ImPerceptibility

Posts Tagged ‘dropout’

I was looking at the calendar today and noticed that there are only seven weeks before the start of the new school year. This isn’t something I normally care about, but this year is different. My oldest will heading off to middle school this year. I have mixed feelings about it.

As her mom I want her to go and be successful. But a small part of me hopes that sixth grade dropout will be added to her résumé. I’ll never forget the day she dropped out of first grade. “I’ve thought about it, Mom, and I’m dropping out of school. It’s wasting my time. If you won’t teach me, I’ll teach myself.” She’s never been a boring child.

I’ve gone through the all the steps and got her registered. They required a test to determine her instructional level before she started. After she finished the test she was a little upset.

“I didn’t answer all the questions and I forgot what perimeter was. Then I remembered, but I forgot how to add. I’ll probably have to be in a stupid class”

I assured her that she wouldn’t be in a “stupid” class and told her I had no problems embarrassing her by bothering the counselor until she put her in the right class. We moved on and haven’t thought about it much since.

Then a letter from the school board came. I was a little slow to open it. In the last four years, my daughter has not spent one day being taught by a certified teacher. Her teacher doesn’t even have a college degree. She hasn’t used a true curriculum for three years and she spends most of her day playing. This didn’t bother me in the least until I sat there with that unopened letter.

“I’m sorry, Oldest. You know how I told you I would bother your counselor until she put you in right class? Well, it’s not going work out.”

“Is the class already full?”

“Nope. I can’t go and bother your counselor because they already put you in an advanced class. It’s a one-year acceleration. You little smarty-pants. You don’t let me have any fun. I was looking forward to fussing at your counselor!”

She sat there smiling and giggling. It was the sweetest sound. I’m going to be missing it in a few weeks.