Everyday routine again
Semester break last week was good for all of us, I think. Paddy had a wonderful time in England (thanks to everyone who welcomed him and Precious), proved himself quite capable and responsible, came home with a number of additions to his DVD collection and a delightful little digital video of Precious talking about The Meaning of Life, True Love, and Sounding Like Jackie Chan, punctuated by train announcements of the next stop at some banal little place in England.
Christopher was at his very best all week - calm, thoughtful, charming, cooperative - and he cooked lunch and even studied a little every day. With everything going so smoothly, I didn't have much to post to this blog, but I got quite a bit of work done that has been hanging over my head for ages.
Getting back into our everyday routine has been harder. Paddy is not happy at school; he says he is tired of just studying to pass one test after another, he wants to actually learn something, and he doesn't feel that is happening at school. In addition, it appears that most of his teachers have figured out by now that he is quite bright and capable of surprising achievements - if he is interested and motivated. Since there is little that he finds interesting and motivating, most of the time he just makes sure he does enough work to comfortably maintain average grades, but he is tired of hearing from his teachers that he could "do so much better". Of course he could, but why should he? I am curious to hear how his German teacher reacts to the essay he wrote this afternoon. His assignment was to write an essay comparing the advantages and disadvantages of having a refrigerator in the classroom, but he was so bored by the topic that he couldn't think of anything. After I suggested it might be all right this time to allow his imagination a little more free rein, he started having fun (allowing refrigerators in classrooms will ultimately lead to the destruction of life as we know it on this planet), and I think his essay is both hilarious and well written. We'll see what his German teacher thinks, though.
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the eye doctor in the morning, then Christopher has his appointment with the psychologist in the afternoon. I don't think I want to think about either of those things right now.
Christopher was at his very best all week - calm, thoughtful, charming, cooperative - and he cooked lunch and even studied a little every day. With everything going so smoothly, I didn't have much to post to this blog, but I got quite a bit of work done that has been hanging over my head for ages.
Getting back into our everyday routine has been harder. Paddy is not happy at school; he says he is tired of just studying to pass one test after another, he wants to actually learn something, and he doesn't feel that is happening at school. In addition, it appears that most of his teachers have figured out by now that he is quite bright and capable of surprising achievements - if he is interested and motivated. Since there is little that he finds interesting and motivating, most of the time he just makes sure he does enough work to comfortably maintain average grades, but he is tired of hearing from his teachers that he could "do so much better". Of course he could, but why should he? I am curious to hear how his German teacher reacts to the essay he wrote this afternoon. His assignment was to write an essay comparing the advantages and disadvantages of having a refrigerator in the classroom, but he was so bored by the topic that he couldn't think of anything. After I suggested it might be all right this time to allow his imagination a little more free rein, he started having fun (allowing refrigerators in classrooms will ultimately lead to the destruction of life as we know it on this planet), and I think his essay is both hilarious and well written. We'll see what his German teacher thinks, though.
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the eye doctor in the morning, then Christopher has his appointment with the psychologist in the afternoon. I don't think I want to think about either of those things right now.
posted by Aileen at Wednesday, March 01, 2006
1 Comments:
I can empathize with the return to everyday routines. Last week was the first week I was back to work full-time since December. Although I am absolutely exhausted, at least it is somewhat comforting and familiar to return to some semblance of routine..including doing everyday things like laundry, cleaning, and paying bills (tasks which have been delegated to others who have been helping me during the last 6-7 weeks).
As for school and being motivated, doing just enough to get by and maintain average grades seems to be a family trend. Joseph can't see any purpose for homework and daily classwork, when he can pass the tests without doing such things, and still get by.
Obviously, it is important to acknowledge that "traditional" school is not for everyone...from the most intelligent and thoughtful, to those who can't think at all. Somewhere in the middle is where most school operate, and anything outside of the "middle" is oftentimes a challenge that is left unaddressed.
I am sure that England will never be the same again after Patrick was there!
Have fun at the eye doctor. I am also going to the eye doctor tomorrow morning. At least it will be a pleasant change from the other doctors I have been seeing!
Post a Comment
<< Home