One Difference Between Home School and Public School...

As we were walking out of our parent/teacher conference today, my husband and I were remarking how wonderful it is to see Vivi thriving in public school.  We had our concerns-- the lack of recess, the strong focus on academics, the homework-- but it has become very clear to us that we made the right choice to send her to public school.  Vivi's teacher is phenomenal and we have no doubt that she is just as good or better than any private school teacher.  Plus, she really impressed us today when she showed us Vivi's special folder.  

Because Vivi often gets her work done before her classmates, her teacher made her a special book full of puzzles and enrichment activities that she can do while she waits for others to finish.  It really struck us that in a time of bare-bones funding, classrooms full of children living in poverty, and teachers forced to do paperwork upon paperwork all in the name of "documenting progress" that Vivi's teacher went out of her way to make sure our daughter is challenged.  What a gift to have someone who cares as much as we do about Vivi's education.

As we considered our schooling options this past spring, I had no idea what to expect from a public education.  I was tempted to avoid the whole issue and homeschool Vivi but I am glad we made the decision we did.  There is one thing she is picking up at public school that I am certain she wouldn't have gotten at home, however.  Here's a conversation we had last night:

Vivi (talking into the wooden table from her dollhouse, aka her "fairy" phone):  Noooo.  You need to stop calling me.  I don't like you Justin Beaver!

Me:  Who is Justin Beaver?

Vivi:  He is this dumb boy.  He keeps calling me on my fairy phone and I don't want to talk to him.  Charlotte likes him.  He lives in the TV.

Me:  Oh, really.  So you've seen Justin Beaver?  What does he look like?

Vivi:  Kind of weird.  I don't know why she likes him so much.  He is just soooo annoying.

Me:  Well, I can see that Justin Beaver bothers you so if he calls you again, I will answer the phone for you.

I'm pretty sure Justin Bieber doesn't appear in the home school curriculum until at least third grade.

Comments

  1. margsmomDecember 11, 2011 at 5:33 PM

    Have to tell you that a few months ago Margaret started singing a Justin Bieber song so I thought I would play the video for her on YouTube. She watched intently and at the end she looked at me with a sort of confused expression and said"Mom I thought Justin Bieber was a beaver??!!! Have a great holiday!

    ReplyDelete

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