Sizing up school

All the wood paneling and dry wall came off the den walls on Monday (while I was lying in bed, sicker than I have been in a long, long time - probably since stomach bug 2010. Blessedly, the illness has passed). HF took a sick day since I was operating at about 20%, and Roo was home sick too with an ear infection.. and discovered 100-year old studs that were rotted through with termite damage (!). BUT. We interrupt this endless ongoing  home improvement series for a topic change. Schooling.

So the kids have been in school for nearly seven weeks now, not counting the false start first week which ended up being just one day. People have been asking me how it's going, which I of course appreciate, and I know the query is twofold. First, how are the kids doing overall; how are they faring with the adjustment? And second, how are you finding (your first experience with) public school?

I think about this daily, and HF and I talk almost daily about our reactions and what we think next year will hold for the kids' and their education. So far we don't know. Overall the kids are doing fine, have adjusted well to school, and are in a groove. The school itself seems fine. I tried and failed to think of a less vanilla word - "fine" really is the best descriptor. Best plan of attack here for descriptive assessment of our thoughts on their schooling so far is probably a list of pros and cons, so here goes.

PROS

a) Learning. The kids are learning, both of them - so that's positive. Roo in particular has taken off with her reading, which I attribute largely to the fact that she's now surrounded by a group of people who put a lot of time, effort, and positive reinforcement into reading. Before school, it was her, me, and phonic work she didn't want to do. It was all attitude and tears, and slow headway. Now she's in a scenario where "this is what we do," and it shows. She's come a long way in six weeks. Monkey also comes home with new tidbits and input here and there (though not more than we was learning before.)

b) Teachers and staff. I have liked the teachers I've met so far, by and large. The school administrator/ receptionist is fantastic, which makes a big difference for a midyear-mom like me. Roo adores her teacher and her young age, warm nature, and pending first baby all make her a fantastic fit for Roo. The reading teachers who assist in the kindergarten classroom are also warm, positive, and knowledgable. Monkey's teacher is in her mid-50's and, in his words, "strict and gets angry easily"... But, in a room of rowdy first-grade boys, that's not all bad.

c) Specials. The kids have a "special" - art, music, library, or gym - every day, and computer lab is thrown in there on top of that. The kids love them - Roo said she liked them more than the enrichment classes they did in CA (which surprised me).

d) Class size. Roo has 20 kids in her class and Monkey has 21. That's not bad at all for public schools.

[e) Stability and insta-community. One of the biggest reasons we put the kids in school was to get them into a routine and group of peers as quickly as possible, especially because a) we moved in the middle of winter; b) we have no neighbors; and c) our work is cut out for us at the house - need them to be 'gainfully employed' somewhere and knew it couldn't be home for at least a while. School has worked for this.]

CONS

a) Long day. Super long. We leave the house at 8:20 AM for dropoff, and we get home around 3:50 PM. Not only are they tired and cranky by the time they get home, there's not a heck of a lot of time left to do other stuff. Monkey proactively complains about this; Roo doesn't (though shows the most signs of exhaustion, which makes sense given her age.)

b) Rowdiness. It makes them more hyper children. Their overall dispositions are goofier and wilder now than it was before they started school. Notably so. I think this stems from two factors -- first, they have to sit and 'be good' all day so when they're home it's a more 'let-it-all-hang-out' time, and second, they are around tons of kids all day who all corporately enjoy being goofballs. During recess, at lunch, in-between times, there's a lot of horseplay. The kids get used to always looking for opportunities to be funny, goofy, crazy. Consequently I am spending a lot more time asking the kids to "settle down" - and disciplining them when they don't - than I have in the past. Not fun

c) Media. The kids watch TV in school not infrequently - maybe 2-3x per week on average? Sometimes educational and sometimes 'for fun.' Today Monkey watched Clifford and the Lorax in school. Not lovin' that. Also they play computer games (this happens often during 'inside recess,' which occurs way more often than I'd like - send those kids outside unless it's sub-zero!) and come home asking for them. They have an online math program called "First in Math" which is the way they're allowed to do it at home - a first for us for them to use the computer for anything - and while it's a good program, we are a one-computer family, and I don't love having to manage their interest in computer usage at this stage.

d) Random non-school stuff. This week is book fair, and also in the past two weeks they have come home with four (count them, four) fundraisers of various types. A plant sale fundraiser, a snack sale fundraiser, a recycled-items fundraiser, and I blocked out the fourth already. I mean, it's a bit much. Not trying to rain on the fundraiser parade, but it's overwhelming. For the kids, for the parents. And the book fair was an ordeal to navigate. We already own scores of books and acquire new ones frequently, plus we are weekly library-goers. Navigating the ins and outs of the fair was exhausting and (for us) rather unnecessary.

e) No real friends yet. The kids are plugged in socially now and thankfully come home talking about their 'friends' at school - the kids who sit in their pods, the ones they watch play computer games during indoor recess when it's not their turn, the ones at lunch. But so far neither has made a friend who seems like a real friend - someone they want to invite over on the weekend, for example. It's probably just too early for that kind of thing, but I find myself wondering if they are apt to make close friends of the family-with-family type to which we're accustomed from our CA scene.  The homeschooling mom has the opportunity to identify and direct and help foster friendships between likeminded and similar aged kids, whereas the public school mom just listens to how the day went and sees a few of the kids at pick-up - hoping that a good connection or two might develop. And sometimes, I know, they do. They just haven't yet.

None of these cons has surprised me, and all of them can be navigated, massaged, addressed- especially over time. I mean, I know at least a half dozen families whose kids are stellar kids and are thriving as public schoolers. But #1 and #2 are the ones that I find the most difficult in the big picture. I mean, do I want to work around these issues, long term? Is it worth it? Especially given the reality that none of the 'pros' on my list are game-changers that make me feel like "public school is definitely for us"?

Time will tell. Went to a homeschool-moms-night-out in Feb and really, really liked many of the moms I met there. 10% of our town homeschools, which is 5 - 10 times the national average - it's a great place to homeschool. I have two homeschool-exploration appointments coming up in the next two weeks, so watch this space for updates in my thinking (if that appeals)...