School

At 7:45 a.m. we rush out the front door, backpacks shrugged onto backs, feet shoved into shoes, homework folders signed, snacks packed, school I.D.'s hanging around our necks.  We run up the street, down the sidewalk and scan our cards at the gate.  I walk the kids to the school entrance, kiss and hug them all goodbye and then come back home.

It's quiet.  It seems empty.  But there is still a student in my house. 

Behind this door, a 7th grader slumbers on, oblivious to the chaos and scurry that has just ensued below.

The sign is fairly accurate.  You do not want to go in there!

 

Now here's my big question.  Do I wake him in order for him to get started and accomplish more?  Or do I relish in the quietude of the morning and allow it to be my own for awhile.  Hmmmm...

 

For the first week, I've been allowing him to sleep.  And sleep.  And sleep.  Since studies show that children going through puberty need more sleep, I do not find any harm in allowing him this opportunity to grow while resting.  Plus, it allows me to enjoy a cup of coffee, check my facebook, clean the house without distraction, read, knit, or whatever.  I really like that.  I REALLY like that!

 

But, at some point, he does need to get up and discover that he is, in fact, in the 7th grade, and therefore must do the work of a 7th grader.  His schoolwork is now no longer solely my  responsibility.  It is also no longer solely the responsibility of a teacher.  It is now a joint affair with his online teachers and I urging him on, helping him to fill his mind with useful and useless knowledge, to encourage him to think critically and come up with amazing ideas, and to make sure he understands the ways of the world.  He gets to work at his own pace.  But, he needs to keep up with the school's deadlines.   So, school for my 7th grader looks like this:

clutter

 





We bought him a desk.  We bought him a computer.  We bought him some bookshelves.  We gave him a room with beautiful large windows for light and lots of space.  And yet, somehow, it is MY desk that cluttered.  MY computer that is opened to the website.  My floorspace littered with all of the school books.    At least I know what's getting done!