My great leap forward
About the same time that I was starting to understand this education game, the rule makers threw a curve ball my way. And I, unaware of the bases ahead, hit it. You see, when we went home for the Easter pause during my second year, my parents received a message from the teacher requesting that they buy me more text books. The ones for next year…
Instead of completing one grade during that calendar year, I completed two. Bumped me up a whole row. Able to read AND listen, I was on top of my academic requirements; the teacher had no time to waste with time wasting. Getting a whole new reader (I had already gone through the Grade 2 volume, cover to cover) was fun!
To be fair, I did spend my days outside of school like any other kid that lived alone in the bush. I wandered in the bogs. I played with our dogs. I learned to make rudimentary bows and arrows, just like on TV. And because we really lived far from the neighbours, I went along with the game. After all, how many others of my age got to pick cranberries, put them in a bowl with sugar on top, only to ascertain that this wasn’t a dessert.
Now, fast forward several years. To my arrival in high school (grade 9, in the Ontario system). Ready academically, at the tender age of 12. The whole social readiness thing wasn’t even discussed. And I paid a price. Always smaller. Never with my own age group. Forget dating! Not yet: there’s still another province ahead.
