Happy Tuesday! Wow, I actually slept last night and woke up in the best mood! The wife however, did not wake up in the best mood. One of her sales peeps is in town and the woman was yelling up the stairs pretty early. Lets get one thing straight right now, we are NOT morning people.
Now I'm going to talk about something that I would love to get feedback on. Just know that I'm not bad-mouthing public education at all. As a teacher I know that every child in my classroom will benefit from being there because I'll see to it.
Here is my issue:
The wife has been working from home since January, but today she had to go into the office to interview for another sales person.She has developed a major dislike as far as going into the office, and feels she is more productive when working from home. I completely understand these feelings. If you're lucky enough to have a job that allows you work from home, enjoy it. That gives you more time with your family, even though you may be working, and a little flexibility. People who report to an office don't have these benefits.
I'm one of those people who would home-school if I could. I don't believe we bring children into this world in order to send them away for long school days that are full of time- fillers. Yes, I would agree the socialization is good, PE is good, but they can get socialization and physical fitness from other activities and from simply living it at home.There was nothing worse than seeing a child come in to school at 6:30 am and then go back to daycare until 6pm. If you're not living this, then you're one of the lucky ones and that's great... but not everyone has that choice. Not everyone can stay home (I am so thankful for this time with the kids, which we have more of because their day isn't consumed), not everyone can work from home (the wife is thankful for her time with us, and likes the background noises while she works.), but if you can and you do, then be grateful for that! If you can and don't then don't judge others for their choices.
Now someone told me recently that a 3 hour day (that's how long the kids are in school), isn't life. I'm calling BS on that. I understand that there are jobs out there that require the hours and I get it, but let me tell you something, not every job has to consume your life and most don't. If a person is left to get their work done, they can accomplish it in very little time. If it's an ongoing thing, then it's ongoing... when you have someone above you who sits around, creates work, calls meetings, and throws things out there that are completely unproductive... then yeah, you might as well pull up a bed, because your life is your job. Not your family, not your interests. On the other side of this... Okay fine, so 3 hours isn't life, then I say my kids need to enjoy being kids while they can. They need to enjoy life and have the time to figure out what it is they want from it. I do not feel like my children need a full day of "lets figure out how to keep them busy, lets have assemblies, sell junk, and then do worksheets because we work faster than other children, etc etc etc" to teach them what life is about. Perhaps going to school and learning just as much, if not more in 3 hours, will show them that though there are many out there who say "it can't be done," they can turn around and say "Wrong... you have no idea because you haven't had expereince with it!" Something is not wrong, nor is it impossible, simply because it's outside the box. People! Now I know how home-school parents feel and why they do it... good district, bad district... it has nothing to do with it. It's a desire for your children to have the best that you can give them. It's a choice, it's not wrong because "you" feel like it's not "life."
I remember leaving the kids for long periods of time to go in to work. I would tutor in the early morning hours, then teach, then tutor in the afternoon, then plan for the next day, set up my room for whatever fun activity we had planned, etc, etc. When I moved to Dallas, it was even crazier because I knew I'd have an hour drive both ways.
We'd have meetings galore. Oh, don't get me going on meetings! Seriously, when I'm at work, let me work! Meetings are great when introducing a new concept, but for crying out loud there is nothing less productive than the weekly meeting that drones on and on. Most people are doodling, inwardly rolling their eyes, and trying to figure out how to get all of their work done so they can actually get home at a decent time... meetings... bleh!
So there's my issue... what is it that makes people feel as if they have the right to redirect something in which they really have no idea, no experience, and no business redirecting? Yes, I stay home and take care of my family... they're a lot of work! Yes, my kids go to a school that's three hours a day because it's academics only... nothing wrong with that. The boy has friends... the girl is anti-social. That would be the same no matter the hours she spent in school. They get physical activity... we run, we ride bikes, we paddle boat, they play tennis (I will too again soon!). What is it that bothers people about this? Seriously...
Ignore the typos or bad grammar... I don't have time to proof. We have a lot to do today! :)
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