School for Two, 13 August 2013

Today was a momentous day!  G started second grade...and Z started Kindergarten.

Seriously, this morning Z looked like a mostly-four-year-old, five in name only.  But this evening, guiding him through homework, before my very eyes he transformed into a full-fledged five-year-old in all its school-age glory.

(Note: Our kids are enrolled in a charter public school that is about 70% in-class learning and 30% homeschool.  Teachers send a packet of work home at the beginning of the week and the parents guide the kids through it.  Today was the first day of homeschool; classes won't start until the end of August.)

Z's first order of business was to trace his first name on a page his teacher printed for him.  I pessimistically expected him to balk when I told him I had a thing for him to do, but he practically ran to the kitchen table, eagerly taking up the pencil and bending over the page.  He traced his name (and it's a long name) once, and I planned to let him move on to something else, saving the other lines of tracing for another day.  But he had other ideas.  "I'm going to trace the next one!" he declared happily.

Then a shadow crossed his face and I braced myself for the expected complaint.  For the last two years, Z has sat with G and me during homeschool time, and I waited for him to echo G's idea that this thing called "homework" is to be dreaded like the Pirate Roberts.  I wasn't wrong.

"Mommy," a whine crept in, "when I'm done tracing, do I have to do homework?"

My darling boy!  Delight swept over me and I grinned.  "Z, I'm going to tell you a secret: You already are doing homework!"

His whine disappeared into a giggle and he enthusiastically announced, "I'm going to surprise my teacher and trace all of the lines right now!"  Which he did.  There's no way his classroom teacher is going to be more surprised by his industriousness than I was!

G also showed growth today.  After a nice long summer of having no required paperwork, I was ready for a barrage of protest when I handed him three sheets of homework this evening.  But all I got was a mild, "Do I have to?" and when assured that he did, G worked through the papers without another complaint.

Giving him a hug later, I told G I was proud of him for doing his work without complaining tonight.  "Yeah," he said, "thanks Mommy.  I was complaining a lot in my head though."  Hey, that's still progress and I'll take it!

Like any year, I know this one is going to have expected--and unexpected--ups and downs, but I think we're ready to start the semester...taking things one day at a time.