Thursday 15 November 2012

Some Reasons to "Not School"

That's what I am going to call it, "not school." As of June 2013, my children will be done going to conventional school. And I could not be more relieved and excited. While I don't have all of my reasons lined up in neat little rows, I wanted to share a few just for fun (and in no particular order).

Reasons to Not School:
1. Can't find that missing sock? Tiny Twirler stained that brand new, nice shirt? No problem! We can hang out in our pajama's all day long!

2. Peanut Butter. Our current school has banned all peanut butter AND peanut butter replacements, like soy butter. Which means I can't send Ape Boy's favorite snacks to school.

3. No more lunch stress, period. No more searching for just the right sized containers, worrying about what in the world I should send in their lunch, or if anybody (ie THE TEACHER) is going to make a snide comment towards my children about what they have to eat.

4. Bullies be gone. If I hear of one more boy calling my wee Tiny Twirler "Fathead" or "Fateyeball" or FAT anything, or any other word in the freaking dictionary for that matter... this Mamma just might lose it.

5. Broken Bad Habbits. Seriously, every school day my children come home behaving like somebody elses kids. I don't know who these wild animals are. These kids that say "poop this" or "poop that" or "I'm going to toot on your ear".. who are THEY? Then I spend two days getting my children back, and they go to school again. Restart.

6. Freedom! So often we miss out on community programs, because Tiny Twirler and Ape Boy are too exhausted and stressed out from school to go anywhere. Sometimes it's just because a program runs too late, and they would not get enough sleep for school the next day. We can set a sleep schedule that works for us, instead.

7. Time to do, well, anything. The world is our classroom. If Tiny Twirler wants to do a craft for three hours straight, all the more power to her. When Ape Boy doesn't want to leave his activity, he doesn't have to. They can jump around as often as they like, or focus for longer. I have more time to spend taking them to the grocery store and learning about food, costs (math), buying local, organic vs gmo vs conventional (science lessons, anyone?), or what the bag boys name is because all people matter equally.

8. Trips to the bus, in a snowstorm, at 8:00 am (muahahahah bye bye!). I really despise snow. Another thing I despise? Early mornings. But what bothers me most about getting Tiny Twirler and Ape Boy on the bus each school morning is having to bundle up Wee Piglet in 8 layers of clothing, and strapping him on over my big bulky winter coat, and trying to walk down the stairs to the bus stop in those pesky snow shoes. I'm kidding, there are no snow shoes.

9. More time to persue their passions. Right now Tiny Twirlers (age 4) passions are Hair Styling and Fashion. Ape Boy (5) is passionate about his lego, star wars, and a Ninja career.

10. Sunny Days Never Wasted. It is a huge bummer when spring rolls around and you get that odd week full of beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures. You think to yourself "oh, the fun we could be having right now at the park" (or having a picnic, jumping in puddles, etc). Only, you can have all of that fun without waiting for the kids to come home from school. Take off to the beach on a Monday morning? Why not!

Spring Days 2011








4 comments:

  1. Sounds great. Why are you waiting until June 2013? Why not now?

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    1. My husband feels that I need some time to just be with our littlest one and to take for myself, so we agreed to put the kids in school for one year (that would be two for our son, though). They're in JK and SK. I'm hoping that since they are in different classes, they will learn that it is okay to want to do seperate things, and to be different from each other. It is something they really struggle with at home.

      I will be so glad when it is done, though. Lately it seems school adds to our home stress quite a bit. This also gives me time to prepare for the upcoming years.

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  2. I can't believe that the school prohibits peanut butter alternatives. Where is the logic in that?

    Good luck with home/not schooling! I strongly considered it for my son a few years ago (even bought curriculum!), but he's happy at his school so I feel he's in a good place. (I would pull him -- or his sister -- out in a heartbeat, though, if it seemed like the better plan.)

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    1. Thanks! They claim that some parents and children were getting confused by the alternatives, and when seeing the alternatives felt it was still okay to send peanut butter. Not only is the school peanut free but nut free, I don't even think they allow almonds.

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