What do you think?

You'll have to scroll down for my Halloween greetings. I gotta share this with you because that's how I do business around here. I just sent Paige's advisor at school an email. She was just warm and enthusiastic when we met her and told me I could email or call her about any ol' little thing. I took her up on it. I promise on my Mama's cookbooks I emailed this moments ago.

Ms. Lamb,

I have a question for you. What exactly is "home fun"? I've been receiving emails from Paige's math teacher with Home Fun in the subject line for math.


Now, I've been opening emails that say HOMEWORK for many weeks now. I print this email out and put it up for Paige so she can keep track of what she needs to do.

All of a sudden, I'm receiving the Home Fun emails and my thought is....I guess there's no homework going on right now. Which seemed strange to me. Then again, high school has changed quite a bit since I last was there ( a whopping 19 years ago!)


I hear my daughters conversing the other day and they are making fun of the NEW AND IMPROVED HOME FUN CONCEPT. I asked them what they're referring to. They say their teachers are referring to homework as home fun.

Are you kidding me?

according to Webster's dictionary online, Fun is defined as;

Main Entry: 1fun
Pronunciation: ˈfən Function: noun
Etymology: English dialect fun to hoax, perhaps alteration of Middle English fonnen, from fonne dupe Date: 1727

1: what provides amusement or enjoyment ; specifically : playful often boisterous action or speech

2: a mood for finding or making amusement

3 a: amusement , enjoyment b: derisive jest : sport , ridicule

4: violent or excited activity or argument

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about things in life being fun. Truly, I am...but who came up with this?

How can you justify going to school up to seven hours a day, only to come home and do one to two more hours of work in one subject and call it fun?

My 9 year old says in her child-like wisdom..."Playing the Wii is fun. Riding my bike is fun. Sitting at a table doing 25 math problems IS NOT FUN."

Who thought of this concept and do they realize how....uh......wrong this sounds?


I promise I am not trying to be difficult or confrontational. I just wonder if I, as an adult, looks at this and laughs? Can you not expect the children who this concept is being pushed upon think the same way?

Work is what it is...work. Fun is what it is...fun.

I am just a confused parent trying to find a way to explain to my children that someone was obviously having an off day and thought calling homework Home Fun was believable. It happens, you know.

Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Miss Hope (okay, I signed my legal name on the email, but you get the Miss Hope signature on the blog)

I've been stewing on this for a while now. I'm sure I had grammatical errors in my email. Hey! It's been at least 17 years since I took an English class. Cut me some slack, would you?

I apologize if I offend any teachers out there who are on the new HOME FUN bandwagon. Because, seriously? It's stupid. Makes me laugh every time I think of it. I hope the schools realize how stupid it makes them look.

Home Fun.

~snort~

p.s. Edited to add: This does NOT reflect on those who homeschool. That's a whole 'nother world that I hear nothing but good about.