College's End

Today was Charis's last day with Miss Jenny, her "college teacher" for the week. And already she's talking about next year and how she wants to do it again so she "can be in building E and F like the big kids".

It's been fun to hear her talk about school...her expectations, her new friends, her accomplishments, and especially how she feels she measures up to those around her.

"I'm not as fast as Tyler. He beats me every time we all race. I was behind everybody! Maybe God will give me power to run faster than him!"

"I'm not as funny as Robert. He said something...I don't remember what...that made everyone laugh. He's silly. ....but not as silly as Daddy!"

But I'm so no worried about these comparisons and actually think they lend themselves to a healthy self-esteem. Because ironically, I grew up in the public school system...comparing and being compared to everyone else non-stop...and came out with a rock-solid self confidence. Jet, on the other hand, has said that as a homeschooler, he didn't know where he stood in comparison to others. And he said his self-confidence suffered because of it.

So that said...I'm thinking that even though Charis feels like she came out on the "lesser" side of the comparisons, I'm not worried. in the slightest.

In fact, I'm encouraged that she feels confident enough to verbalize her self-comparison to us. And I think it's a good dose of reality that she can't be the best at everything, as the oldest sibling can begin to assume. :)

After having her "Art Gallery showing" and receiving her certificate, Miss Jenny asked up to fill out a questionnaire regarding the class.

So I asked Charis one of the first questions: "What did you like best about the class?" She didn't skip a beat. "Painting and drawing and cooking!!" I think she would have continued to list the positives had I not run out of writing room and moved on to the next question.

"What did you not like about the class?" Again, not hesitating in the slightest, she said: "Actually I liked everything about the class."

And that, in my opinion, about sums it up.