Out of the Mouths of Babes...
The afternoon was fairly typical...I picked up my youngest two from school and the usual afterschool hullabaloo commenced. Backpacks dumped, coats shed, and both of them fighting hard to be heard over one another as they told me the excitement of their day. My daughter, being the intellectual of the family, usually tells me which multiplication family she mastered that day, or how close she was to knowing all of her spelling words for the week, or Typically I'll be half-listening to all of this while cleaning something, cooking something, or handling the stress of her brother when he can't get a word in. Today her words stopped me in my tracks. "Today in math we got a big packet full of practice problems to help us with our state tests!" My response was to simply breathe deeply and count to 10. I would not show my emotion in front of my innocent 8 year old who has yet to experience State Assessments. We are opting out our 12 year old, but I "compromis...