Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for September 03, 2014

My kids looked forward to the first day of school. They had new clothes, new friends, teachers and I let them pack this own lunches. There was always something yummy to eat when they got home after school. Those are precious memories for me!!!!

Just give them a few hours and maybe school won’t be that awful, will it? My hub says he always liked to go back to school so he could connect with friends that he only saw during school. Me, I went into shell-shock when I realized I only had two weeks before school started, which I abhorred at the time LOL! ;)

Props to Val for trying!

A new guy for the oldest, should liven things up!

Alix will get into it once science classes start.

Oh dear, I remember it well, I hated school too but now I really wish I had listened & learned while I had the chance!

All I remember is that I was just disappointed that summer was over. I really didn’t dislike school until high school—it just seemed that all the subjects required more ‘deep thought’ and the teachers seemed to know only one thing—pages and pages of homework ! ! ! ! !

@SheMcUnless you are dead there is still time; the School of Hard Knocks encourages independent studies and it is so easy now with the Internet.

They are just sleep-deprived. They’ll warm up to it. Jan should have started changing their schedules around a few weeks ago. My youngest got a GREAT teacher this year. She asks me if it is a school day and says “yea!” when it is.

My co-worker told me her 5 year old will be expected to know addition, subtraction and be able to read by the end of the year. That’s bad enough, but they will be giving homework as well! Homework to a 5 yr old?? Have the business wonks running the schools lost their minds??

Most children around here are glad to get back to school and excited.

@avocet13. I agree it’s crazy. I wanted my Becky to play in kindergarten like I did. It was a struggle. But what is the answer to U.S. behind in academics from China and India? I don’t know the answer so please no one yell back at me. I would prefer the times of my childhood: playing outside, riding bikes, etc. Yes I’m old. :-(

Dani you are absolutely correct.

You should see the Principal trying to pry the teachers out of their cars.

Why drive them to school? Put ‘em on the bus. Holly can shmoose (sorry if that’s misspelled) with her pals.

I recommend this article on why math is not being taught right in this country:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html?_r=0

When I read this in the magazine, it had a less noxious title, but was the same article. It has had its detractors, but it helped me understand a lot.

Once again sorry girls.

@Harebell: maybe they’re in California. Schoolbuses died out with Prop 13 in the ’70’s. There are still a few buses, but we were told to pay a thousand dollars per year per kid to put them on it and it didn’t come within a mile of our house anyway.

Oh to be the teachers watching these two coming towards the school.

That one took me a while and I live here!

If Holly and Alix get any teachers and course material from the previous school year, they could learn the course material better this time. No overhead projectors were used in my third grade homeroom class, but they were in fourth grade, helping me better remember the definitions of transparent, translucent and opaque. The different varieties of trucks, too.So, kids aren’t encouraged by their teachers to be creative or use logic? Using logic is a key part of solving geometric and financial questions. Then, too, I’ll never forget how in one high school English class, we read Black Boy by Richard Wright, and were asked to imagine what he would do if he were attending our OWN high school. What would he like? What would he dislike about it? It wasn’t just a book to read and get tested on; deeper thinking about his book was required.