigned work, etc. Eventually it shouldn’t matter much because mini-quizzes only account for 5% of the total semester grade. But because it will be another week before there are any ful quizzes to radically adjust down the current mini-quiz grades, it appears as though my kid is failing math even though this stuff is really pretty easy review and he certainly understands it. This is frustrating to both he and I. There is just something psychologically frustrating about logging in every day and seeing an “F” under your name, even if you logically know that it won’t be like that for long. And it can feel defeating to do a number of problems in the book, get them all right and then screw up on one of your two or three mini-quiz questions and get a failing grade for the entire day. I don’t like it. And I presume that none of the other classes or teachers like it either, hence the lack of mini-quiz grades.
So do you follow all of that crazy math with the grading system? It’s a little nuts. But here’s something that will really stump you (or at least it stumped naive me!): So far, the math is wrong!! The grades are being averaged but not weighted (1% vs 2% vs 3%, etc). At the moment that works to my child’s advantage but it could just as easily be the opposite. So apparently it isn’t just confusing to me but also beyond the scope of the teacher (or the automated system – not sure who is responsible here). I’ve reported but have heard nothing in response which makes me wonder if they are just poo-pooing me as an ignorant parent who doesn’t know enough math herself to figure out simple averaging.
So yes again – it bugs me to no end that the MATH CLASS – one which is BEYOND algebraic formulas – is incorrectly computing the grades.
Finally – and this is more of a vent about a certain “type” of person than anything else – there is a teacher who responds to every single inquiry with a bunch of information that isn’t relevant to the request or is a dumbed down version of the very information available on the help section already. Think Level One Help Desk. I know not everyone is like this but I am a little anal about making sure I truly understand all the ins and outs BEFORE I start something. I read owners manuals. I do lots of research. I read every last bit of info about something before I jump into it. So it is SO aggravating and insulting when I’m regurgitated information I have known for weeks that is easily at my own fingertips as a totally misguided answer to my question! At least another teacher flat out admitted she had no idea and knew less than I did about it and redirected me elsewhere. I feel sorry for these teachers because they clearly had very little training until AFTER the school year started. Still? Just say that! Don’t reinvent my message and waste both of our valuable time by answering a question you know the answer to instead of the question I actually asked!
So see? i just don’t like to work with teachers. It isn’t that I expect perfection. I don’t. Everyone is human. But I at least expect teachers to rise to the level at which they teacher. Especially when they aren’t busy with actual teaching all day long (because, ahem, I’m doing that part!!). Apparently this is wholly misguided on my part. I need to find a way to let go and just be nice so we can all move on.
AddyWear Studio News
12 October 2009 | 2:13 am
I almost forgot I had this awesome pattern, after searching high and low for some great, super cute winter top patterns. I absolutely adore it. It can be made short or long-sleeved and as a dress or shirt. The obi is removable so the fit is pretty custom. I will be making several more of [...]
The top 5 tools I can not live without
8 September 2009 | 5:08 pm
Recently my yardstick ruler broke* and I started really thinking about how sad I am without it. I still HAVE it, technically, because a) I don’t have the extra cash to replace it right now and b) I can still USE it – just not for a full yard measurement. My cutting mat. It, too, [...]
Homeschool Curric. Reviews
If you’re like me, homeschooling means piles upon piles of “stuff” – books, supplies, worksheets, notebook paper, etc. This year, though, I’m making it a goal to green up our homeschool classroom. No more unnecessary waste. Our green goals for this year include: Creating an agenda for all the kids in Microsoft Outlook. This will [...]
Today is our first day back in official “school mode”. The anticipation, though, has been heavy in the air for the last two weeks since our local schools were back in session. For one child, there was dread. For another, excitement. My 2nd grader was pretty unengaged until this morning when he bounded down the [...]
Recent Posts
Search
Archives
