“Why do I have to learn this?!? Why?!?! I don’t need to know this!! I’m only in sixth grade!!”
Catelyn looked down at her paper with a look of disgust and slammed her pencil down on the table.
“I know, I know,” I replied looking at the next paper in front of me with a look of horror, “Just write it down so we can be done!”
We were in the middle of a very tough lesson in the subject of health, titled “Understanding the Female Reproductive System.”
The lesson was way more than either one of us expected.
“I don’t even know where the answer to this one is?”
“It’s on this diagram, here,” I offered flipping over the very explicitly image the school had provided us. The image had repelled Catelyn so much, she immediately flipped it over.
“Don’t do that!” Catelyn yelled and pushed the paper back to the table, “Just tell me what the answer is without me having to look.”
I told her the answer and after a few more air gags her pencil began moving.
I have officially found a subject that is way better taught by the professionals. And by that, I mean a health teacher.
Not that this is a subject that is completely off the table. As the children age, we have of course talked about their development. We have had “the talk.” As a previous crisis counselor, I know the importance of using proper terminology when discussing body parts. This is not a subject that shames me.
However, I realized some subtle differences. When I talked with Catelyn about this subject in the past, I did not have a diagram. We did not sit and label all the parts on the diagram. And I certainly did not go into the details as thoroughly as her homework did:
Which she now knows the location of since she had a diagram to complete.
When I was growing up, I remember seeing a video when I was her age about the developing body. It came nowhere near to the health lesson I was privy to with Catelyn.
Homeschooling has been quite a ride so far. I came up with a system that worked. I was prepared for different maths, languages, English – game on! Everything was under control! And then health comes along and unexpectedly sticks the process of reproduction right in our face.
We survived the lesson. Barely. Catelyn is known for her theatrics, so she let her teacher know her feelings upon submitting the assignment.
And all I can say is please pray for us. “Understanding the Male Reproductive System” is next week.
Oy vay!
Oh, Caitlyn! If up didn’t like the female reproductive system, honey.. Lol. Good luck, Robyn! 😉
Thank you!
Hope your not looking over here for help with that one. I might defer to our gerbils. This is definitely stuff which I can’t remember in the parenting terms and conditions. C is a great actor.
She is 🙂 Cracks me up!
Good luck! That is tricky stuff. Nonetheless I hope you will let us know how the male reproductive system goes. That may be much easier as it is not her own body parts being discussed.
Here’s hoping! Thanks Anne!
I opted out my son when he was in sixth grade. But of course that was back then (2 yrs ago) when we ‘went’ to school. I am not sure if you have the ‘opt out’ option in remote learning?.If you can, just opt out! it’s too sensitive.
I saw that it was an option to “opt out” but I didn’t think it would be a big deal so I let her stay in. I also thought the teacher would be teaching and I didn’t know it was going to be this much detail. Way different than when I was a kid!
Do you think she was just embarrassed because it was you, or in general? I think it’s awesome that they’re teaching more than how a sperm fertilizes and egg and menstrual cycles. I don’t think 6th grade is too young to be talking about it either. It’s better to have the information BEFORE you need it, than to go the route that so many of us did.
You wanna really freak her out, you can tell her the next lesson is about masturbation😱🤣🤣 If you could keep a straight face.
I love her dramatics, reminds me of my girls. Good luck!🍀💌
Oh my gosh, you made laugh out loud! That would definitely freak her out! I don’t even know if she knows about that yet!
The lesson was good for a couple of reasons – there were things I thought she knew that she didn’t. And now having to write the word “penis” and “vagina” in the same sentence – well, that’s the closest she wants those two things to be for a very long time 🙂
When you’ve learned how the male reproductive system works, explain it to me. I’m okay on the main concepts but there are a few details I’m fuzzy on…
Haha…I can’t even imagine what things we’re going to learn about next week but if it seems important, I’ll keep you posted 🙂
Ba hahahaha. Thanks for the laughs. I needed this laugh. Good luck with the lesson on male body parts!
Hahaha! I’m glad you liked this one! Oh my goodness, I can’t even imagine what those questions are going to ask. I have a feeling she is just going to be staring at the ceiling through the whole thing! 🙂
Oh my. Guess that’s why I never taught anything beyond second grade.
I was definitely unprepared and surprised!
Aww I feel so bad for her! I can definitely relate. For me, it was easier talking to strangers about “the birds and the bees” because if I made a fool of myself, it didn’t matter. Usually the person was a health visitor at the school, and I wouldn’t see them again anyway.
But with my parents? They were already pretty distant with me, and it was so awkward. And I was worried to ask questions because I thought they would wonder why I wanted to know! Haha What a difficult age.
Hopefully you all can get back to easier stuff, like algebra or geography or something 🙂 Take care!
Thank you! It was definitely tough. The picture was the equivalent of one you would see hanging on the wall of an OB/GYN office. And the details! We’ve been pretty open and she has asked a lot of questions but I felt like this homework took it to a different level and would probably have been better suited for a teacher to convey than me. It was tough!
I’m sure you did fine, because it’s clear that you care 🙂 Maybe you’ll both look back at this someday and laugh!
Nice post!
Thank you!