On the surface,
her child is smiling,
but a mother knows,
there’s something hiding.
A child may be sat –
Straight backed, on the mat.
But those focused eyes,
aren’t alive, like a cats.
She sees the tension,
the torment within.
The waning of a flame,
as her child is tamed.
Her child glazes over,
bricks up a wall of cover.
Struggling to fit the mould,
nervous energy expelled.
Energy that used to pulse,
and dance a blaze of gold.
The mother feels the brush of shame, for to
question the system, is considered lame.
When she raises her voice, in protest,
she feels as though, they laugh in jest.
They know not what she sees,
as her child is felled, at the knees.
No room to grow, like an old Kauri tree,
but to stand in line, like a poor forest pine.
© Sarah Lee, 2011
I wrote this poem last term, when Charlotte was particularly unhappy. So many times I’ve considered ‘unschooling’ Charlotte. She is a self-driven learner who flourishes when given space, time and opportunity to be creative.
However, we have a fabulous local school, with amazing teachers and a caring, supportive community. She gains so much from school on the one hand – but a piece of her is lost too. She is frequently off school due to not being ‘A1’. By balancing out her formal schooling with listening to her true inner being, we manage to keep her state of mind fairly happy.
Links
Just adding this link – it’s worth a read: ‘Animal School‘ on the Home Education Foundation website.
Related posts
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January 23, 2015 Prose for Thought | Salty sea kisses
May 15, 2013 Thank you, my daughters, for a perfect Mothers Day x
You sound so in touch with her, and your family lifestyle goes a long way to being in tune too, and yay for being able to take days off to rebalance and reenergise. Unschooling is fun, but yes, there are also benefits to school. *sigh*
I would suggest you look at the many ways to home school – there isnt just unschooling
when I started home schooling both Billy and years before that his sister we were eclectic home schoolers
since the break up with my ex (Daniels dad) we have been using the Correspondence School of New Zealand. Always I have worked where they have been up to. Not necessarily grade level but ability level. The Correspondence school can cater for children whom simply dont fit in (dont like attending their local school). If you decide to go along this path we can discuss this more.
I would also talk to your local home schooling group. If you home schooled she would still get the opportunity to be part of the community. There is no need for her to be isolated especially in Wellington
All the best as usual my dear friend
email me if you want to discuss this further
x0x0x
Wow. As a teacher that is powerful, as a mother it makes me so aware of what I need to look out for, for Monkey. I am not sure he’s going to be suited to regular schooling and I don’t want the loss of him for the sake of conformity…
Great post, thank you for sharing it.
Sounds to me that you are doing your best to strike a balance between home and school – although taking time off gets harder when they are older. Seeing our boy shut down and get depressed was certainly the prompt that pushed us towards exploring homeschooling as an alternative…
You are such a wonderful mumma to be in tune with your gorgeous girls feelings and needs, and to know when is right to take some ‘time out’.
I wish I was brave enough to put my poetry on my blog! Maybe I should?
I agree with Cate it will get harder to have her out of school as she gets older.
Homeschooling is for us a lifestyle, it has pros & cons as does all options. We are now into our 13th year of homeschooling WOW where has that gone? Yes it is at times hard but the benefits have been great for our family. Looking back I would without hesitation home school again.
You know you can call if you need swaying – but warning I am very pro home schooling.
Love Leanne.
Awesome poem, it brought a tear to my eye.
We are about to move to Wellington and I’m looking for a good suburb/school for my daughter (aged 5). It would be great to know what the fabulous local school your daughter is at?
What a gut wrenching poem; you’ve managed to portray the feeling so eloquently…
It sounds as is you are striking the right balance for the moment. There are pros and cons on both sides and you are very lucky that the NZ system allows such flexibility. Here in the UK attendence (being something that can be counted and used as ‘data’ for comparisons between school), is made a great deal of with every pressure being put on the parents, and children, to achieve 100% attendence. Fall below 85% attendence and family holidays etc will not be authorised! I have children who cry and are ‘ill’ simply because they are not happy in the classroom environment and would be so much better off with a few days at home. The real reason behind all this is because the govt wants mothers to be out at work not staying home and nuturing their children. How sad is that!