One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her inste

One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided tohome-school her instead of sending her to pre-school．I have always felt that the 0-5 yearsare an irreplaceable dreamtime．As Fionais an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, itwould be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness and restrictingthe building of her personality．

I tried not to reproduce school at home．I never had the urge to get a chalk, ora blackboard．I didn’tgo and search out a curriculum(课程表)．I felt that my children would learn bestif I stayed accessible (易接近的)andstayed out of their way．

Every day we worked some, relaxed some, read some and played some,but Fiona did not seem particularly happy here．She lost her temper once in a while．

How strange it was that my child who was free from school didn’twant to be free at all．Herfriends all went to pre-school．She feltleft out of a major part of her friends’ shared lives and experiences．I thought she was not in school for verystrong, clear reasons, one of which was that the quality of learning my childdid at home would be good, even better than expected．

Well, here was a situation I hadn’t expected．When we first decided to do this, Samand I agreed that we would reassess(再评价)the situation for each child as she turned seven．Meanwhile we would offer her non-school-basedopportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids-ballet lessons andswimming classes．She seemedto be enjoying all．But attimes she kept asking when she was going to school．Whenever she asked this question, wetold her that there would be a family meeting about it when she turned seven．She nearly always responded, “That’swhen I’m going to go, then．” A fairamount of her curiosity was about school and I was afraid she was dreaming ofgoing to school before she turned seven．

Although the advantages of home-schooling, I think, far outweighits disadvantages, it is important for me to respect my daughter’s feelings andallow her to direct her own education．If her curiosity leads her to school, isn’t that where she shouldgo?

Next week I’ll drive Fiona to her school．I hope that Fiona will learn to read anddiscover something wonderful to pursue in the world that opens up for her．I hope she will find the schoolactivities provide her with satisfactory kid-time．

1．The writerdecided to home-school her daughter, Fiona, because she thought________．

A．childrenaged 0-5 were too young to go to pre-school

B．Fiona maynot be accepted by schools for her bad temper

C．home-schoolingwas much better than school education

D．childrenat Fiona’s age were too young to have their characters formed by school

2．In homeschooling her daughter the writer tried to_______．

A．make herhome just like a school

B．teach witha pointer, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard

C．be therewhen her child wanted her but tried not to stand in her way

D．teachaccording to a curriculum, which was suitable for Fiona

3．What wasthe writer’s biggest problem in home schooling her daughter?

A．Shecouldn’t decide what to teach and how to teach her daughter

B．She wasnot sure whether her teaching was suitable for Fiona．

C．She couldnot make Fiona give up the thought of going to school．

D．She didn’tknow how to control Fiona’s temper

4．We canlearn from the text that_______．

A．Fionaalways acted against her mother’s instructions

B．it wasagainst Fiona’s wish that she was educated at home

C．home-schoolingwas popular some years ago

D．Fiona’sparents would ask her opinions about school education

试题答案

【答案】

 D

 C

 C

 B

【解析】