What did you really learn on grades 1-8?

[LucyStoner]

So I've been thinking a lot about what I want for my younger son's primary education and what I learned in those grades. Some of it, on the less academic side, has struck me as rather humorous and my husband and a few friends have been comparing lists. I'd love to compare with some WTMers.

 

So a quick rundown of the takeaways of my education, grades 1-8.

 

Grade 1- How to play three blind mice on the piano, that subtraction was way more fun than addition because our teacher let us eat the goldfish crackers he used as manipulatives when we were subtracting.

 

Grade 2- that some teachers are assholes. That if you were going to do a good deed it was best to let the teacher see it because they gave out popcorn tickets but only for what they saw. Bring on the contrived good deeds in view of the lunch room monitor. Because. Free popcorn!

 

Grade 3- well, that going to three schools in 2 states in a year sucks but besides that if I woke up late for school, I could catch the PM kindergarten bus and the driver on that bus was way nicer than the driver on my actual bus. That going to a school with no recess blows. That left handed scissors are really annoying, even as a lefty.

 

Grade 4- that if someone compliments your outfit and asks you where you got it, you can save yourself a ton of grief by not being entirely truthful and refraining from saying that you got it at, gasp, the thrift store. That if you can't stand your coat, it is easy enough to "lose it" and play dumb when your mom asks you where it is.

 

Grade 5- that one can engineer the deaths of their enemies by naming some of their Oregon Trail wagon party members after them and then strategically starving and overworking the party when those particular people get sick. That fording the river is a dicey proposition and at best will usually result in the loss of valuable supplies. Sorry Mr. Simmons. I primarily recall Oregon Trail and not your generally good lessons. That librarians are often sympathetic, simpatico souls who will pretend not to see you if you are quietly reading in the library when you should be at an assembly or recess.

 

Grade 6- That there were teachers who would forget the lesson plan in favor of telling you random stories for the whole hour if you asked a well placed question. That if they did this, they would often scrap the homework because you hadn't "gotten to that material after all." Score.

 

Grade 7- that sometimes, it is ok to just walk away. Which I did. I walked away from class one day and stayed home until 9th grade. That, once again, libraries make a nice haven for kids who would rather read. I sat at the small branch library for part of most days and just read.

 

Grade 8- that softball means that much more when it and church account for all of your social opportunities for the year. That sometimes sliding into a base is just for fun even if you are far ahead of the throw. That Sassy Magazine was way better than Seventeen. And from getting soup at the cafe next to the branch library, that vegetables are apparently not in fact poison.

 

There you have it. The compendium of my other lessons from grades 1-8.

 

Thanks for sharing yours, if so inclined.

[happypamama]

The most useful thing I learned from K-8? How to type. I could already read when I went to K, but in 7th, we had to take a computer class and learn to type. Old school, tedious and boring, but effective. Most useful thing I ever learned before high school. I use that skill very single day.

 

In 8th, I learned just how quickly I could catch Carmen Sandiego. We had 45 minutes of computer club, and when we didn't have a newspaper to put out, we played computer games. It was the crowning achievement of my middle school career when I managed to solve all fourteen cases or whatever it was to get from beginner to catching Carmen herself in one 45 minute class period. Haha.

[abba12]

Hmm... I spent my primary school years in and out of homeschooling, as my mum wanted us home, but my dad believed the socialization myth. Lets see... I'll label the form of schooling for the majority of the year, though we were generally pulled/placed mid-grade.

 

Grade 1 - Private school - That being good gets you nothing, and being smart gets you bullied. We had a sticker chart, and whoever had all 20 squares filled in got a free ice cream at end of term. Except, naughty kids got stickers for sitting still for 5 minutes, and good kids had to be perfect all day. I was the ONLY child in class who didn't get an ice cream at end of term. I never cared or responded to any form of reward program after that, much to the bewilderment of future teachers

 

Grade 2 - Homeschool - That reading games are awesome and you can spend hours putting letters into words. That there is a wide range of disabilities out there and I 'get' those kids, naturally (my brother was in a special needs playgroup which we tagged along to). And that reader rabbit kindergarten is still fun even when the games are WAY too easy

 

Grade 3 - Public school - Other kids suck at colouring/drawing, and you can win a national competition just by putting in a little effort and being one of the oldest entrants in the category, and then the whole town recognizes you. This does have a negative effect when you vomit on the floor of the classroom because your useless and child-hating teacher wouldn't let you go to the nurse. Children in the next years class will still refuse to step on that patch of carpet. 

 

Grade 4 - Homeschool - The Sydney 2000 Paralympics basically sums up this grade. My distance education school took a bunch of kids, my mum decided to sign me up, since I am blind myself, not realizing that I would be the ONLY primary schooler in the group, and without parental supervision. Changed my perspective on disabilities, and the disabled community, forever and gave me a huge confidence boost in independence.

 

Grade 5 - Public School - Some teachers are simply amazing. You can argue with the teacher and sometimes be correct. Some teachers are mature enough to respect that and reward it. Other kids will be jealous and apparently 10 year olds are not too young to accuse you of sleeping with the teacher to win dux of the year, even if you are too young to understand what they're insinuating. Also, physics. That year, the teacher had us build bridges, boats, and paper chains out of paper, cardboard and glue, to learn concepts about strength and physics. To be honest, I'm not certain how much we truly learned about physics from those activities, but they piqued a strong interest in physics so they achieved something. I will always remember him breaking one of the bridges in half because it just. would. not. break.  after taking twice as much weight as most of the others, to see if there was metal hidden in it or something. 

 

Grade 6 - Private School - Parents will ignore the fact you had the best year of school ever because they decided they weren't happy with yet another aspect of another school. Holocaust stories should never be told in great detail to children and will scar them for life. It's ok for teachers to scream at children on a regular basis. On a brighter note, the library is a wonderful place and librarians are wonderful people. Also, I can write an entire chapter book by myself, huge confidence boost. 

 

Grade 7 - Private, then public - Even teachers can do bad, even illegal, things. School is not necessarily a safe place, but taking legal action against a school is very difficult, especially when other teachers decide to protect their own instead of the student. The public school we moved to the very next day, as a transition until we could organize homeschooling paperwork, made me realize my country schools were nothing compared to the bullying in city schools, and the teachers choose to be ignorant of the very real danger some students are placed in. Never laugh in the face of the 10th grade boy threatening to rape you, even if the fact he is shorter than you is hilarious and laughing is a strange subconscious urge you get when you're frightened.  Honestly, between the teachers actions and the city school I remember nothing educational from that year, except that I would never put my children in a place where I did not know, let alone trust, the people caring for them for 6-8 hours a day. 

 

Grade 8 - Homeschool - Women can have mental breakdowns when they hit menopause, and parents can both act in your best interest, and against it, at the same time. Time management is great and means you can do nothing all day if you get your work done early. I hate chemistry. However, real math is fascinating, and history is actually pretty cool once you stop learning about Australian settlement and the gold rush year after year after year. Also, blind people shouldn't sew. 

 

[blondeviolin]

Grade 1 - Nobody really takes kindly to you helping the teacher because you already know everything he teaches. Especially if you're the new kid. And you're the only white kid in your class.

 

Grade 2 - Most people don't think "a mom" is a good enough answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Also, gifted testing is fun. Lots of fun.

 

Grade 3 - Don't let your sister put your pet bird's food in a bacon bits box. I went through something like four or five birds before I figured that out. Also, people have mannerisms and body language that are identifying, even if you're wearing a mask. And how to spell the word "tongue."

 

Grade 4 - I really, really like math. And I'm pretty dang good at it! Also, I can't breathe like other people. Medical tests prove it. And lastly, sometimes it's okay to be sick because that means you can lay on the couch and read as much as you want.

 

Grade 5 - Not everyone likes history as much as I do. Fractions all of a sudden turned normal people into weirdos. And how to organize my notes and assignments in a binder rather than just shoving it all in a backpack.

 

Grade 6 - Girls are mean. Especially if you don't wear bra yet and everyone else does. Also, I don't dance very well. And "dances" at this age are ridiculous.

 

Grade 7 - How to change into PE clothes really quickly. How to work a combination lock. And I still am really good at math and joined an algebra club. Yes, I'm a nerd.

 

Grade 8 - I actually am pretty good at this violin thing too. Popular people are still really snarky and mean. Carrying around a sack of flour dressed as a baby is a stupid sex ed thing. The first time we used scales and weighed stuff in science. We had one lab all around skittles that I really enjoyed.

[Joyofsixreboot]

How to hide the book you really want to read inside what you're supposed to be reading.

[TeacherZee]

Grade 1: Reading and writing is fun. Learning is more fun when the texts are funny. Bad things happen. Fiction is fiction. Facts are facts. But sometimes pretending that fiction is fact is fun

 

Grade 2: If everyone wears purple moon boots you run the risk of going to lunch with two left boots. Sometimes grown ups make stupid decisions

 

Grade 3: Boys are cute. Sometimes you don't get what you want. Being responsible has its advantages. 

 

Grade 4: Older kids make stupid choices that sometimes benefit you. Migraines suck. (Mostly this year was a MESS of hormones)

 

Grade 5: Being a girl sucks. Moving sucks. The countryside sucks. Librarians and libraries however, are awesome.

 

Grade 6: More suckage. But my teacher rocks. Also reading is great.

 

Grade 7: History is great. Everyone sucks. English teacher sucks most of all. Or maybe my parents. But no, my English teacher. 

 

Grade 8: English teacher sucks even more. But I have friends. Being good stops giving you advantages, apparently being bad now gets you out of class while being good means you have to do more work. But I continue being good. 

 

 

[3 ladybugs]

1st grade - After being an above average K student I was put into a combination class of 1 and 2 graders. We then moved halfway through the year and I learned that I couldn't read (they put me in remedial reading, even though I could). Thus extinguishing any love of reading I had.

 

2nd grade- My teacher got in a horrific accident in front of the school. She was not wearing her seatbelt and spent 3 months recovering before returning to work. I learned therefore to always wear a seatbelt.

 

3rd grade- I am pretty sure this is when they thought my penmanship was so awful that the only way to fix it would be to change my pencil grip. Thus making my penmanship worse. Something that has taken me YEARS to fix. Yeah this wasn't a great school.

 

4th grade - I moved in this grade as my parents got a divorce. I don't remember much other then that.

 

5th grade- I moved again (back to the same school district as before) to live with my dad and step mom. I learned how to bind books this year.

 

6th grade - My step mom had my sister, life at home got bad, as my step mother turned into a character from a Disney film. At school, my teacher didn't have us write our names, just a number of where we fit on his grade book. My last name started with a "b" so I was number 3. I also got a math teacher that I would have for 2 years who was a diabetic. I was also hit by a car on my way to school, by a hit and run driver. I was fine, my bike was a bit messed up. Never got the guy despite me having the forethought to get his license plate number. I learned that the police sometimes doesn't tell the truth.

 

7th grade - Said math teacher had a diabetic emergency in class. Took a while for us to get help (she thought she was fine) so I learned what that looked like. I also had a teacher for a few classes that was an exchange teacher from Oz. He spent about 15 minutes trying to say "aluminum" to us before we understood what he was saying. I learned that not everyone speaks the same English.

 

8th grade - Teachers strike. I learned about unions. We Didn't Start The Fire taught me about history. First memory of reading "high fruitose corn syrup" on a label. Figured out a computer program for a teacher who couldn't be bothered. Taught the other kids in my class. Was finally getting attention that I might be bright. It only took 6 years for this school system to see it. Also had my only classes in German as high school kids came and taught us badly.

[ChocolateMomster]

Grade 1: This was the year I had to wait for the other students to learn to read. I picked up fast, but had to wait, and wait, and wait for the others to get the phonics rules as well.

 

Grade 2: That if you pee your pants in the classroom, because you're scared to bits to go and swim with the whole classroom, they won't forget that for the whole schoolyear.

 

grade 3: Again, waiting for the others to learn multiplication. The only thing I remember from this year is the multiplication tables, again and again. And I learned that a male teacher kissing you on the lips is a big No No! I told my Mom and she rang the school...it was bad!

 

Grade 4: I don't remember anything from this year...not sure why.

 

Grade 5: I'm not a musician in any kind of way. This was the year I was first forced to play music in front of a whole classroom. Sigh...Why do they do that kind of stuff? We did have a very fun unit study on WWII.

 

Grade 6: One whole year of preparing for the big end of year test. BORING! Grammar panic...I was a young student and the class moved to fast. I cried a lot because I just couldn't understand it, but by this time it had more to do with the anxiety of it than not really understanding the material. Today, I still dislike grammar.

 

This is where Elementary school ends in The Netherlands.

[OneStepAtATime]

What did I learn in elementary? That bouncing from state to state every single year I realized I was good at making new friends but math got reeeaaally confusing from the lack of consistency. I learned that even if you do nothing wrong sometimes you get punished by association. I learned that Glen Campbel (the singer) had a younger cousin that came to our school and sang and played guitar and was really nice to me which made me realize being nice to strangers can make a big positive impact on that stranger's day. I learned that I really hated bright red messy monkey stickers on all my papers instead of better instruction in how I should write said paper. I learned that Mom cared deeply but really had no clue what was happening at school.

 

Middle school...I learned that some people genuinely believed (including my PE locker mate) that I was going to hell because I wasn't the same kind of Christian they were (public school, not a private school by the way) and it devastated them. On the flip side of that coin, I learned that there are many religions and view points in the world and we are truly a diverse species, full of all kinds of different ideas (which was a really cool discovery for me). I also learned there were girl gangs and that some leaders make bad choices because they are scared. I also learned that sometimes kids use illegal drugs. I also learned that some teachers really don't care at all whether you learn anything and honestly hate their job.

 

I didn't learn typing until High School but I agree with upthread, what a useful skill!

[lllll]

nm

[Critterfixer]

I learned that the vast majority of children were really mean monsters. Sad, but pretty much sums it up. :laugh:

I can laugh now.

[happypamama]

I'm sad to read that so many people here had similar experiences to mine: mean kids, mean teachers who didn't get high achievers, and stupid school policies. Seems like so many of our elementary years were wasted. So glad we have the options to remove our own children from those situations to do better for them!

[shawthorne44]

Grade 1 - middle of 3rd, I learned a great deal. Except  for fractions, long division and the dictionary pronunciation guide I learned everything my next school would require by the end of 6th grade.  

 

Grade 3:  I learned that adults are sometimes WRONG.  Even adults in authority.   Early 3rd I learned the Minnesota version of the Civil War.   Late 3rd, in Texas, they taught the Civil War again.  I was a good student and I'd learned everything they'd taught in Minnesota.  I thought I knew the answers.  Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.  Not!   The answers are completely different.  The years were the same, also the battles and leaders.  But assigned motivations, good/bad.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA    Learning to doubt adults at an early age was an extremely helpful skill.  

 

Mid 3rd to 6th - I learned fractions by listening in to the advanced class.  Dad taught me long division because he was shocked the school hadn't taught it yet.   I learned how to be bored bored bored.  I learned that if when bored I either talked to my neighbors or read, teachers would let me read.  WoooHooo

[Critterfixer]

 

I'm sad to read that so many people here had similar experiences to mine: mean kids, mean teachers who didn't get high achievers, and stupid schoo, policies. Seems like so many of our elementary years were wasted. So glad we have the options to re,one our own children from those situations to do better for them! 

 

 

I wouldn't call it wasted. One thing about spending a great deal of my school years alone was that I learned the depths of my own imagination, I learned how to find solace and refuge in books and in learning, and I learned that I would go to great lengths to NOT be a mean kid. I had just enough kind friends to show me the value of kindness, gentleness and capacity for understanding. Of course, that's looking back.

[Dmmetler]

K-2- how to type, how to navigate the slippery wood floors without falling down or hugging thr wall, that the library is an awesome place to hang out (between having cerebral palsy and testing at a 6th grade level on entering K, I spent a lot of K-2 in the library while the teachers taught the class.

 

3rd grade-that a teacher who thinks an IEP is a suggestion that she can ignore and bullies you about your speech, your (lack of) handwriting, and the way you walk can push you into a nervous breakdown and mess you up socially for the rest of your school career.

 

4th grade-that even when you know all the content going in, rebuilding after a breakdown is hard, but it's better when you have a no-nonsense teacher who won't let the kids get away with teasing under her watch and lets you hide out in the classroom or library or by reading with the kindergartners.

 

5th/6th grade. That my GT teacher curses when she gets flustered in traffic (I was "bussed" to three schools for GT that year, which meant a lot of time in the GT specialist's car). We built a dulcimer, made puppets and wrote puppet shows, wrote and produced a radio play of "Mrs. Frisky and the Rats of NIMH" which got played on the college radio station, and a lot of cool stuff. More importantly, I met the kids who were my classmates in the magnet program at the high school before a lot of them heard the stories about how crazy I was, which probably made high school much more bearable)

 

7th-12th-magnet math/science program. I was the token fine arts person, but at least I was their geek. The rest of the school was a minefield, but I was pretty safe in the clssses. By 10th grade, I started taking classes at the college, which was a breath of fresh air, because the social stuff was so much easier.

 

Overall, level of instruction was pretty high-it was a multi-college town, so a lot of highly educated parents demanding it, and except for that 3rd grade teacher (and an art teacher in 7th grade who had a flashback and started yelling about the Nazis in class. She was a concentration camp survivor), the teachers were nice, caring, knoweldgeable people.

[gingersmom]

I learned my second grade teacher was pure evil.

 

I learned about bullies.

 

I learned be careful on slide because when you fall off top you will get a concussion, land in hospital and be banned from slide for the rest of the year.

 

I learned Brownies was not much fun.

 

I learned I despise wearing a uniform to school.

 

I learned taking the school bus is better than being a walker.

[happypamama]

I wouldn't call it wasted. One thing about spending a great deal of my school years alone was that I learned the depths of my own imagination, I learned how to find solace and refuge in books and in learning, and I learned that I would go to great lengths to NOT be a mean kid. I had just enough kind friends to show me the value of kindness, gentleness and capacity for understanding. Of course, that's looking back.

Oh, sure. But academically? Pretty much a waste. I learned all of those things too, but I think I could have learned them better without all the negative aspects, and maybe I would have learned not to hate certain subjects.

 

Oh, I forgot this one. What I really learned in school was how to play the game of academics, how to do just enough for an A because there was no point in putting in more effort when I was already at the top. I suspect a lot of academic high achievers learned that game. Why push to learn more when you don't need to know it all; you just have to know a little more than everyone else. If the teacher gave a test, and most kids scored in the 80s, they got mad at me if I got 95 and ruined their curve. That's a terrible lesson for kids to learn -- don't bother doing your best because it'll just make you stick out and look weird (well, weirder than I already was, given that I was also very short, totally unathletic, didn't have the popular clothes, and had a decent set of manners so that teachers generally liked me; the other students' perceptions that I messed up their grades only added fuel to the fire). I distinctly remember after one French test (French 3, so tenth grade), another student complaining that, "Of course Happypamama got an A -- she STUDIED!" Well, duh, and by that point I was used to it and was just counting the days until graduation, but that sort of thing happened throughout elementary school too.

 

Also, tween girls are MEAN. And relentless. I can wax eloquently about how I homeschool for academic, religious, family reasons, all of that, and the reality is that avoiding mean girl bullying is really high on the list for my daughter.

[blondeviolin]

Oh, sure. But academically? Pretty much a waste. I learned all of those things too, but I think I could have learned them better without all the negative aspects, and maybe I would have learned not to hate certain subjects.

 

Oh, I forgot this one. What I really learned in school was how to play the game of academics, how to do just enough for an A because there was no point in putting in more effort when I was already at the top. I suspect a lot of academic high achievers learned that game. Why push to learn more when you don't need to know it all; you just have to know a little more than everyone else. If the teacher gave a test, and most kids scored in the 80s, they got mad at me if I got 95 and ruined their curve. That's a terrible lesson for kids to learn -- don't bother doing your best because it'll just make you stick out and look weird (well, weirder than I already was, given that I was also very short, totally unathletic, didn't have the popular clothes, and had a decent set of manners so that teachers generally liked me; the other students' perceptions that I messed up their grades only added fuel to the fire). I distinctly remember after one French test (French 3, so tenth grade), another student complaining that, "Of course Happypamama got an A -- she STUDIED!" Well, duh, and by that point I was used to it and was just counting the days until graduation, but that sort of thing happened throughout elementary school too.

 

Also, tween girls are MEAN. And relentless. I can wax eloquently about how I homeschool for academic, religious, family reasons, all of that, and the reality is that avoiding mean girl bullying is really high on the list for my daughter.

Yes to all of this! Our society as a whole doesn't do good things for/to those who are top achievers. Even as an adult I get flak for knowing academic things or connecting patterns others may not. "Latin? Why would your daughter need to know LATIN? You are just an over-achiever."

 

Also, yes, I'd like to avoid sticking my daughter in school with a bunch of tween girls. Their level of drama and snark is unneccesary and potentially damaging when left unsupervised.

[Critterfixer]

 

 

Oh, sure. But academically? Pretty much a waste. I learned all of those things too, but I think I could have learned them better without all the negative aspects, and maybe I would have learned not to hate certain subjects. 

:iagree: I don't want my boys to have my experience, either. 

 

[Junie]

Kindergarten --  I learned that I like school.

 

First Grade --  I learned that sometimes kids are bald.

 

Second Grade -- I learned that when someone tells you to make a certain sign to a deaf student on the playground, be prepared to be chased.

 

Third Grade -- I learned that I don't like being the good kid who always has to sit next to the bad kids.

 

Fourth Grade -- I learned the word "regurgitate".  My English teacher was big on manners.  If you were sick in class, you were expected to raise your hand and ask permission to go to the lavatory to regurgitate.  

 

Fifth Grade -- I learned that if you want the kids that you sit with to be nice to you, you can give them the candy that you earn doing extra credit and have friends.

 

Sixth Grade -- I learned that some girls are mean.

 

Seventh Grade -- I learned that school can still be fun.

 

Eighth Grade -- I learned that when a younger sister is placed in a more advanced class that it is extremely demoralizing and it may take decades to overcome.

[Bluegoat]

Ugh.  Not much.  I learned to tune school out almost entirely when I was in elementary school.  I spend grade 6 reading the encyclopedia when I was supposed to be working, I just ignored the teacher.

 

K - School sucks.

K- again - not a bad year in a class with 10 kids for half days.  I learned that if you strip the red part off a basket-ball, you can blow it up really big. 

1 - It's just better not to put a specific boy name on your Valentine at school, even if the teacher thinks its cute.

2 - Life sucks when not everyone is in on the social contract yet.  Naming your child after food is a bad idea.  Class and race issues are weird.

3 - Discovered nostalgia.

4 - More is expected of you in senior elementary.  "Holy cow" might be offensive to some.  Don't enter contests before you know what the prize will be.  Some girls are mean and it can be fun to be mean with them, but it makes you a *&^%.

5 - Some teachers are actually quite stupid and crass.

6 - Sitting in class all day with no real work is dead boring.  Other girls are awful.  Menstruation is pretty sucky.

 

 

 

 

[RKWAcademy]

Um...not much.  My first grade teacher taught me to draw a dog.  I think we played the recorder in there somewhere.  I learned I'm a lousy speller when it was my turn to write "snack" on the board and I wrote "snake".  I threw up a lot in elementary school.  A LOT.  I learned that sometimes in 2nd grade you throw up on a boy and then that boy later becomes the quarterback of the football team and he won't like you.  I learned TX history in 6th grade.  I learned that a 6th grader can take band for a full year and never once hit a proper note on a french horn.  I learned algebra in 7th or 8th.  That's about it.  Oh, and when it is time to dissect animals in science, if a girl is paired with a boy, the boy will take over and the science-loving girl will get shafted, possibly scarring her for life.

[Katy]

nm

[AmandaVT]

K - I learned that a spray bottle filled with water and set to a gentle spray while calling it "fairy spray" works like magic to settle down a room full of Kindergarteners when you spray it in the air. 

 

1st - I learned that even "big kid" 1st graders love having their teacher read A Wind in the Willows to them while they rested their heads for a half hour mid afternoon. 

 

2nd - I learned that it's never to early to learn long division

 

3rd - I learned that cursive is hard and that multiplication is just backwards division (see 2nd grade)

 

4rd - I learned that growing a backyard full of 12 ft tall pot plants gets you fired when you're a teacher and having a year of long term subs makes for a varied year.

 

5th - I learned that having very curly hair and being assigned the Greek goddess Aphrodite for your research project leads to formerly kind classmates to unkindly call you Afrohead for the remainder of the school year. 

 

6th - I learned how to ask to go to the bathroom in Latin

 

7th - I learned that studying was way less cool than trying to impress the cool 8th grade boy I had a crush on. A crush that quickly ended after we ended up in after school detention together (my one foray to the dark side in school)

 

8th - I learned that teachers who thought giving us LSAT practice tests during class helps you get better SAT scores a couple of years down the road when it's time for the SATs. 

[bluemongoose]

PS for all my schooling;

 

Kindergarten: Painting on an easel was fun! That I didnt like the boy who kicked my metal muppets lunchbox across the pavement and scratched it all up. That all the letters of the alphabet were people.

 

*moved*

 

1st: School is boring when you can read well and there is less art. Falling in a mud puddle is social suicide. 

 

2nd part a: Schools get paid for shipping you to school in a huge snow storm just long enough to take roll and then send you right back home again for a snow day. That you will get in trouble for kicking a boy that wont stop trying to kiss you and being nice to the boy with warts on his hands is also social suicide. 

 

*moved*

 

2nd part b: That not all 2nd grade classrooms are learning the same things and now I am lost in math. That if you hide a chapter book in a school reader because the school reader is too easy and boring you will be in trouble.

 

3rd: When you have two teachers that alternate, one is often fun and the other mean. That I am terrible at spelling and could use some help (there were no spelling/grammar lessons....it was an educational experiment). That I do better at math if I am allowed out of my seat and the ability to talk it out out loud. That being out of your seat and talking to yourself is not allowed and is social suicide. That I will not be doing well at math either.

 

*moved*

 

4th: That I LOVE music and being able to play in band! That I wish that I had a different name because the naughty boys name is only one letter off from mine and I sometimes get a bad grade because our papers get confused. That the sore on my tummy was not a sore...it was the beginning of chicken pox and the hydrogen peroxide didnt do anything for it. That I would rather read alone from history or nature books than do any kind of school. That I love to write stories but I dont like to share them because I am teased for my lack of spelling and grammar abilities. That I am poor.

 

5th: Birds and the bees! EWWW Gross! People do that on purpose! That my math ability is declining due to the new math program. That I cannot turn in an assignment late even when I did it ahead of time and the teacher wouldnt take it early and I forgot it on the due date. That not being able to pretend that I am interested in boys (at that time) and making friendship bracelets and slumber parties (because I wasnt allowed to go to them) is social suicide.

 

6th: That the PE teacher is a pervert. That bringing a bible to read to yourself at recess gets you landed in the principles office. That making a ziggarat out of sugar cubes and having a toga party is a blast and history is awesome! That outdoor school is super fun and I wish my parents let me do more fun stuff.

 

7th: I am completely lost in math and nobody will help. Never have an anonymous question box in health class unless the teacher will only answer appropriate questions...not enough brain bleach! That being a part of marching band is fun!

 

*moved*

 

8th: Not "looking like an adult" yet is social suicide. The kids in my class know nothing about states and capitals, geography or history. That math and writing are still a trainwreck and nobody seems to care. That I wish you could take both band and art, instead of having to choose. That I have no ability to keep any friends because I am allowed to do nothing outside of school and that is also social suicide.  That having a train track outside of the schoolyard is dangerous, especially if you have to cross it to get to the bus. That dogs and police officers will be regularly checking lockers for drugs and weapons.

[abba12]

Oh, I forgot this one. What I really learned in school was how to play the game of academics, how to do just enough for an A because there was no point in putting in more effort when I was already at the top. I suspect a lot of academic high achievers learned that game. Why push to learn more when you don't need to know it all; you just have to know a little more than everyone else. If the teacher gave a test, and most kids scored in the 80s, they got mad at me if I got 95 and ruined their curve. That's a terrible lesson for kids to learn -- don't bother doing your best because it'll just make you stick out and look weird (well, weirder than I already was, given that I was also very short, totally unathletic, didn't have the popular clothes, and had a decent set of manners so that teachers generally liked me; the other students' perceptions that I messed up their grades only added fuel to the fire). I distinctly remember after one French test (French 3, so tenth grade), another student complaining that, "Of course Happypamama got an A -- she STUDIED!" Well, duh, and by that point I was used to it and was just counting the days until graduation, but that sort of thing happened throughout elementary school too.

 

Yup. I decided being smart was boring in about 5th grade, so I just... stopped. Stopped caring, stopped trying, stopped investing any time or effort whatsoever, stopped letting myself be interested in what I read/learned because I knew what I got would never satisfy me and I'd end up with lots more questions than answers. Went from straight As to a B average even with no effort at all until 10th grade, then ended up dropping out of high school because I'd discovered I had been lied to all my life and was actually 'bad' at math (by which I mean, I could no longer pass with no study, and by doing homework at the last minute, and the lessons themselves were taking more than 15 minutes to complete, I mean, seriously, who spends 20 minutes on a math lesson :laugh:  so I usually skim read half the lesson to get it down to my normal time. Yep, definitely proof I was terrible at math. Not helped by a mentally ill mother who decided I was probably right and agreed I should drop out because it would save her the hassle of having to help me in any way)

 

Being smart sucks. But, like you, as much as I can talk about academic reasons for keeping my kids home to make sure they never lose their love of learning like I did, and religious reasons that I believe homeschooling is the right answer, in actual fact, hands down, the number one reason is to avoid bullying children, mean girls, and bullying teachers. 

[EmseB]

K - (private) I loved school.  I loved Montessori (whatever that meant).  I loved my teachers.  My teachers loved me. I learned that I could lie and people would believe me.  I learned to be mean to another kid.  I learned I did not like being picked up and carried around by a boy who had a crush on me.

 

1st - (private) I learned the pledge of allegiance.  I still loved my teacher.  I still loved school.

 

2nd - (private) I learned that some teachers were not nice.  I learned that getting car sick on a field trip is not desirable.  I learned multiplication.

 

3rd - (private) I learned what it felt like to be embarrassed by the teacher in front of the whole class.  I realized most of the kids I went to school with were wealthy and I was not.  I learned the word "demolished" when we went on a field trip and a tire on the car we were in got shredded up.

 

4th - (public) I learned that in a class of 30 kids, it was very hard to keep track of what any one kid was doing.  I learned that other kids could "hate" me just because I was new.  I learned I didn't like to sit on the bars with the popular girls at recess and talk about who liked each other, so I went with the pariahs to actually play at recess.

 

5th - (public) I learned that if I did my homework, I got the same grade as someone who did theirs but didn't get any answers right.  I learned how to not do homework.

 

6th - (public) I learned how to forge my dad's signature on every zero slip I was given so my parents didn't know I was not doing work and my teachers thought my parents were deadbeats who didn't care.  I learned how to do work hastily in the mornings before class to get the same grade as someone else who actually studied.  I learned how to not do any work for most of the quarter and then turn things in at the end, ace tests and still get an A or B for the semester.  I learned that my teachers thought I was dumb and didn't recognize lazy.

 

7th - I learned I liked history.  I learned that I hated boys who made fun of me during class in such subtle ways that the teacher didn't notice.  I learned that in the "real world" I'd have to learn how to take it when boys did these kinds of things.

 

8th - I learned that some math teachers didn't know how to do basic math.  I learned that the popular girls were just mean and exclusive and I didn't really enjoy their company anyway.  I learned how to have good friends.  I learned how to write a paper that was ideologically aligned with what my teacher thought but that I didn't believe a word of in order to get an A.

 

 

ETA: this list gets gradually more depressing, but it was actually kind of a fun thought exercise!

[Prairie~Phlox]

That I'd never want to have to repeat it again. Honestly, I don't remenber what I learned. Seemed like a waste of time. I learned more on the farm until I got in upper years & went to college.

[Gentlemommy]

K-private school

I only remember crying for months every morning when my mom left me.

First-private school

Don't remember much.

 

Moved states, switched to public school

 

Second-I loved my teacher, school was fun and great

Third grade-That if you bring in a clay project you had worked really hard on, intending to gift it to your teacher, she may get mad that it's on your desk and walk by and squish it up and throw it away. That some kids got paddled every single day. It's best to just shut up and sit still. School started to suck, and I began just learning by reading.

Fourth grade-How to cheat on a test on the states and capitols. Much of my learning was reading books and getting lost in fictional worlds.

Fifth grade-Some teachers shouldn't be teaching. How to hide a book inside a school book. That the library was awesome. Again, books.

Sixth grade-Various pornographic terms. Apparently I was extraordinarily sheltered as I had no clue what any of that meant. Being smart makes you a dork, and being a dork means it's ok for others to ridicule you. How to change really fast in gym class.

Seventh grade-That I could get out of class several times a week if I lied and said my dad was an alcoholic. We went to 'counseling' which was a group of kids basically talking and playing games. How to do homework in five minutes before the bell.

Eighth grade-That girls can be really mean. How to make a letter code so we could pass notes in class and no one could decipher them. How to skip class and not get caught. Decided school was for the birds and put all my energy into dance class.

 

High school was spent trying to get in and out without getting noticed. I wasn't preppy, or a druggie, or a cheerleader. I escaped more and more with books and dance class. Girls would try to fight you because...? I don't even know. Not doing what the popular girls said to do was social suicide. History sucks. It's never cool to like a teacher. If you are a teacher's assistant and get to collect roll call from other classrooms, you can sneak into an empty portable and make out. That everyone but you is having sex.

[TrixieB]

K - that when you have brain surgery (a kid in my class did), they shave your head and there is a scar

 

1 - some people think that different skin color means something, and they threaten to beat you up because you are friends with someone whose skin color is not the same as yours.  Also there are dirty pictures in magazines and the big boys think it's funny to get you alone on your way home and show you the pictures.

 

2 - it is much more interesting to read The Long Winter than to pay attention to what is going on in class

 

3 - some teachers are really mean and perfectionistic, and they use lots of red pen to correct your best cursive handwriting when it is not totally perfect.

 

4 - some teachers let you work at your own pace so you can get more free time if you finish early, and you can be a library helper too

 

5 - some teachers have interesting stories to tell about real historical events that they experienced (WWII Japanese internment camps)

 

6 - if you tell your mom you are sick enough days, finally she will drag you to the doctor who pronounces you fit to go to school.  Then you learn how to skip school because you hate it so much.  Unfortunately this also entails getting caught.

 

7 - there are rich people, whose kids get really nice vacations, like ski trips to Europe during spring break

 

8 - if you take Benadryl for allergies, you feel sleepy all day at school and it's hard to pay attention to class

[Wabi Sabi]

Kindergarten- When everyone's winter coats are stored together in one large cubby, it shouldn't be a surprise when the whole class gets lice. 

First- When your teacher lets you choose your own bonus words for each week's spelling test, you'll get lots of positive attention for learning how to quickly rattle off the spellings to words like "mononucleosis" and "catastrophe." However, if you choose the name of another little girl in your class who you really want to be your friend, don't expect her to be impressed or want to be your friend just because you can spell her first and last name. She might just think you're weird. 

Second- If you still are trying to find just one person to call your friend, set your sights on the new girl. She doesn't know anyone else and will welcome your friendly overtures, especially if you decide to take notice of her hobbies and interests and make them YOUR new hobbies and interests too. 

Third- Boys are cute. Having a best friend is awesome. It's not difficult to fake a bad eye exam so that you can get glasses like your friend. Teachers sometimes leave mid-year for cancer treatments and end up dying, but no one will want to be upfront to the children about what is happening, so you'll be left in the dark wondering what happened to Mrs. Weber. 

Fourth- Moving to a new school is hard, especially when it means leaving behind your only friend. It's not so bad when you get in trouble for not doing homework and refuse to do anything other than want to read for hours a day. Not doing your homework means you have to stay inside and work during recess, which means you don't have to be around the mean girls on the playground, and you can steal more books out of other kids' desks and from the library when you're left alone in the room. (After all, you've already been prohibited from checking out books from the school library because you are always reading instead of completing your work.)

Fifth- Pre-teen year old girls can be cruel, and some people just weren't cut out to play the recorder or flutaphone. 

Sixth- Unlike elementary school, now you are expected to change into your gym uniform before class daily and all the other girls wear bras!!! Also, if CPS shows up at your home to follow up on reports of abuse and you live in a clean, well-decorated house in a nice neighborhood, the caseworker might be so smitten with the house that she doesn't actually do any investigating or asking of questions and would instead prefer to talk to your mother about interior design as though she was there for a social visit. 

Seventh- It is not advisable to raise your hand in class and ask the teacher what the word "horny" means unless you want the entire class and the teacher to laugh at you until tears are running down their faces, and you still have no idea what it means or why it's so funny. 

Eighth- Danielle Steele and VC Andrews books are much more interesting and entertaining than school. 

[Ausmumof3]

Hmm... I spent my primary school years in and out of homeschooling, as my mum wanted us home, but my dad believed the socialization myth. Lets see... I'll label the form of schooling for the majority of the year, though we were generally pulled/placed mid-grade.

 

Grade 1 - Private school - That being good gets you nothing, and being smart gets you bullied. We had a sticker chart, and whoever had all 20 squares filled in got a free ice cream at end of term. Except, naughty kids got stickers for sitting still for 5 minutes, and good kids had to be perfect all day. I was the ONLY child in class who didn't get an ice cream at end of term. I never cared or responded to any form of reward program after that, much to the bewilderment of future teachers

 

Grade 2 - Homeschool - That reading games are awesome and you can spend hours putting letters into words. That there is a wide range of disabilities out there and I 'get' those kids, naturally (my brother was in a special needs playgroup which we tagged along to). And that reader rabbit kindergarten is still fun even when the games are WAY too easy

 

Grade 3 - Public school - Other kids suck at colouring/drawing, and you can win a national competition just by putting in a little effort and being one of the oldest entrants in the category, and then the whole town recognizes you. This does have a negative effect when you vomit on the floor of the classroom because your useless and child-hating teacher wouldn't let you go to the nurse. Children in the next years class will still refuse to step on that patch of carpet.

 

Grade 4 - Homeschool - The Sydney 2000 Paralympics basically sums up this grade. My distance education school took a bunch of kids, my mum decided to sign me up, since I am blind myself, not realizing that I would be the ONLY primary schooler in the group, and without parental supervision. Changed my perspective on disabilities, and the disabled community, forever and gave me a huge confidence boost in independence.

 

Grade 5 - Public School - Some teachers are simply amazing. You can argue with the teacher and sometimes be correct. Some teachers are mature enough to respect that and reward it. Other kids will be jealous and apparently 10 year olds are not too young to accuse you of sleeping with the teacher to win dux of the year, even if you are too young to understand what they're insinuating. Also, physics. That year, the teacher had us build bridges, boats, and paper chains out of paper, cardboard and glue, to learn concepts about strength and physics. To be honest, I'm not certain how much we truly learned about physics from those activities, but they piqued a strong interest in physics so they achieved something. I will always remember him breaking one of the bridges in half because it just. would. not. break. after taking twice as much weight as most of the others, to see if there was metal hidden in it or something.

 

Grade 6 - Private School - Parents will ignore the fact you had the best year of school ever because they decided they weren't happy with yet another aspect of another school. Holocaust stories should never be told in great detail to children and will scar them for life. It's ok for teachers to scream at children on a regular basis. On a brighter note, the library is a wonderful place and librarians are wonderful people. Also, I can write an entire chapter book by myself, huge confidence boost.

 

Grade 7 - Private, then public - Even teachers can do bad, even illegal, things. School is not necessarily a safe place, but taking legal action against a school is very difficult, especially when other teachers decide to protect their own instead of the student. The public school we moved to the very next day, as a transition until we could organize homeschooling paperwork, made me realize my country schools were nothing compared to the bullying in city schools, and the teachers choose to be ignorant of the very real danger some students are placed in. Never laugh in the face of the 10th grade boy threatening to rape you, even if the fact he is shorter than you is hilarious and laughing is a strange subconscious urge you get when you're frightened. Honestly, between the teachers actions and the city school I remember nothing educational from that year, except that I would never put my children in a place where I did not know, let alone trust, the people caring for them for 6-8 hours a day.

 

Grade 8 - Homeschool - Women can have mental breakdowns when they hit menopause, and parents can both act in your best interest, and against it, at the same time. Time management is great and means you can do nothing all day if you get your work done early. I hate chemistry. However, real math is fascinating, and history is actually pretty cool once you stop learning about Australian settlement and the gold rush year after year after year. Also, blind people shouldn't sew.

Oh yeah the everlasting goldrush! It must have gone on for about a millennia at least, going by the number of history classes...

[Ausmumof3]

K. That school is fun. Having someone print your story into a book is awesome.

1. That if you get kicked and tell the teacher the boys mum will be so mortified she will make him apologise and give you a teddy bear, which is embarrassing. That if you are Christian but not the right type your best friend might get moved to a different school.

2. How to do the death drop from the bar.

3: that some kids are cool and others aren't. That nobody changes groups except the kid who got hit by a car and broke his arm. That the cool kids audition for tv and go to Disney. Twins can look totally different. You can correct the teachers spelling. Times tables have patterns so you don't have to learn them all. That the principle that buys kids lollies from the canteen might suddenly disappear mid term.

4 moved schools. That you can do the monkey bars in two movements. That blisters hurt. That there is marble season but you missed it. That the naughtiest kid and the best behaved kid in the class sometimes get an early minute together for being honest enough to admit they were talking.

5. Open access schooling is better than school: you can do it quick and read. Phone lessons clash with homeschool outings so you miss out on seeing friends.

6. Homeschooling is better than school. You learn so much more. That apparently your parents cooking is impossible according to the home ec coop teacher.

7/8 algebra is fun. Even homeschooled girls can be mean. That when stuff doesn't work with one group you can find a different one. That some girls are obsessed with boys and flirting.

[happypamama]

I have to add that I learned another Very Important Skill in sixth grade, in Home Ec class: how to make toast in the broiler. How would I ever have been able to prepare three square meals a day for my growing brood without that skill? Way up on the third floor of our middle school, which had been the high school at one point, we had a home ec classroom, which had several mini kitchens (plus a connected room that had sewing machines, where we learned to sew by making needle holes on lined paper). Our teacher was an ancient woman; I think she might have preceded old school, even. Now I wish I had kept my notebook for that class, because my children would love to have seen my carefully written steps for making broiler toast. I also learned that getting As was rather important to me; our teacher had said that neatness mattered in our notebooks, so the night before they were due, I painstakingly copied every single page by hand into a second notebook so it would be super neat. All that work for a nine-week class.

 

I also learned about small town politics. We had the superintendent's daughter and the school board president's niece in our class, and their little group was the popular one. They weren't known for being well behaved. The home ec teacher retired after having our class, but so did an embarrassingly large number of other teachers.

 

I learned that it wasn't acceptable to say that you wanted to be a mom when you grew up, not if you had good grades. I could do math (duh, my dad was the AP calculus teacher; we did math games for fun at home), so I was constantly encouraged to go into science and engineering. Maybe if they hadn't made science so deadly dull to me I might have cared for it a bit more. It was begrudgingly acceptable to say that I wanted to be a teacher, so I learned to say that.

[Pronghorn]

Private schools, except for K.

 

K - I learned that mean teachers sometimes have nervous breakdowns, and then you can get a nice teacher. I learned that you shouldn't take another cracker just because you saw another kid take one. That kid might be breaking the rules. I learned that some kids still take naps.

 

1 - I learned that you cannot just get up and get a drink when thirsty. You have to ask, even if the drinking fountain is right in the room. I learned that if a teacher loses one of your papers that you can successfully refuse to redo it, although the teacher will report this infraction to your mother.

 

2 - I learned that kids can get paddled for minor offenses, so I'd best lie low.

 

3 - I learned that when you hit a teacher, even lightly, lots of people call your parents. And you are supposed to obey teachers from other classes, not just your own teacher. Oh, and play-fighting on the playgroup can be misinterpreted by teachers (and that perhaps you should not hit them when they misinterpret your actions).

 

4 - I learned that some teachers understand.

 

5 - I learned that homework looks more overwhelming than it is.

 

6 - I learned that when the school catches fire there is a lot of water damage, but if you all work to clean it up, things will go back to normal.

 

7 - I learned that life as I knew it could change almost totally in an instant, leaving me shell-shocked. I tried to learn to be invisible. I learned that pretending my life was a movie instead of my life helped me feel better.

 

8 - I learned that being part of a group provides some protection, but the other kids in the group are not necessarily your friends outside the group setting.

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

I'm way to old to remember what life lessons I learned in those grades but a few stick out.

 

- I learned that simply being poor is a good reason for other kids to bully you.

 

- On the lighter side I learned that if you forge your mother's signature on a note that says, " Yes Mr. 6th grade teacher, you may give one of your cat's kittens to my daughter" and then tell your mother you rescued said kitten from some older kids who were kicking it (and threaten convince your little brother never to speak a word of the truth) , both teacher and mother will eventually find out they've been fooled. (Who knew he'd ask about the kitten at a parent teacher conference?) Fortunately for you and the cat, you have an animal loving mother who by then will already have fallen in love with it and you will get to keep it. :D

[trulycrabby]

Now that I really think about it, not a whole lot. :zombie:

[KungFuPanda]

Hmm... I spent my primary school years in and out of homeschooling, as my mum wanted us home, but my dad believed the socialization myth. Lets see... I'll label the form of schooling for the majority of the year, though we were generally pulled/placed mid-grade.

 

Grade 1 - Private school - That being good gets you nothing, and being smart gets you bullied. We had a sticker chart, and whoever had all 20 squares filled in got a free ice cream at end of term. Except, naughty kids got stickers for sitting still for 5 minutes, and good kids had to be perfect all day. I was the ONLY child in class who didn't get an ice cream at end of term. I never cared or responded to any form of reward program after that, much to the bewilderment of future teachers

 

Grade 2 - Homeschool - That reading games are awesome and you can spend hours putting letters into words. That there is a wide range of disabilities out there and I 'get' those kids, naturally (my brother was in a special needs playgroup which we tagged along to). And that reader rabbit kindergarten is still fun even when the games are WAY too easy

 

Grade 3 - Public school - Other kids suck at colouring/drawing, and you can win a national competition just by putting in a little effort and being one of the oldest entrants in the category, and then the whole town recognizes you. This does have a negative effect when you vomit on the floor of the classroom because your useless and child-hating teacher wouldn't let you go to the nurse. Children in the next years class will still refuse to step on that patch of carpet.

 

.

Sorry for my nosiness. I think I'm reading it wrong. How can a blind child see well enough to color and draw really well, but not good enough to sew? Also, how did the Art competition lead to the negative effect that was throwing up? Methinks I misread something important :-/

[Anne in CA]

In kindergarden I learned that your best friend is your best friend, until they are not.

 

In first grade I learned not to blow my nose on my sleeve.

 

In second grade I learned that if you get sick for a week it is nearly impossible to catch up missed schoolwork.

 

In third grade I learned that teacher's see what they want to see. Also, if you work ahead and finish a workbook, even if you get it all right you will be punished and the work you did will not count. You will not get a new workbook to work along with everyone else, the teacher will just put zero's over your work.

 

In fourth grade I learned that boys can interrupt the teacher and blurt out answers but girls have to be ladylike and they will get in trouble for that. Boys never get in trouble for that, so girls never get to answer questions.

 

In fifth grade I learned to play baseball.

 

In sixth grade I learned not to be rude to the music teacher.

 

In seventh grade I learned nothing at all. Nothing academic and nothing personally. Okay, I learned that people with good parents do not appreciate them.

 

In eighth grade I learned that romance is complicated. My friend Candy liked Ronnie, Ronnie liked Tiffany, Tiffany liked Riley. Oh the tangled web. I learned not to like anyone, lol.

 

In ninth grade  I learned that some teachers have ADD and you can't learn from them.

 

In tenth grade I learned that I would never like my classmates and they would never like me.

 

In eleventh grade I learned how to make friends in a new school.

 

In twelfth grade I learned to smoke dope at lunch to get through school. I learned you can smoke a lot of dope and still get good grades. Probably not a good life lesson, but I never mess with drugs now because I learned how harmless they are when you start, and how it ends up.

 

 

 

 

[EmilyGF]

Kindergarten: don't cry if someone else gets hurt, paste smells funny, and silk worms are really neat and eat the mulberry trees growing in front of school

 

1st: my teacher gave the best hugs ever and only fry your friend's end (I can still see the picture she drew on the board to remind us). I am really good at math and can do well when not hindered.

 

2nd and 3rd: I was really good at math. The best looking science projects kids brought in from home usually worked the worst (and mine usually worked the best but looked awful.) Warm fuzzies are fun. Being in a class with people I really like is great. Reading is great. Math is fun. I'm not good at kickball. I had the best teacher for these grades. She was awesome. Some lifetime friends were in these classes with me. Don't you dare try to cross into the 4th-6th playground during recess.

 

4th: being accelerated in math causes problems for teachers. Making models with your friends is fun. Posters take a lot of time for little learning.

 

5th: I don't bond well with sports-oriented male teachers. I like US history. A lot. My teacher isn't sure what to give me to read. The books he chose didn't make sense.

 

6th: schools don't like people learning too fast. I can hide in the back of the math classroom so the older kids don't notice me. I still like reading. I'm not yet ready for reading the original Les Miserables, but I did it anyways. Luckily, I didn't get it.

 

7th: Still hiding in math, but learned more German in one year than any other time except living abroad. Awesomest foreign language teacher ever. Quit band, but should have dealt with the harassing students instead. Learned to run away from harassment.

 

8th: Love love love US history. (Any history taught well, actually.) Community college classes are fast.

 

I liked school. I loved most of my elementary teachers. Junior high and high school had some amazing teachers and some awful ones. I did learn that schools like everyone to learn at the same slow pace, which is one reason I homeschool.

 

Emily

 

[abba12]

Sorry for my nosiness. I think I'm reading it wrong. How can a blind child see well enough to color and draw really well, but not good enough to sew? Also, how did the Art competition lead to the negative effect that was throwing up? Methinks I misread something important :-/

 

Lol. I'm legally blind, I have some sight but am missing a lot of details, I use a white cane but am able to use the computer with only magnification, not text-to-speech software. So my drawing is terrible, but like I said, no one else cared enough to put any effort in so I was about on par. I could see well enough to colour if I put my head reeeaaaally close to the paper, and, honestly, I think they liked my concept more than my artistic skills (it was supposed to be a poster advertising a sports brand called apples, promoting healthy eating and being active) However, putting your head reeeaaallly close to hand-stitching results in stabbing yourself in the lips, repeatedly. Needle and matching-colour thread is much harder to see than bright markers on white paper. I did eventually learn to machine-sew though. I was being slightly over-dramatic, because that particular incident was VERY dramatic to 13yo me. 

 

As for the vomiting, the art competition didn't cause the vomiting. However, the art competition meant everyone knew who I was, I had been in the local paper, and won some nice sports equipment for a very small country school that hadn't bought sports equipment in a long time, so it was big news. So rather than 'some kid threw up on the floor in that class' it was 'abba12 threw up on the floor in that class'. The whole school, and many people outside school, knew. When I moved school, kids in the new school knew who I was and had friends from the old school, and teased me about it from my first day. Kids knew my younger sister and teased her because of it. It was ridiculous, but, that's how kids are. Because people knew who I was, that incident haunted me until 6th grade. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

It was too much of a blur to recall those kinds of details.