I'm not a homeschool mom anymore!

Looking back over recent months, I see that I have posted almost exclusively about the ministry, and practically nothing about our day-to-day lives! Of course, our day-to-day lives are largely made up of doing the work of the ministry, but sometimes it's nice to chat about some other part of our lives, right?

So, here's some non-ministry info for you.

In January, Ben did something unprecedented for our family - he started attending school! He is now a student at a local Christian bilingual school. It has been a huge transition from homeschooling, but he's doing really well with it all.

Of course, now you are thinking, "Trish must have a lot of free time on her hands since she isn't homeschooling anymore." And you would be wrong! LOL It is amazing how much effort the parent must put in, to have someone else educate their child! Here's what my weekdays look like these days:

• 5:30 - Get up and pack Ben's lunch
• 5:45 - Get Ben up and make sure he eats, gathers his school materials, and is wearing his school uniform
• 6:15 - Head out the door to drive Ben to his bus stop in Gracias, which is about a half hour drive from here
• 7:00 - Pick up Russell and the members of the work crew who live in town, and return home
• 7:30 - Squeeze in as much housework and office work as possible until 11:00
• 11:00 - Cook lunch for the family and work crew; the number of eaters varies from 7 - 12
• 12:30 - After cooking and eating lunch, I continue with the housework and office work until 3:00
• 3:00 - Head back to Gracias to pick up Ben
• 4:00 - Arrive home with Ben, give him time to change and grab a snack, and start in on homework with Ben
• 5:00ish - throw together something for dinner (don't judge - I cooked at noon)
• 6:00 - return to homework until it is completed, which is usually sometime between 7 and 8
• The rest of the evening is free time - unless I want to shower, clean up the dinner dishes, spend some time with Allen, etc. We go to bed pretty early, since I have to get up and do it all again the next day! 

This new schedule began in early January, and since that time I've been struggling to fit everything in. During that time, I seem to have posted more short anecdotes on my Facebook page, and less here, so, for those of you who aren't on Facebook, here are a few moments from our recent months, as we adjusted to school life:

January 7th: Ben is enjoying (I hope, LOL) his first day at the Abundant Life School (Christian, bilingual, K - 12). It's a big adjustment, but he's excited about it. 

January 8th: So far this morning . . . got up at 5:45. Got Ben up and going, and made him breakfast. I drove him to his bus stop, and then went the rest of the way into Gracias to get diesel in my empty tank! 

Drove home, changed clothes and got my own breakfast. Loaded the washing machine and the dishwasher, fed the animals. 

Now I need to start writing some emails. 

It's 9 o'clock. 

Honestly, being the parent of a classroom student IS more grueling than homeschooling.

January 9th: Today I packed a child a school lunch for the first time. It included:Leftovers from our lunch yesterday (a pork, vegetables, pasta, and meat sauce mixture), to be reheated in the microwave at the school cafeteria, carrot sticks and green pepper slices, a chocolate pudding cup, and a guava. He also took an apple, for snack time. 

Things I forgot? Well, a fork for one, and a napkin (though I doubt Ben will care about not having a napkin, but MY mom always sent one)! I'm pretty sure the cafeteria will let him use a fork. I also meant to send along a buttered roll (we have some left from yesterday, too), but I forgot that, as well. 

So, how'd I do? LOL

Also January 9th: I learned a new word this week: buso.

It is the name for the long athletic pants used in gym class in the schools in Honduras. At least, that's the meaning of the word in Honduras . . . it's not in my Spanish dictionary, so I don't know how widely this word is used.

I'm having trouble using it in a sentence, though.

Somehow, I think my old brain just can't get past the fact that these are PANTS, and you can't wear just one PANT, so how can I say one BUSO while seeing a picture of a PAIR of something in my mind?

But I did it anyway. I went to the store, I asked for a buso, and I bought Ben a buso. On Monday, Ben will wear a buso to school.

This old dog isn't done learning new tricks yet. 

January 11th: I made pumpkin bread for the family. Well, really, I made it to have something for Ben's lunches this week. I also hid the last apple and guava, so I don't have to make a special trip into town to purchase fruit before I have to make Ben's lunch tomorrow morning. 

AND, I made sure all of Ben's uniform pieces are ready for the week. 

Apparently, having a child in school encourages organizational skills and preparedness . . . as well as a certain level of sneakiness, LOL.

January 18th: Fractions. Decimals.Sometimes you just have to sit down and get through it together!

January 26th: This weekend, for a writing assignment, Ben filled a page with how much he loves going to school . . . and the details were mostly about gym class. 

Monday is gym day - instead of his uniform he wears his buso (gym pants) and T-shirt, and sneakers. This morning, however, he put on a pair of sandals (over socks) when he first got dressed, and he forgot to change into his sneakers before leaving the house.
He didn't notice until we were well on our way to Gracias, and we didn't have time to run back home again, or he would miss the bus. But, since the bus stop is near to Russell's house, and because Ben's feet are big enough, he was able to borrow a pair of sneakers from Russell to wear to school today. 

Phew! The school day has been saved! It would have been awful for Ben to miss the VERY BEST PART of school, LOL.

January 31st (a Saturday, by the way): This morning, pretty much simultaneously, we have the following things happening at our home:

- Ben is finishing up his math homework (Allen is helping him with corrections)

- We are making some adjustments and corrections to the final paperwork for the shipment of the Gifts for Gracias container - next week!

- Allen and I are brainstorming ideas for a future blog post/email to send out to update supporters

- Nutmeg the chocolate lab is having puppies in the kitchen (seven so far)

- Boo is charging up the camera to take a video at a feeding center tomorrow

- Boo is also choosing and printing out coloring pages to give to the children at the feeding center

- The washing machine and dishwasher are running (notable because we've not had enough power to run them for most of a week now)

- Russell, the work crew, and visitor Benjamin Dearing (who is staying with us this week) are preparing more land for coffee planting

- We're working out the details for the purchase of a new-to-us, used pickup truck. 

. . . and I think that's all, until I need to change gears and concentrate on cooking lunch for 11 people.

February 18th: Today I put together what Ben declared to be his "dream lunch!" Green pepper slices, an apple, a mandarin orange, a Rice Krispy treat, and a cold cut sub. LOL
Apparently I'm getting good at this.

February 21st: Ben reads well but his spelling is still frequently . . . inventive. Just now I was helping him with a writing assignment. He read a sentence to me, that he had written, then asked me how to correct the spelling of a word. "It's supposed to say 'La Ceiba is a dangerous place, but it still attracts tourists'," he said, "But I think I might have written that it attracts terrorists." LOL

February 26th: What do you think happens when Ben's spelling list for the week includes the words "handsome" and "genius?"  

I'm wondering when we'll get the list with the word "humble." LOL

Also on February 26th: Working on spelling words with Ben went as follows, this evening: 

Me: Spell 'efficiently.'
Ben: Oh, that's a hard one.
Me: You can do it! You spelled it correctly before!
Ben (with a scornful look): Yeah, well I was kidnapped before, too, but it doesn't mean I can do it again on command!

March 2nd: Ben's writing assignment for school this weekend provoked an interesting conversation on a spiritual topic. 

He chose to write about some of our missionary work, and he left a sentence unfinished, so I was asking him what he was trying to communicate, to help him complete the thought. He was basically trying to say that, as missionaries, it is hard to help some people, when they sometimes don't seem to want or deserve any help. 

It was one of those "teachable moments" when I *think* he really was able to grasp the idea, as I explained it to him, that NONE of us deserved what Jesus did for US, and so, as missionaries (and non-missionaries, too, LOL), we can't choose to love and help only those WE judge to be "deserving." 

Then, of course, it was back to spelling and punctuation and grammar. 

March 7th: Ben's school held a "Fiesta Tipica" at the park - here he is in costume with his gringo classmate and friend, Tyler.

Music to my ears . . . er . . . eyes!

I started off with the title "Music to my ears," but then I realized that the event I was planning to relate was not audible. It seemed wrong, then, to call it "music."

Anyway, not long ago we had some guests at our house who were impressed with our large collection of books. They had just arrived, and the whole family was in the room at the time, as we were greeting them. One guest stated, "You sure do have a lot of books here - who's the bookworm?"

In response, every child in the room raised their hand.

Yes, I'm extremely pleased about my tribe of self-described bookworms! It was a major goal of mine, when I started homeschooling, that my kids would learn to read proficiently, and that they would love to read.

Checking off that box now. LOL.

It's a Rock!

We have lots of rocks on our property. Here's one I found, while walking in the woods. I thought it looked interesting, so I toted it home, and today Allen cut it open for us, so the kids and I could see the inside.








Cool, huh?

Homeschooling in the Wilds

Occasionally the younger kids and I decide to pack up the school books and a picnic lunch and spend the day homeschooling out in the woods, on the property where we are building our new house and other buildings. Friday was one of these days.

We've had cool, rainy days where we sat most of the day doing school in the back of the Land Cruiser, only spending a bit of time out of doors (although we did build a fire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows that time), and we've had days which were too hot, and we kept having to move to stay in the shade. On those too-hot days, we're kind of glad to get back home again!

Friday was just about perfect, however. It was mostly cloudy, and not too hot or cool. We took along one of our tents (an easy-to-set-up tent, since my work crew consisted of only Boo and David), and we were glad to have it, as the gnats were bad, and we were able to find some relief from them in the tent.

We wanted to set up the tent in a large level clearing where we will be doing our vegetable gardening in the future - only we couldn't find the clearing! Our property is very large and rough - it's easy to get lost in the woods. Eventually we gave up, and just found a small open spot in the forest. The tent was 8' x 10', and the clearing was just about the same size. Here is the view we enjoyed, as we sat and did schoolwork in the tent:

Here are the hard working students:



After getting through our reading, math, and history, we enjoyed some nature studies:



The goal was collecting and comparing leaf structures, and the pattern of leaves as they grow on the plants. A happy and unexpected event was the inclusion of several bugs on the leaves that were brought into the tent:





Other interesting finds of the day:

Large unknown plant - we had Russell pose with it for scale.

Old twig nest

These bushes with berries are everywhere - but we don't know what they are.

Is this a wild orchid?

Have I mentioned lately that we can't wait to get to live up there?

School is in session - so get back to work!

We're in a bit of a lull right now, as far as some of the ministry work goes. The pastor training school is not in session, because most of the students need to work full-time harvesting coffee this time of year. We are awaiting the arrival of another container shipment in a couple of weeks, and our distribution of Christmas gifts is stalled until it arrives.

Motorcycles are still being purchased and distributed, feeding centers and special needs programs are running, but there are fewer demands on our time right now than during most of the year. Allen and Russell are putting in a major effort on our construction project, and I am pushing to get a lot of school work done during the next couple of weeks.

In order to make the best use of our time, we are trying to institute a schedule for our school day. We normally don't have a schedule, as our days are so full of unscheduled events that any schedule is ruined pretty quickly. Our regular "schedule" is really just a list of things we want to get done by the end of the day.

For the purpose of cramming in every possible moment of school work, I have to mostly schedule my time. The children have certain subjects they can do on their own, and others which require my help (giving yourself a spelling test is hard to do, for instance). So, from 8am until about 3pm, my time is completely scheduled, as I move from child to child, while also keeping an eye on those who are working independently. We also have to schedule the use of the computer, as the children use it for various subjects, and need to take turns on it. Additionally, we have someone assigned to "chores" at all times, so that the washing of laundry can continually progress, dishes get done, etc.

We're keeping busy, that's for sure. With the container shipment arriving fairly soon, and grandparents coming for a visit not too long after that, we need to squeeze in as much school as we can right now!

Yes, we're in the states now . . .

I'm sure you've already guessed this, since I've not posted for more than a week! We're having way too much fun to blog, but since I have a minute online today, I thought I'd just write a quick update.

We've driven from Miami to northern Pennsylvania, and Bethany, who hasn't been in the states for 6 years has enjoyed re-acquainting herself with the wonders of: mailboxes, squirrels, chipmunks, string cheese, and good-tasting milk!

I've learned just how quickly a purchase at the gas pump can add up to $70 - but I haven't enjoyed this as much.

During our first week, we visited Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, all in Virginia, and had a wonderful, educational, exhausting time!

This week we are camping with a bunch of friends, and it's extra nice for the kids to have some North American friendships. Today, while I'm in town using the internet, the kids are inner tubing down a river with their new friends. Oh, I'm such a bad camper! I forgot all about raccoons, and the first night the raccoons found our unguarded cooler, and stole a package of bacon. Now, we try to be much more careful, but the raccoons haven't forgotten to check our site every night. Last night, I heard a rustling in our tent, and I thought it was Rachel stirring in the night. I was in a separate part of the tent, and I had the lantern, so I quietly asked her if she needed a light. After a pause she replied, in a remarkably calm voice, "That isn't me, mom. There are animals in the tent." Happily, the animals chose that moment to leave the tent.

The weather forcast is for severe thunderstorms most nights this week, in the area where we are camping, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. But, we're always up for an adventure!

I'll try to post again in a few days

Lists and Maps and Timelines

We are in major preparation mode for our upcoming mega field trip!

This morning we had a 'walk ourselves through Early American History' discussion, followed by the project of creating a timeline of major events. I was sent to the computer several times by children who had a sudden yearning to be reminded of the details of certain points of history. (I googled "Shay's Rebellion," "The Treaty of Ghent," and "Bleeding Kansas.") It was fun to have them so excited about history!

Yesterday Rachel and Bethany created maps of the east coast states, with labels showing the major stopping points on our trip. Since we haven't lived in the US for so long, this map work isn't as familiar to the kids as I would like it to be. I'm looking forward to introducing the children to some of the places I remember so fondly, as my childhood was filled with field trips to Williamsburg, Philadelphia, the Mall in Washington, the Smithsonian, etc.

This afternoon, each of the children will be choosing a particular aspect of this broad historical period to study in depth, to share with the rest of us when we are actually in that general region. I'm guessing Chris will choose a civil war battle, but it will be interesting to see what the girls pick.

Many different plans are coming together for this trip, but our liveliest conversations generally involve the wonderful foods we will eat during our travels. Recent salivations have been initiated by discussions of: salad bars, 2% milk (that tastes like 2% milk, and nothing else), cottage cheese, lots of other varieties of cheese, fresh strawberries, baby carrots, filled donuts, seafood (we had wonderful seafood when we lived on Guanaja, and we miss it now), store-bought bagels, deli lunchmeats, and so many other things!

Swamped!

In less than three weeks now, I will be leaving for the US, taking three of the kids on a major American history field trip. We are just crazy with preparations.

Bethany and I need to finish her school work for the year, and then I want to go through a quick review course of American history through the end of the civil war with the three participating children, so that it will be fresh in our minds as we visit the relevant historical sites.

We are also working through everyone's closets, to see what needs to be purchased, in the way of clothing, while we are in the states. Underwear and socks, of course, but what else? Christopher is growing like a weed - the new clothes bought for him this past fall no longer fit him. We have no clue what the styles are like in the US right now, so we hope to manage to look "classic" rather than "dated." Oh well. We'll probably just fail on that one!

I need to purchase a month's supply of the medications I use, as they are so much more expensive to purchase in the US than here. The kids are also planning to get haircuts here, because we can get a cut for under $5 in Gracias. We don't need to talk about what haircuts would cost us in the states!

I'm grateful that my oldest daughter is still at home, and she can take responsibility for a lot of the general work around the house while I'm gone.

It's Boo's Turn

Boo (otherwise known as Bethany) has lived in Honduras since she was four years old. In all that time, she has only returned to the US once, after we had lived here one year. She really doesn't remember very much about living in the states.

Because we never return to the states as an entire family (due to David's non-adopted status), Allen and I have taken turns returning, for various reasons, and taking one or two of the children with us each time. Well, it's finally Boo's turn!

Bethany is just now finishing her school year, studying US history through the Civil War. She and I (and possibly one or two more of the children) will be driving along the east coast, stopping to visit American History locations along the way.

Because our home base is Maryland, we will spend a lot of time in that area, which is so rich in great places to visit. Williamsburg, Yorktown, Washington DC, Baltimore, Gettysburg, Philadelphia are all close to "home."

We're all so excited as we plan for this trip, which is scheduled to happen in the month of June. Although, I've noticed something about myself. Apparently I've gotten used to the part of living in Honduras which involves not having lots of options. I'm quite used to my options being limited to "this is the item you can get: buy it, or don't buy it." Just looking through all the websites for these historical locations is making me feel a bit crazy - there are just too many options!

Back to the topic of Homeschooling

Earlier this month, when I wrote about homeschooling, there were a lot of questions posted on this topic. I'll take on another of those questions today.

Suzanne asked:

I do wonder how you would teach a subject in which you have no competence....for instance, how would I teach Trigonometry unless I had a working knowledge of the subject? In that case would I learn along with the kids?

The answer is: yes and no.

In the early grades, I've been amazed at how much I have learned right along with the children - especially in the area of world history. Really, my knowledge of world history was abominable! It's pretty good now, though. ;-D

Happily, homeschooling has become so mainstream, there are curriculums available covering almost anything you might want to teach. Some of these require a certain level of understanding of the subject by the teacher, but, especially at the higher levels, this is generally not the case. Extremely well written materials are available now, in which the students read and learn for themselves advanced subjects like trigonometry, calculus, physics, biology, chemistry, humanities/literature courses, etc. Students who have learned to read and comprehend well, and have acquired independent study habits, will be prepared for these courses when they reach the higher grade levels. Additionally, there are videos, classes on DVD, online courses, and many other learning options easily available.

In the big picture of life, knowing how to teach yourself - how to research, study, and find the answer when you get 'stuck' - may actually be the most useful academic skill you can learn.

Of course, there are some subjects which are difficult to study at home. Without a well equipped science lab, my children can only go so far in chemistry, for example. If we lived in the US, we could take advantage of many opportunities which have been created for homeschoolers. One very popular option is for homeschooled high school students to take courses such as biology and chemistry at the local community college. These students have the advantage of earning college credits while still in high school.

I feel certain we would be utilizing the community college option, if we lived in the states. If one of my children wishes to specialize in science, I may consider having them live in the US with a relative for a year, so that they would have this educational option. For now, we just try to balance this deficit by remembering how many educational opportunities the children have here (learning to speak fluent Spanish, and having intercultural experiences being two obvious examples) which they wouldn't likely have if we still lived in Maryland.

Really, the academic quality available through homeschooling has been proven over and over, as homeschooled students win education contests (spelling and geography bees, science competitions, etc) across the nation. These days, instead of homeschoolers finding it difficult to get into colleges, they find that they are quite actively recruited.

The more difficult topic to address is the question of socialization. Even as I wrote the paragraphs above, I thought of how lonely and boring it sounded, as if the homeschooled high school student sits alone at his desk, hour after hour, teaching himself out of huge tomes on difficult subjects. I will wait to discuss this question on another day, however. Right now, I need to go socialize my children!

Some additional thoughts on Homeschooling

Suzanne and Rachel brought up some excellent questions in the comments section yesterday, and I thought I'd go ahead and make my part of this discussion a separate post. In other words, I think this will get long! But, I'll go ahead and wade in with my thoughts on some of these questions and comments.

Suzanne commented that homeschooling must certainly take a lot of discipline and organization. Now, once we get beyond the fact that my husband would dissolve into hysterical laughter if anyone even used those words in the same sentence with my name, we can discuss this.

Here are my thoughts. Classroom education and homeschooling are extremely different enterprises, and I believe that teaching in a classroom requires these resources (especially organization) to a much higher degree than does homeschooling.

Consider the scenerio. Classroom teachers (and I have great respect for these folks) are vastly outnumbered by their students. Even a small classroom is likely to have many more students than there are children in my relatively large family. Just maintaining control of this many children is a huge endeavor, before any attempt is made to educate them.

Additionally, the children come into this classroom with baggage. One child's home life is difficult, and the student is distracted. Another child stayed up too late last night, and isn't going to be able to concentrate today. Some have fallen behind, and are struggling to learn what was already taught in the past, and are not prepared to learn what is being taught today. Other children are alert and ready to learn. Some are so far ahead of the rest of the class, that they are bored by the lessons being offered.

This isn't meant as an indictment of the classroom situation - ask most any teacher, and they will agree that this is a huge part of the challenge of teaching in a classroom. It's different in homeschooling. For the most part, the teaching is more like tutoring, with a one-to-one student/teacher ratio. It is relatively easy to tailor the lesson to the student, when there is only one student. You don't need to teach 20 lessons on subtraction, if the child has already caught on to this concept. You can jump ahead. Or, if the student is struggling with the lesson, there is no pressure to forge ahead - it makes perfect sense to repeat the lesson, until the child has mastered the material. In a classroom, the child who needed extra reinforcement might be pushed into a test before they had learned the material, and they would receive a failing grade, just because there is a schedule to be maintained. This student will also not be prepared for the next concept, if it builds on the one they just failed to master. But what can a classroom teacher do? They do have a schedule to maintain. If the teacher slows the pace of the teaching, to suit the slower students, the rest of the class suffers. Conversely, if the level of teaching is matched to the fastest and brightest students, others will be left in the dust. Most teachers I've asked about this have said that they try to teach "to the middle." Sadly, while this is necessary in a classroom, it does make learning more difficult and frustrating for the children whose skills fall outside of "the middle."

As the parent, I can teach my child from where they are right now. I am also aware of the child's daily "baggage" in a way that the classroom teacher will not be. I know the child isn't concentrating on math this morning because they were up too late last night, or had a fight with a friend, or just lost a beloved pet. I can let them sleep in and catch up later in the day, or have them work on something that involves less mental capacity (like, oh, handwriting, maybe, or doing some independent reading), or in some way match the lesson to the moment (perhaps writing a poem or creating a drawing to express their emotion is a better idea on this morning, than memorizing spelling words). There really is no need for me to maintain a schedule for the sake of the schedule, since there are no other students being hurt by my catering the lesson to the one.

There is a point to all of this rambling. Covering the same amount of lesson material, to a mastery level, can be achieved in much less time, and with less effort, when there isn't an entire classroom of students involved. So, although organization and discipline are certainly involved in the process of homeschooling, these skills are not required to a level that the average person can't achieve.

And now, that's all I'm going to say on homeschooling today. I know this isn't what my overall blog is really about, so I don't want to post on this topic to the exclusion of others - but I managed to write all of this, and only get to the first of the comments/questions. I'll try to post some more on this topic in the next couple of days, but not to the exclusion of pictures of and updates on chickens, scary roads, mountain scenery, and, oh yeah . . . the ministry work. ;-D

Home Education - somehow, we get it done!

I've not talked about homeschooling on my blog, so I thought I'd see if I could find anything interesting to say on this topic, mostly because I haven't been able to think of anything else to write about today!

We do use a packaged curriculum, and follow the guidelines, loosely. The curriculum we have chosen emphasizes the use of literature, rather than textbooks, and we all enjoy the times of reading aloud together that come with our schoolwork. We don't follow a planned yearly schedule, with breaks at certain times, we just do school whenever we aren't doing something else. Often, I'm reading aloud to the younger children, while they do ministry work, like sorting donated clothing.

If a team is visiting, we take the week off school, and the kids participate in the ministry that week, to whatever level they are able. My children are learning to be dental assistants, assistant pharmacists, translators, construction supervisors, and many other things! Currently, the children are taking turns having days off school, so that they can help with our big construction project.

This version of schooling has resulted in an unusual education for our children. They love to read, and excel at math, but they also have learned some very interesting, non-classroom skills.

For instance:

Spanish - this one is huge, of course. Officially, this is a classroom subject, but it has been my experience that few people actually learn to communicate in a foreign language through being taught in a classroom. We are blessed to have this opportunity to live where we can learn Spanish through immersion. Each family member has a different level of ability, with Russell at the top, being totally fluent. It's safe to assume that none of us would speak as much Spanish as we do now, if we didn't live here!

Construction skills - all of the kids have a great deal of knowledge in construction. Kirstin wired her own bedroom for electricity when she was 18. Bethany drives the front end loader, at 11. Russell, Kirstin, and Christopher can all lay bricks in a very professional manner. Kirstin can draw blueprints using a CAD program on the computer. Russell is a very competent carpenter, and has lots of experience leading construction crews, in both languages.

Commercial cooking skills - this is mostly for Rachel, who began her cooking career making breakfasts for visiting teams back when she was about 11. For the past few years, she has been cooking dinners and breakfasts for all the teams, which generally consist of 35 to 50 people (including our family, 'cause we eat, too).

Nevertheless, I've had my doubts over the years, that this unorthodox educational method was going to bring about great results. We have so clearly underemphasized the traditional academic subjects and traditions!

However, Kirstin is in college now, taking courses online with Taylor University in Indiana (a very heavily academic school). She hasn't taken a large number of credit hours (she is doing college part-time, so that she can continue to invest some time in the ministry work), but after completing 8 classes, she has maintained a straight 'A' average, so I guess I'm gonna have to get over the idea that she wasn't prepared for advanced academic work!

So, those are the basics of how we do school. Somehow, in addition to everything else we're doing here, we manage to squeeze it in.