Something Like School ....

While the rest of North America has enjoyed a couple of weeks, now, of back to school, we have been waiting for a teachers' strike to be resolved.

Some might wonder what we've been doing during this extra time off.

Well, like most moms I thought I'd try to do some sort of home school with my little ones to get them back into a routine and to ensure that they didn't fall behind with their learning.

This quickly fell apart on September 3. Being a former English teacher, I created a short writing assignment for each child, then--when Eric went down for his mid-morning nap--I sat Ben, Janae, and Alaina down at the table to get them started.

One of the above-mentioned individuals ripped up the assignment, threw it on the floor and declared--at a volume that made things clear not only to me but to our entire neighborhood--that she was on home school strike. 

Although things settled as the day went on, at bedtime my little fire cracker told me she would be making her strike signs and picketing in the morning.

So . . . another week off wouldn't hurt them, would it?

Later in the week I let the children know that our home learning would recommence the following Monday, with a revised curriculum.

Fast forward through another week of job action.

A few days ago I had to take Alaina in to a health clinic, and the nurse asked my children what they had been doing during the teachers' strike.

I held my breath and waited for them to report that they had been staying in their PJs and playing all day every day, but the comments went a different direction.

Ben said, "We're doing something kind of like school, at home."
Nurse: "What kinds of things have you been learning?"

(I once again took a deep breath and braced myself for the worst.)

Ben: We've been learning times tables and playing some math games.

Then Janae: "We've mostly been doing Shakespeare."

Well.

Even I had to admit that it didn't sound too bad!  We've come a long way in two weeks :)

So, what HAVE we been doing?

A few trips to the library,

a few math games,

    

(not a lot of hair brushing, obviously!).

We took a field trip to a local historical site,

 
  

built with Lego,

did a lot of reading,



and, YES, a little Shakespeare.

Janae has, in fact, memorized Sonnet #18!

There was, however, no sitting at the table doing worksheets. 

It has got to the point where we have a good routine of learning, helping with chores, and free time.

And this morning we heard that REAL SCHOOL could start up again as early as Monday.

So, you might wonder, will we continue with our "something like school at home"?

Uh . . . NO.