If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

My mom called me the past Monday, saying that my dad had been admitted to the hospital with heart rhythm problems.  This isn't a new thing for my dad, but it usually leaves him a little weak and out of it for a few days.  They were going to keep him for a couple of days, and I knew my mom would feel a little more at ease if someone could stay with him during the day while she was at work.  So, guess who that someone was?  Because, you know, I don't work...

photo image by @junebug--panoramio.com

So, like so many of you have had to do, I rearranged schedules and made new arrangements, and loaded up the youngest to head home for a few days.  And, because I had nothing better to do, and this particular child likes to do school work, I packed up some books/papers for him to work on.  At my parent's house.  Where they would be seeing exactly what we have done for the day.  Can you tell where this is going?

Well, I chose to just take his reading, math and science stuff with us.  He had to read a story out of his book, complete a math sheet, and for science I read two pages and then he draws his own picture and has to summarize what I read in at least two sentences.  I don't make him correct his spelling on this sheet, because I learned the hard way with child #1 that this will just lead him to choose a very limited vocabulary when he has to write.  I just use those incorrect words for spelling words.

I am also not too much of a stickler for accuracy.  Mario just happened to appear up in the tree John drew, along with the pretty accurate depiction of the bird of the day and its nest.  Mario had also set a trap for Luigi, who was hiding in a bush next to the rollercoaster on the mountain.  OK, so it is not completely accurate, but he is getting the gist of his lesson, and he loves looking at his book (John's Book of Knowledge).  Somewhat unfortunately, he also likes showing it to his grandparents.

My dad (who is doing really well, BTW) looked at John's page, and of course asked what everything was.  As John launched into the elaborate explanation that really had nothing to do with birds--other than that 'they pooped on Luigi', I cringed as my dad just seemed confused.  But, he let it pass.  Then, my mom came home...

She looked at his math worksheet first.  I knew it wasn't going to end well when she was asking him why his didn't write his numbers neatly.  I'm not a stickler for that, either.  Then she asked him if he ever read from 'real books'--as opposed to his Sonlight issued Beginner's Bible.  Then, the science page.  Why did he draw all that other stuff?  Did he know that two of the words were misspelled?  His response--"Mom doesn't care about spelling".  She said that she would tell him how to spell them correctly so he could re-write it.  "No, that's OK".  Why didn't he take more time to write his sentences in a straight line?  Would they let him do that in 'real school' last year?  "No, but you don't have to be neat or smart in homeschool".

I was sighing and cringing in the other room.

Mom didn't say anything about it to me last night.  I'm bracing myself, though.  There is no school work to show for today.  We totally chucked it and spent most of our time outside near the lake, and then watched cartoons.  We counted the baby ducks (math and science) and he figured out how long we had to wait for the Jetsons to come on (math and reading).  Now he is playing with his cousin.

It may not be the kind of learning my parents necessarily appreciate, but that's where we are.  I guess its a good thing I don't ever work, huh?

Posted by: C Miley