Quarterly reports

Madison had her Penfield Recreation performance of "Holka Polka" this evening, in which she played both "Splenda," the sweet, if somewhat artificial, Good Witch of the South, and the evil Fairy Godmother. It was one of those 20-minute grade-school performances about which you have low expectations and then enjoy yourself when it comes together all right. She did nicely, and is, if I may say, stunningly cute and glowingly happy up on stage. We then went out to vote, during which David discovered that he had not actually registered to vote. And then we went out to dinner to celebrate Madison's performance (she chose Chili's). And then we all fell asleep at 9pm. Which means that I woke up at 11:30 and couldn't sleep, so here I am writing quarterly reports for the girls' home schooling.

We in NYS have fairly rigorous requirements. We have to submit what is called an IHIP (pronounced eye-hip)--a detailed Individualized Home Instruction Plan--and then provide detailed reports each quarter on progress, plus an annual progress wrap-up at the end of the academic year...and then every other year starting in the fourth grade, a standardized test.

I submit an IHIP each year that details my educational philosophy and plan of action with plenty of I-am-not-the-person-you-want-to-mess-with-trust-me written between the lines. In my quarterly reports, I refuse--REFUSE, I tell you--to submit a subject-hour-by-subject-hour estimate of time spent; instead I do as most of the other home schoolers around here do, which is ignore that requirement and instead write "at least 225 hours" at the top of each quarterly report. The weird thing about New York is that you submit your stuff to the school district, which then applies the letter of the law to whatever extent they feel like. (In Virginia, this was not the case...although you do submit to the superintendent of your school district, there are fewer rules and everyone abides by them...plus there, no one has the right to approve or disapprove your curriculum or how well you have documented, as long as you do the minimal reporting you need to.) We homeschoolers know which districts are the power-hungry ones around here (city of Rochester, Spencerport, and Brockport) that are interested in micromanaging you. Fortunately, although we live in Brighton, we're so far to the northeast that we're in the Penfield school district, which is known as being a bit more relaxed. The District liason recognized me right away (she even submits events to the KOA calendar) both as a semi-public figure and as a brainy type, and so I'm pretty sure she will never question what I provide.

Anyway, here I am, wide awake, writing quarterly assessments, which is somewhat pleasurable for me as a person of easy words, quick typing skills, and myriad things I could document about engaged and bright children, but which I could see would be a teeth-grinding chore for a different type of person.