What I don't miss about teaching (and how that led us to homeschooling)

When I was a teacher this time of year always brought out the worst in everybody.  All teachers were stressed, most kids were stressed, and nobody seemed to get along.  You know why?  That stupid EOG test.  Either kids were mad they had to take it or worried they would fail.  Teachers were uptight about whether they had prepared their students well enough and if they would look bad if the kids had a bad day.  When I first started teaching, there was also a huge bonus on the line depending on how your whole school performed on the test.  I was fortunate enough to work in a school system where the teachers all realized that they had to work together since they would all receive the same bonus (I'm pretty sure one year we got like $3000 each!  That's significant in the life of a teacher!!).  Regardless of how much time and effort you put in, if you taught at the school, you got the bonus.  Luckily, my first four years included professional teachers who put their time in whether it was covering your class or helping with some kids so you could focus on others or whatever.  P.E. teachers would teach perimeter on the baseball field, music teachers taught fractions, art teachers linked literature, etc.  Then I moved to a school system that was the complete opposite and it was every man for himself.  The stress of that was a completely different scenario, but it was very stressful.  All of this to say, it was ridiculous how one test and a bunch of money ruled the way school was taught.  Now they have taken the bonus away, but everyone still stresses out about the test because your name is attached to all of your students' scores.  They threaten the kids that they will fail their grade if they fail the test, but that never happens.  Lots of empty threats and empty promises.  Whatever happened to teaching for the love of learning?  It's obvious the people making the decisions about education in our state have either never been educators or are so far removed that they don't understand the current classroom climate.  I admit, that I'm far enough removed now that I wouldn't feel comfortable making educational reform, but I do know that something needs to happen.  I teach my children because I want them to love learning.  I love that my 3 and 4 year olds wanted to skip count at lunch today just because it was fun.  I love that my 6 year old is dying to learn cursive.  I love that they come up with their own science games and want clues to solve mysteries.  I laugh hysterically at the stories they make up and act out and create props for.  I also love the joy on their faces as they learn something new.  Ruby wants to do schoolwork every single day.  She did 20 pages of math "work" in her preschool book today...not because I asked her to, but because she kept asking for more!  Rachel is currently reading (I'm not exaggerating) six different chapter books from the library.  She keeps them in a plastic bin and has a bookmark in each book.  She prefers to read one chapter in each book at a time instead of finishing a whole book...so quirky and so cute.  I LOVE hearing her tell me all about what's going on in her books!  Ford may be obsessed with Thomas, but when Mr. Steve told him to add numbers by coupling them together, he was hooked on math!  These kids love to learn and they have no idea that school is over for the summer.  As they get older, we'll be more structured (maybe?) and there will be things they don't always like, but I don't ever want a test to make them hate learning.  I know you have to assess kids in some way but if you really pay attention to a child, you know whether he or she "gets it".  I am happy to focus on my little class of four (which seems like a huge class to me!).  We may not give formal grades (yet), we may not have final exams, but Ingram School kids love to learn!!