Sunday, August 21, 2005

First Grade Jitters

My in-laws came to visit today. The first thing my mother-in-law did after saying hello was to lean down to Brighteyes and say, "You ought to be in school where you can be with other children your own age and play with them."

Gak! "Brighteyes goes to school with Sunshine. They learn together and play together."

"The public school doesn't have recess anymore. The playground is overgrown and the equipment is falling apart. The children are not allowed to talk to each other at lunchtime. She wouldn't have a chance to play with other children if she went to public school. She has more time to play with another child at home."

Over the course of the visit I also get in:

"We're through with academic lessons by lunchtime. They get to spend their whole afternoons playing if they want to play. We also do arts and crafts then if they choose." (We also do other stuff, but "playing with other children" seems to be the issue.)

and:

"We're on waiting list for Girl Scouts and other children's activities. They won't start up until next month when the heat breaks."

and:

We went to a state homeschool conference and your son was a speaker!"

Where did that come from? We've been homeschooling for three years, why bring it up now? Is it because Brighteyes turned six it's now a "real" homeschool?

Someone else has been getting onto her about this. It isn't any of the younger members of the family. They all remember or are dealing with the public school right now, and they support our decision to homeschool. It's probably one of the older family members, likely a retired schoolteacher. Or else it's someone she sees on a more casual basis, and she hasn't gotten used to saying, "My granddaughters are homeschooled."

She's going to have plenty of time to practice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The older ones remember public school as it used to be. It's very hard to imagine things such as the description in your post unless you've had a chance to see for yourself or have seen it posted by someone you trust. We've come a long way - downhill. Sigh.

Pat from the Bujold list.

Anonymous said...

You've probably heard this one before, but it bears repeating:

"Whenever I start getting worried that my homeschooler isn't getting enough of the kind of socialization provided in the public school system, I simply chase him into the bathroom, call him rude names, rough him up, stick his head in the toilet, and take his lunch money."

;-\