school, four weeks later

When we started to seriously consider Chloe’s request to start going to school, I told her that if it didn’t turn out to be what she had hoped and imagined, that she would have to stick it out for six weeks. That would give her time to really see what it was like before deciding to come back home. I needn’t have worried. After two weeks, or even one, she knew she was in the place where she wanted and needed to be.

After having homeschooled the girls all along, the adjustment to a kid in school has been remarkably easy for all of us. Chloe rides the bus to school every day (and home three days a week). She buys her lunch from the salad bar every day. She has made lots of friends. She’s gone on a field trip, taken a bike safety class and been to movie night.

As for the *point* of school, education, she seems to have been able to jump right in and plod along even where she was lost (like Spanish class). She brought home her first report card yesterday, and except for a lot of N/A’s, she seems to be right on target. While I’m proud of her, I’m proud of me too ! What we did for homeschooling seems to have worked well, even with a transition into school. I had feared she’d be way ahead in some things, and way behind in others, but this does not seem to be the case.

Moreover, we are happier. I don’t spend all day fighting with her to get her work done, as I had been for the past few months. And Camille seems to like the quiet hours she gets with Chloe off at school. And, maybe, with us not getting to travel so much because of school, things will be less stressful, though I do miss all our crazy adventures.