But education is.
Word of the day
nothing: No thing; not anything
Which is what you get to do if you won’t do reading. Child despatched off to my office to read, returns 5 minutes later having read 5 words, refusing to do more. Child advised that is not enough, (didn’t go into the full detail of appropriate to age, ability and aptitude, did mention full time and that if she can’t learn here we will have to make other arrangements). So we had an extended period with child sat at a bare table whinging before capitulating and completing the book from yesterday. Thank Whoever, I am even more stubborn than she is. So total time three and a half hours, total output 1/2 a Red Nose Reader. But. She read it. Not me or mummy, and she got to write down the words she couldn’t work out and she (magically) remembered how to read “went“. Problem words included “except”, which is fairly understandable.
Now we are on countdown to ballet, which I am so looking forward to. 🙁
And we have a visit at 2pm tomorrow from Kirstythenurserynurse for Small. One of ’em refuses to read and the other refuses to talk, I am convinced that in each case they are both quite capable of doing so, if they so chose.
And is a word you shouldn’t use to start sentences, but I do it all the time. And she went on to do mental arithmetic, fairly trivial with an electronic thingamy, but I can cross off maths nonetheless.
Is it the going to ballet you don’t like, Tim? Or the getting ready to go? Just wondered, out of interest. Zara used to go and I felt like a fish out of water amongst the ‘ballet mums’ – fearsome, they were!
The getting ready is a problem, I struggled with the ponytail/bun business, then once you get there you get to sit in the gents. In fact, today wasn’t bad at all, a couple of amiable women, one of whom had a little boy too, were also outside waiting and the other boy had brought some trains, so Small was happy and I had two friendly people to chat with.
Welcome to the world of HE – you know you are a PROPER HE-er, when you mutter the immortal words “if you won’t make any effort here, then maybe you’d like to go to school, where they will MAKE you ;-)” Do you eBay – I have a long and convulated eBay question on my blog.
Oh, that’s reassuring, Joyce. I’ve been feeling like a failure for saying just that so often recently 😉
Well, i’m impressed. I do do co-ercion here if i can help it, but i do whole heartedly approve of the “you’ll sit and do this because i say so and then we’ll have fun” approach 😉
I seem to remember either reading or hearing Chris/Alison saying “we are actually obliged to provide an education for you” at some point. I use it often 😀
She caved when she worked out that ballet was going to happen after she had finished her reading (and only after). I think this was a test for me. She needed to find out a) whether I was serious about her having to do this stuff and b) what happened when she baulked. I think I passed. 🙂 I got the impression she enjoyed doing the reading once she calmed down and got on with it and we ended the process with her cuddled up beside me while she read it all through.
well done, I’m sure that a bit of boundary testing this week was only to be expected.
Oh I’m so glad i’ve met all you lot and discovered I’m not the only one who threatens the S word or actually requires children to do what they are told when they are told.
Jenny, i stand by the erm.. standpoint that we have to be enjoying this too and that sometimes means feeling like we’ve helped people achieve something 🙂