The "Home" Day

William: learning.  Paige: Distracting.

Today was our first "home day".  The day when William does his lessons at home with me, instead of going to school.  Tomorrow, he will take the work he completes back to his teacher for grading.

I've been warned about the "home day" from practically every veteran parent I've encountered.  I was told to plan NOTHING for today.  No lunches out.  No play dates.  No errands.  "Just focus on the school work."

Heck, I was even told to let the crock pot cook my dinner.  Not to even TRY to cook a meal on "the home day".  Heh, believe me, I don't have to be told twice not to cook.  I'll use ANY excuse!

But I'll be honest, I sort of poopoo'd their advice.  I mean, how long can it take for a first grader to complete assignments?  My kid is used to doing worksheets during Paige's afternoon nap - how different could this possibly be?

Very different, as it turns out.

Thankfully, I took the advice of the veteran moms and planned ZERO things for today.  I had my mind ready for the possibility that this could go badly.  And it's a good thing I did.  Oh the work went fine, it was my KID who was the problem.  What I didn't count on was the constant COMPLAINING and GROUSING and WHINING from William.  He did not understand why he had to do all this WORK and LEARNING while at HOME.  The horror!

But, he's an amiable child, and with a bit of prodding from me (ok, and threatening), he was able to complete his work BY TWO THIRTY.  Yes.  It took from 9am to 2:30pm to get all the work done.  Yes, we had breaks.  At one point he played 30 minutes of video games, at another point, I let he and Paige watch a show on TV while they ate their lunch.  Then they played after lunch until Paige's nap. 

So it wasn't ALL work ALL the time.  But still.  It took all day.

That's the "bad" news (if you can call it bad), the good news is: I loved every minute of it.  Ok, maybe not the complaining.  But the time together, my involvement in his learning process.  The way Paige and he did the phonetic flashcards together (Paige is even learning sign language along with her brother!).  Then, William read her a story (as part of his assignment in English).  It's all so sweet.

So far, I'm really liking this school and this model of education.

Of course, it *is* only the second day.  Ask me in a few weeks how I'm feeling.