Ellie's View on Education

Q - What are your first memories of school?

A - Loud and a little overwhelming.

Q - At home?

A - No, at the hybrid school we used to go to in Kentucky and here.

Q - What else do you remember?

A - I remember making lots of friends and doing lots of art projects that I love and coming home with lots of goodies. I remember that the boys were VERY loud and the girls were sometimes loud.

Q - Did the noise make it hard to learn?

A - Umhm...too much was going on and I couldn't focus. And usually when I came home, I had a big tantrum.

Q - Was there anything you liked about the hybrid school?

A - You got to make new friends, arts, crafts and games, but you did have to study a lot.

Q - What about school now that you are just at home?

A - I like it better. It's quiet. You can sleep in. You don't have to wake up at 6 and you don't have to wear those collared shirts. And I take it one step at a time. In hybrid school they made me write stuff down and say that I learned it when I really didn't.

Q - You mean that things moved more quickly than you did?

A - Ummhmm. I used to take forever in my math book - like two hours and like 30 minutes for grammar. My favorite part of hybrid school was science. I liked all of the experiments. My favorite was making snow out of just chemicals.

Q - How long does school take you now?

A- 30 minutes to an hour for my seat work and then history and all that stuff till three. My seat work is math, grammar, spelling, handwriting - all that stuff.

Q - Do you have a favorite subject?

A - I think it's still science.


Q - What was school like when we first started doing it at home - before we started therapies and the new diet?

A - It was very challenging. It took me till supper time to do school. It felt like the days were longer and the nights were shorter. My sister got done around lunch time and I felt lonely.

Q - What about after we started therapies and the new diet? Was school different?

A - Yes, we mostly did therapies and a little school.

Q - Do you enjoy school?

A - Not love it, but sometimes I do. It's just something you kind of have to learn to like.

Q - What is your favorite part of our school day?

A - Narnia time.

Q - Do you mean our read-a-loud time? What do love about the Narnia series?

A - It just takes me to one world after another, and I love stories. It reminds me of the Bible. Like in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader where Ramandu had a bird that dropped something in his mouth just like Elijah. I also like the part in the Magician's Nephew where Digory was desperately wanting to heal his mother and he didn't listen to the witch. I had a dream about Aslan asking me if I wanted him to heal me and then we found out that C.S. Lewis had a dream about Aslan too. That's how he came up with Aslan.

Q - How did that dream make you feel?

A - It gave me hope.

Q - Is there anything else you want to tell people about homeschooling with isms?

A - Yes, lots of things. I kind of hold my pencil funny and it makes my hand sore and makes me not want to write paragraphs. I have this grip that is shaped for your hands so it won't get sore. Oh and about my glasses...That my glasses help me see words better - The End - Goodbye.

And Digory could say nothing, for tears choked him and he gave up all hopes of saving his Mother's life; but at the same time he knew that the Lion knew what would have happened, and that there might be things more terrible even than losing someone you love by death. But now Aslan was speaking again, almost in a whisper..."What I give you now will bring joy. It will not, in your world, give endless life, but it will heal. Go."
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew