Wednesday’s Walk - School

Today I’m blogging with Lynette over at Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground.  This week the topic is a memory of school.

Grace first day of school 2008

My memories of school were….  well, I did my work, lets just say that.  It was more of a social thing for me.  I had friends and we did what we wanted to do.  I don’t remember feeling inhibited by bells or assignments.  I stood in the “smoking area” with the rest of the teenage smokers (Oh YUCK!  Did I REALLY do that????).  I also cut school when I wanted to and did things like go to the beach, hang out at friends houses.  Did I graduate?  Yes, but my diploma was hard won.  After leaving high school prematurely I chose to go back and attended summer school so I could finish.  It’s been 33 years and I’m so glad I made that decision! 

When I think of those days I have some fond memories.  However, I had no goals, no future to look forward to (at least that is what I thought), so I wandered aimlessly through school.  Just yesterday I was going through Emily’s school information.  She will be starting high school this year.  Since Emily has severe developmental delays her school days look much different than mine did.  To begin with it takes us 2 hours to get her ready for school in the morning.  She has medications and other medical procedures that need to be taken care of before she can even be washed up, dressed and put in her wheel chair. 

Emily rides a bus to school and we have a set time that the bus comes to pick her up.  She doesn’t follow the school bell schedule because of the time involved in her care in the morning, for which I am thankful.  Otherwise we would have to begin her care at 5am to get her ready for the normal high school start time. 

Emily’s High School

Once Emily gets on the bus (her nurse will be with her the entire day) she will travel to the high school and go into a “self-contained” classroom.  This does not mean she stays in one class all day, it just means she has a base to work from.  And this year, since the high school has so many classes to choose from, we’ve decided to let Emily visit many of the classes before deciding which ones she will participate in.

So, back to the home front.  I asked Jered, who is now 25, what he remembered about school (he was homeschooled from 4th grade through graduation) and he said:  Good hours.  I could sleep in if I needed to, and when I was done with my school work, I was done.  I didn’t have to sit around and wait for a bell.

Thanks for listening ~