My Soap Box

Please bear with me while I get on my soap box for a minute....I've been thinking a lot lately. Our life seems so busy, I feel we need to simplify. I have a friend who e-mailed me saying that she was contemplating home-schooling to simplify her life. She wanted me to talk out of it, the problem is- I agree with her. Now, this seems totally opposite of what you would think. I'm not saying either one of us would actually go through with it. I am very appreciative for my kids' teachers and the creativity, diversity and insight they have. But along with that comes a whole lot of fluff. Busy work.

I have already been to elementary school, and I don't care to do it again. But there is no way my kids can accomplish these extra assignments on their own. So I am stuck helping them. I use the word 'stuck' not because I feel raising and teaching my children is a burden, but because I feel they should get that done at school. If the teacher wants my 5th grader to write a 5 page report on Alabama, and prepare a 30 minute presentation, then teach him how. Don't send him home with a daunting task of reporting on a state he has no interest in. I am not the one coming up with this assignment, so don't make me do the work. I personally think elementary kids are too young for homework. And yet, I spend hours every day helping my elementary-aged kids with homework. You know something is wrong when your kindergartner comes home and tells you they didn't have recess because they didn't have time. And then she pulls out a folder full of homework she needs to do! How ironic that his very teacher won't have snack time because she doesn't want to contribute to childhood obesity in America! What happened to singing songs, eating gingerbread cookies and milk, and painting masterpieces?! I really don't care if she learns to read by Christmas. I would rather she enjoy being 5.

Then we hear the big push for family dinner and how crucial that is for children. You know, it is not the extra-curricular activities that keep us from having that quality time as much as all the extra school work. I think music lessons and sports are a better use of their time than more homework. They sit for a good portion of the time they are at school. When they get home from school, the last thing they need is to sit at the table or desk and do the very thing they have spent the last 7 hours doing! Let them go to karate or soccer or tumbling or whatever they enjoy doing! They aren't kids for long.