Making it up

I am not going through that again.

My business earns barely enough to pay for itself - mainly because I’m so unremittingly poor at actually invoicing anyone! Must grab some time over the next few weeks to sort out the accounts into a proper state, so that for next year I can file very very very early and then never have to think about it again.

Right, I have to find a cheque book and the floor, and then pile up a few bits that I located while doing this to sort out, and maybe, just maybe, I can actually have a quiet evening beading.

Which would be good, as the week ahead looks hectic.

Feels very peculiar reading about all the ppl going to Melrose, and not going myself. We’ve been three times I think, which might be from the first time we could? I know we missed the one before that wasn’t Melrose - I was still working, and ended up cancelling my leave to do my boss a favour in the run up to maternity. But Small was at melrose as a not even crawling blob, and this will be our first year of missing it.

But we don’t actually home ed full time, we flexi-school. And when I asked Big about Melrose, she said she didn’t want to miss school.

I can hear cries from the back, she’s completely institutionalised now, but nothing could be further from the truth. I know that there are ppl out there to whom school is nothing but a dirty word, but the place the children are, three days a week, is a whole world away from that. For starters, I’m not even sure it’s legally obliged to be called a school - it doesn’t provide full time education for 5 or more children over mandatory education age. Instead there are a number of school age children (see how easy that is to type? Please read it as saying mandatory education age. Thank you.) who attend for a variety of different lengths of time per week. I think Big might be there most at 3 days, although obviously I’m not entirely sure.

Then there are no whole class lessons. That just isn’t the montessori way. The educational experience is intimately tailored for each child - I know that Ailsa spends a huge amount of time deciding what resources should be offered when - I suspect it’s viewed as a failing to offer something that is completely above the abilities of the child concerned, and yet it’s probably equally poor not to be offering things to draw them on. Accordingly both my children have been offered things out of the targetted age range at various times - Small was doing children’s house material long before his third birthday, and Big was having stuff brought down from elementary before her seventh.

The children are all encouraged to develop independence. They help to set up and clear the table, and do their own washing up. There never seems to be anyone in a rush there - except when I’m running in 5 minutes late to pick them up! The atmosphere is calm and restful - which isn’t to say there isn’t childish exuberance about the place, there most definitely is. Plenty of time to play outside and run and jump and scream no doubt, although as it’s usually dark when I’m there atm, I don’t see much of it.

I wish there had been a montessori nursery when I was rushing to get back to work and hand off the small screamy being that was Big all those years ago. I don’ t think that her nursery at that point was particularly bad for her, but I’m fairly sure it wasn’t as good as it could have been. And I’m very pleased that this is Small’s first encounter with an educational setting - I don’t think it can get much better.

I’m sure there are home educating parents out there who are always on hand to answer questions, who never are short tempered, or ill, who always have every resource and can explore every interest. I’m not sure I’ve met them though and I’m very sure I’m not one of them. Is flexi-schooling a cop out? Possibly. But where this school is concerned, I think it’s a pretty acceptable one, and very possibly better than I could ever have provided on my own.

And that wandered a long way from the starting point of a tax return didn’t it?