to see if they're up to par? It seems like both sets of grandparents do it and it really irritates me. Maybe I'm just defensive.
I haven't noticed people grilling my kids yet, but mom loves to ask the kids if they "did school today". She doesn't get that we can do things other than bookwork for school. And she doesn't seem to understand that we can take days off either, even though PS has days off all the time. My neice and nephew have been out all this week for Thanksgiving, but my mom still thinks that I should have been "doing school" all week.
Not so much adults - one grandparent kind of treats them like they're all still preschoolers (oldest will turn 8 in a couple weeks), the other thinks the children are brilliant (which is endearing, but not really helpful either LOL). But...I have noticed other children at church doing this. One girl in particular told my son she didn't believe he knew <whatever> and (him being clueless) he cheerfully said sure he did and told her. She made a big "TCH!" sound and tossed her head. Poor kid (mine) is big hearted enough he assumed that meant he was wrong and came to ask me what was correct. I actually think the girl was a little embarrassed that my son *did* know what she was asking about...
Back when ds was homeschooling, and he and former classmates got together, they always ended up talking for a few minutes about "school" -- he was wishing he was back at school with his friends, and they were wishing they could do their schooling at home like he did! They would ask each other what're you learning now, and they would say we're doing X what're you doing -- and he was able to say oh, I did that already now I'm doing this instead! For some reason, his always sounded cooler to them and he'd come home happy!
My mom always asks the kids what they are learning right now, but because she is really interested in their lives.She loves to hear about their day or their activities. Sometimes she asks so that she can see if she has come across any materials that we could possibly use. The other g-mother never sees them so it doesn't come up. Not all of the family understands or supports our hsing, but no one talks to the kids about it.
Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with that. Almost all of my son's friends are homeschoolers (most from church), and the family has decided to back off seeing how well he did last year with our trial run and how - GASP - normal he is socially. Dh's parents still aren't thrilled with the idea of my poor children being stuck at home 24/7 with only their momma to talk to (LOL), but they'll get over it. Nothing will ever be good enough for them, because after a long line of boys, they finally have just one girl in the family. She can do no wrong, and she'll be going to PS kindergarten next year. :roll:
I have one friend that does quiz my kids, but partly b/c she works with kids who are in tough situations. So I think it's more that she wants to see how our kids compare. Usually she seems impressed. I have one other friend that likes to ask "Did you do school today?". We both find it amusing that DS usually says no, even though he really accomplished quite a lot! So far I've been lucky that most people in my circle are quite supportive. Some other great homeschool families in our community have gone ahead of us, and done an awesome job raising great kids! We have one teen that comes and babysits for us sometimes. I love that the kids can see these other healthy families doing life together, and doing a great job of it!
Well yes, my Aunt whom we are close with disapproves slightly in a passive agressive fashion and will 'grill' my son who is seven. She will ask him things like 'how do you spell blah, or what is the answer to this' and so on. I don't think he minds though since he likes to show off his knowledge. If she were to be blantantly ignorant about it I would step in. At first it irked me a lot but now I figure its good review and she may change her stance once she realizes he is learning.
This just happened to me while my 5 yr old was getting his hair cut... I didn't know what to think... I thought am I being paranoid??? She was asking him how to spell his first name then last name then middle name???? I just kinda laughed.... I felt like saying throw down a math sheet lady he can probably do math better than you. Kinda frustrating since its my first year and I am a little edgy with situations still. Thanks for posting.
yes, I think its very common for everyone to know what we do. It use to bother me now I bring out the bean dip and pass it around and change the subject.
I think it's common for grandparents to ask a kid what they're learning in school. It's not just for hs'ers, but I think we're a little more sensitive to that. Part of it, adults don't know how to talk to children, and that's one question they feel they can ask and get an answer to. Like asking another adult, "Well, how's work going for you?" or a mom asking another mom about kids.
We have a little neighbor girl who loves to come over and inform my girls that her mom says that she is smarter because she goes to a real school. At first my middle dd was upset, but after talking to this girl for a while it became apparent that we are doing just fine in comparison. As a matter of fact after she came over while we were in the middle of dissecting a fetal pig she stopped coming over to make comments. I guess she figured out that we actually do have school here at home. The grandparents are great though. My folks were both teachers and see how messed up the schools can be, so they are supper supportive and often send us things to help with our units. The other grandparents love homeschooling because it means they can visit whenever and actually see the kids without having to worry about school schedules. They are also convinced that we do too much and should just relax. That has been very helpful to us.
