When I think back to my 7th grade year, I cringe with moments of embarrassment and stress. I am always a little confused about the people that say they enjoyed middle school….how is that even possible? Now that my daughter is that age, I was interested to see if she was also feeling the same stress I felt even though she is homeschooled. Despite feeling like I know my kids pretty well, I did learn a little bit about her. Welcome to our short little conversation…
What school do you go to? I am homeschooled.
What is your favorite subject in school? I don’t really have a subject, but my favorites are math, history, writing and music.
What kind of music do you do? I play the piano and I normally sing.
What is your least favorite subject in school? I don’t really have a least favorite, but chemistry is kind of boring. So far, I only take notes.
Are you glad you homeschool? Yes.
Why? Because I get stressed easily and being homeschooled gives me….there is not a certain time I have to have things done. If I get stuck, I can take my time and figure it out.
What kinds of things stress you out? Like, if I am having a bad day, my brain gets stressed easily if I can’t figure something out. I don’t want to ask for help, so I get stressed.
Outside of school time, what is your favorite thing to do? I don’t really have a favorite thing to do, but some of them are building Legos, singing, art, soccer, anything that has a lot of imagination.
What do you want to be when you grow up? That is a hard question. I want to be a lot of things. I want to have albums, I want to be a Masterbuilder (Lego). I want to be a mom. There is just so much. I want to design Lego sets.
What is something you see your friends dealing with that you might not deal with? I see them getting stressed out from a hard day of school and I can tell they don’t feel their normal self because something bad happened that day.
What are your favorite books? I don’t have a favorite book. But I like Crenshaw and the Narnia series.
You have a totally free day. How would you like to spend it? I would like it to start with the Lego company calling me to build a Lego set. I would spend it singing without being told to stop. I would paint a little bit. I would read. Food, definitely food. I would have a little ice cream at the end of the day.
Would you go anywhere on your free day? I would go to the playground or a quiet place, like a museum or something, and just sit there and look up at the sky or at the paintings on the wall. And then I would imagine what it would be like if I was there [a part of the painted scene]. And if the Lego company actually called me, I would gather ideas from all around me.
What’s your favorite thing about being a 7th grader? I can do a lot more stuff. I have a bigger brain which means I am smarter and when I am writing, I get more ideas and it sounds smarter. I feel like some part of me has changed and is ready for a little more action.
What kind of action? I mean action like getting my comics published and it would be one of my great wishes.
People say that middle schoolers are hard to understand and hard to work with. Do you think that’s true? Well, sometimes it depends on the kind of person. If it’s a kind of kid that doesn’t pay attention, then they would be hard to work with. But it all depends on the personality of the child in middle school and if they are bored or not.
People say that middle school is the worst. Do you agree? I don’t think so. I know it’s tough to do the workload, but as long as you don’t quit, you will be fine. If you act a certain way, the whole thing will turn horrible.
Do you wish you had a locker? Kinda. A locker sounds cool.
What is the hardest word to spell? What word always stumps you when you try to spell it? Expectations.
…….
So, the interesting part of this interview is how relaxed my kid is despite living through a rapidly changing time in her life. She is fairly confident in who she is and only gets stressed by being rushed. I can work with that. I remain thankful that we are able to provide her with a relaxed learning environment. Lastly, as sure of herself as she is, it’s evident that she is still learning who she is by her responses that began with “I don’t really have a favorite…..” but then continue with a short list of her top picks. She makes me chuckle.
Have you ever interviewed your children beyond the popular beginning of the school year questions? I challenge you to steal five minutes and ask your kids a few questions. Their responses might surprise you!
Looking for resources for your middle school homeschool student?
Check out online curriculum from Global Student Network or electives from United Digital Learning.
How about an online school with teachers? Go to International Virtual Learning Academy.
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother to three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.lindsaybanton.com.