This upcoming week is final exam week, or as they call it here
"District Assessments" for my 6th grade son James. Originally James
was supposed to begin homeschooling with FLVS like his older sister, but when
we moved to this new area in Florida, we discovered that 6th grade is part of
the elementary school program. Since his little sister was going, we thought it
would be a good idea to have them both attend the same school so they could
make some friends and we could meet some parents and get to know the community.
James was not thrilled with this new change in plans, but we convinced him this
would be a good thing so he complied with little protest.
James is what most people consider a good student. By that I
mean he takes his work seriously, gives a solid effort on assignments,
completes homework without much complaint or assistance and has no discipline
problems in the classroom. He gets ready by himself in the morning and keeps
his work organized and neat. He's been honored for being a "Crane with
Character" and always makes the honor roll earning several
"outstanding" marks in the achievement categories. This kid really is
the model student. Given this description you are probably assuming this has
been a great year for James. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case. I don't
think he would say he "hates" school, but clearly he'd rather be
anywhere else. It's boring, the work is drudgery, PE is only once per week,
recess is terrible cause the jock's own the basketball court and there's
nothing else to do, you can't sit where you want at lunch (sometimes you can't
even talk), school starts at 8:00 so getting up at 7:00am is hard, and the list
goes on. Nothing insurmountable, but clearly not ideal. The one area we had hoped
would be good, finding new friends, turned out to be the worst. Every day he
comes home with new "vocabulary" words he's learned or more dirty
inappropriate jokes. Thankfully he's the kind of kid who tell me things
otherwise I would have no idea. Bottom line, he doesn't want to be around kids
who swear, drink Monster (and maybe worse) and tell crude sexual jokes all day.
I don't blame him!! I've considered pulling him out several times, but we had
prayed for this school, friends, and his teachers before he started and I kept
thinking, God is faithful. He
knows what is going on and will use it for His good purpose. Every
day I asked myself, is this
adversity a good lesson for him or do we protect him from it?
Fast forward to the end of the year. We are now 10 school days
away from saying goodbye to public school. He's studying hard for his finals
but is not happy about doing it. Not many kids are I'm sure. I do want him to
finish strong, and I'm proud of him for not caving or lowering himself to the
poor standards set by the students he has been around all year. I am sad that
he lost some of the innocence he had at the beginning of the year. If he had
been home, I know this never would have happened (at least at this time in his
life). Maybe later, but not now. So much for thinking elementary school would
protect him from what we fear happens in middle school. So much for thinking
his teachers (who we actually liked) could inspire him beyond the forced
curriculum and incessant test taking. So much for thinking he would end up with
a posse of friends who he could look back fondly and remember. This will go
down in the books as another school year endured not cherished. And for this I
am sad.
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