Closer to Free

Mar. 17, 2008

The School for Animals

Posted in Be the Change
I was browsing through blogs tonight and loved this so much I had to share it with family and friends.  Thanks Boys 'R' Us!

The School for Animals

An old story tells of the creation of a school for the animals. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects: flying, swimming, climbing, and running. Among the students were a duck, a flying squirrel, a fox, and an elephant. These four were highly motivated, and wanted to get good grades, so they all tried very hard.


The duck did fantastically well in swimming and flying, but he lagged behind his classmates in climbing and running, so focused special attention on those two subjects. However, his feet became so sore from trying to run and his wings were so bedraggled from trying to climb that by the end of the year he not only failed both those subjects, but made C’s in swimming and flying, which had once been his two best subjects.

At the beginning of the school year, the squirrel was first in his class in climbing and running and was second only to the duck at flying. But as the months wore on, he missed so much school from catching pneumonia in his swimming class that he failed everything.

To make matters even worse, because the squirrel constantly squirmed and chattered in class, and had difficulty paying attention, he was diagnosed with a learning disorder. The squirrel eventually was placed in remedial classes and had to be medicated in order to continue with his school work.

The fox was a natural in his running class and scored well in climbing and swimming, but became so frustrated at his inability to get good grades in flying that he began assaulting his classmates. He even tried to eat the duck. His behavior was so disruptive he was expelled from school. He fell in with a rough crowd and eventually wound up in a center for animal delinquents.

The elephant, meanwhile, developed low self-esteem because he couldn’t do well in any of the subjects. When he sank into clinical depression, his therapist persuaded him to try a different school that focused on subjects such as lifting and carrying. The elephant was disappointed, because careers in lifting and carrying were not as prestigious as careers in flying, swimming, climbing, or running. Even though he always felt inferior, he managed to make a decent living and support his family.

© Copyright 2006. Home School Marketplace

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Mar. 19, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>

Posted by boysrus
I am so glad you took the time to visit my blog. I loved this story about the Animal School. It really helps to put things into perspective doesn't it. I remember when I first started homeschooling and how I tried to model the public school setting (it was all I knew). I have grown and learned so much since then, but sometimes still find myself falling into that trap of using the "schools" standards for what my children need to learn! Somebody slap me!
I am enjoying your blog, and love those diapers!
blessings, Dee

Edited by boysrus on Mar. 19, 2008 at 11:09 AM
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Mar. 20, 2008 - Hi there!

Posted by hrlabonte
Just wanted to say Hi! :-)

~Heather
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