Since Mae moved to her new ballet school 35 minutes away, we have had a lot of togetherness. Driving each way 5 days a week gives us a lot of time. A LOT OF TIME together. Mae thinks all this time needs to be spent talking. She hasn't learned the art of just sitting and being. I am thinking its probably a good thing because I am hearing about all sorts of things we never really discussed before. Some of it silly school stuff and some of it more life related questions. Sometimes though those deep discussions are hard in the car. I am trying to concentrate on the road and she is asking me the meaning of life. Other times she is asking me history or math questions that I can't possibly answer without google - it has been a lot of years since I was in middle school. I don't remember my Greek Mythology. It kinda sucks when your kid knows something you don't.

Competition and School are much different than when I was a kid. The math my kids are doing in 6th and 8th grade is math I did in H.S. and college. Even my 2nd grader is being taught differently - same concept different words and layout. A lot of what they learn they won't use in the real world - I don't tell them that. A lot of what they need to learn they aren't being taught. Spelling is no longer a graded subject in our school district. In fact, it isn't even required curriculum. My two older children are terrible spellers - my youngest is headed in the same direction. Spelling is an afterthought - because of computers and spell check. The problem is that spell check sees words not context - so it will not catch if there, their or they're is spelled correctly but used in the wrong context. It won't catch super if you meant supper. Mae recently had a reading log come home and there were several misspellings - because her teacher doesn't check for spelling. I want my kids to be able to spell. This is important. It is the same with times tables - my kids are expected to learn it at home. I remember sitting in the classroom continually repeating my times tables - we did this everyday for a year - first thing in the morning and it worked. My kids struggle with their times tables because they are allowed to use calculators once they get to 5th grade. I know times have changed since I was a kid - big changes - I guess I liked the "old" ways better.