Today's blog entry will be the equivalent of a verbal home movie, except you aren't stuck in the room with me, the movie reel operator, so you can turn this off at any time instead of politely acting interested.
As most people know by now, I home schooled Katie and Hailey until this year. In January, 2007 we were academically "behind" and I gave myself through the summer to not only catch up, but to have a sense of routine, of enjoying school. Well, as of July Hailey was mostly caught up, though she still had some holes in her education. On the other hand, Katie and I were butting heads on an almost daily basis (especially in math), she was not caught up and "joyful" was NOT an adjective I would use to describe our schooling. More and more I felt like I was doing many things, but doing none of them well. Something had to give.
I struggled with the idea of putting the girls in public school for a several reasons. First, I sincerely believed I had been called to home school them...even before they were born. Was I suddenly not called? Had I been wrong that whole time? If I was wrong about that, what else was I wrong about? Second, I was concerned that they would be too far behind academically and therefore be outcasts. Would they fit in? Lastly, I feared what everyone would think of ME for allowing them to be so far behind. The last ten years of my life centered around being a mother and a teacher. Was I about to be ratted out as a failure at both?
Because I hadn't met my end-of-the-summer goal, I placed them in public school. I thought about giving myself one more school year. However, if I failed after that year, I would be placing Katie into middle school. Having been a middle school girl once myself, I have the right to say: middle school girls can be plain mean. I wanted to give Katie at least one year to adjust and make friends before dealing with the hormones and hoopla of the pre-teen years.
The first nine weeks have come to a close and today I attended my first ever awards assembly. I wonder if the teachers could see a bright glow emanating from my end of the bleachers. I'm certain I lit the place up with my pride...if not with the flash from my camera. Speaking of my camera, it makes a sound every time I take a picture, a sound that I'm certain annoyed everyone around me before the event ended.
Here is where my "movie" begins. Following are the awards Katie and Hailey received:
Katie received an "Honors" certificate for having a GPA between 3.5 and 3.9 and Hailey received "High Honors" for earning a 4.0 (did you catch that? 4.0! OK, OK, so it's fourth grade, but still...!)
Katie wants to be a writer, so she was especially excited to receive her class's ribbon and recognition for her writing skills. She also received her class's ribbon for being the most-improved in math, an award that eased this mother's mind more than you can know.
Katie received a "bronze club" AND a "double bronze club" certificate for already earning 32.3 AR (Accelerated Reader) points. She claims she wants to make it to "diamond." Hailey received a "bronze club" certificate for earning 16.5 points.
Hailey received the Citizenship award for her class, a special honor awarded to one student from each classroom. With each award, the teacher presenting the award had wonderful things to say about each child.
Finally, their principal, Miss Hofer, called them to the front together to present them with "Principal's Award" certificates for "Adjusting Well to Neosho Heights." She explained to the crowd (I say "crowd"--I mean the 3rd-5th graders and about 15 parents) that Hailey and Katie had been home schooled and had done well making the sometimes-difficult adjustment to public school.
The recognition was heady and the girls came home giddy with excitement. "You should have seen the look on my face, Mom!" (Did she not notice I was there???) And when the neighbor girl came over, "Come and see my awards! Miss Hofer called us BOTH up to the front!" In the wonderful world of parenting, most days are the "same ol' same ol'": Meals, laundry, homework, routines, chores, sibling rivalry, bedtime. Yawn. Today has affected me much like a home movie. As I watched I thought, "Look how much they've grown!" and "Maybe I haven't done such a bad job after all."
While I have made it a point to enjoy every moment of this day, I am also cautious. Recognition is to me like helium to a balloon: it makes me float, but it won't keep me alive. I need the oxygen of knowing who I am regardless of what others think. I know from my own past experience that I will breathe in helium, talk funny and act ridiculous if I don't keep myself in check...a trait I hope NOT to pass on to my children. I feel silly saying that today was one of the best days of my life, but it's true. Each time the girls received an award, I felt like I was the one receiving it. For that, I’m grateful to the teachers and staff at Neosho Heights. Now, however, I return to meals, laundry homework, routines...
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