Tuesday, July 26, 2005

It's Elementary

I am a homeschooling mom. I have homeschooled Joshua from Kindygarten through 2nd grade. One of the reasons I started is because I wasn't ready to have him "out there." I also didn't think he was ready either. I happen to believe that they would have stamped ADHD on his forehead the minute he set foot in public school!(well not ADHD but maybe ADD, LD, ODD, LMNOP) I also have a teaching degree which I thought might come in handy too. Kindergarten was great! Joshua could stay focused for 25 minutes max so Mommy had to slip in the basics FAST, man! Sarah managed to keep herself occupied as well. Our little school was called Underpants Elementary. When Joshua was about 15 months old he unzipped his feetie pajamas one night, threw them overboard and never looked back. The boy wore underpants in the house all year round! Yes, he wore just underpants to school. How fun is that?? In first grade I really laid down the law though and he couldn't come to school until he had his shorts on. He was truant a lot that year but at least we were able to change the school name to Stream Elementary. 2nd grade started out fairly well I thought. Sarah would work on her little school books, Nathan would take his morning nap and Joshua and I cranked away for 2 hours. Something changed- no SNAPPED after our Christmas break. Nathan dropped his morning nap and now what? I held him and tried to entertain him while dealing with the other 2. That lasted maybe 15 minutes. Playpen time was instituted shortly thereafter. Around our house it is affectionately known as Screamin in the Pen Time. Nathan screamed and cried for a solid hour! I managed to hold off not putting him in until Joshua was done with all his independent stuff. Picture it people......Nathan crying LOUDLY, Sarah done with her work wanting to get on the computer, play games, take a bath, have a snack or any number of busy girly things she was into, Joshua trying to concentrate!! WELCOME TO FIASCO ELEMENTARY! wow I became pregnant in March and April's schooling is a blur as I was sleeping 12 hours a night, napping 3 hours a day and yawning through school. It was moved to the living room. School, a movie, lunch, and play in the living room....hence the name of the room I guess. Daddy asked Sarah one day,"Sarah, what did you do today?" She said,"We stayed in the living room ALL DAY!!"
I looked at my husband and asked(I mean whimpered) what needs to change? What needs to happen? He said the 2 words that I will be forever grateful to him for.......PUBLIC SCHOOL!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Carla,
you are hilarious, or rather the antics of your children are hilarious. keep writing because you are really talented and I enjoy reading the stories. Hope you're feeling good and everything is going well with blessing #4.