This is MY work of fiction I may or may not publish this into a book so please DO NOT COPY or pose it as your own work! Enjoy reading it, give me comments, if you are a writer give me feedback, if you are a Homeschooling mom let me know what you think. I will change and add when I feel like it but I personally like to make it a goal to have something new added by the weekend. I will be working on illustrations too. If you would like to share this with somebody give them the link to come here, if you want to feature this on your blog let me know. If this becomes popular and liked enough then I will consider publishing. Thank you!
HAMMSCHOOL
Hamm Iggle was the best soccer player in his class. He was quick, his kicks were strong and he made a goal almost every time. He was his class team's leader and by agreement with all his classmates he was their captain.
They played against other classes on the last Friday of the month, called Soccer Day. It was to give the students a welcome break from classwork and to encourage students to work hard in school, but for Hamm it was torture.
While he was brilliant on the field he was not brilliant in the classroom. Hamm hated sitting still, he would fidget and kick his feet which drove his teacher, Mrs. Crabb, nuts. He kept staring out the window to the playfield wishing to run and make goals. His teacher told him many times to quit staring out the window and to do his work!
Hamm couldn't do his work! He couldn't understand it. Math problems made him dizzy. Reading quietly made him fidget and squirm and his writing? Hamm could not work on it and you could barely read what he had written, assignments all in a mess the teacher had done everything. She at first tried to be patient and encouraging, then more firm and eventually she was yelling at him. The constant kicking and tapping drove her crazy. Hamm hated being in the class, he KNEW his teacher was going to yell at him. He didn't do it to be annoying, he just didn't like being still. He was also bored just being there. He missed the field and the excitement of soccer. He wanted to run! Dribble! Shoot! SCORE! In class he couldn't win and it was terrible, he felt like a loser. He'd fling up his piggy hands and cry
"I can't do this!"
His teacher was more frustrated with him every day. One day she shouted at him to sit still and do his work, he started to cry, and irritated she sent him to the principals office believing he was lazy, and poor Hamm believing that she hated him.
The principal, Mr. Snout, decided on a conference with Mrs. Iggle, Hamm's mom, and Mrs. Crabb his irritated teacher. Hamm was there too, he hung his head when his mom came in. She patted him on the shoulder. "What is the problem now?" she asked.
"Your son won't do any of his classwork!" huffed Mrs. Crabb.
"And he's a continuing disturbance in the class with his fits and crying and outbursts." Said Mr. Snout.
"Something must be done."
"he's lazy, he needs more discipline!" said Mrs. Crabb.
Mrs. Iggle nodded, "Yes, I agree something must be done, but it isn't discipline he needs. I know he isn't lazy, he's always playing soccer. I know he's very bright and I can prove it but I must withdraw him from school and teach him at home. To be honest I have been thinking about this for some time, ever since the trouble started."
Mr. Snout smiled and agreed to it but Mrs. Crabb just huffed and said, "ha! you will see, your son is just not interested in learning, I doubt you could do anything about it." She walked out of the office muttering about lazyness and homeschooling.
Hamm heard of homeschooling, it was when one of your parents teaches you at home. Now his mom will really know how hopeless he is and she will probably yell at him and hate him just like his teacher. His head hung down lower but his mom made him look up in her eyes, "hey, don't worry Hamm, you'll do fine, trust me. You will have your own way of learning and we can hall it Hammschool, doesn't that sound like fun?"
That sounded funny and he smiled, just a little, but he was still worried.
The next morning Hamm did not go to school. In a way it was a bit of a relief, but he missed his friends. Before breakfast he and his mom went out to their large backyard to practice soccer drills. When he had worked up an appetite they went in for breakfast and while mom was cooking she wanted Hamm to read. Hamm was nervous, he had trouble reading, it was boring to him. "READ!!" he wailed, "I don't like to read, I'm not good at reading!"
His mom just laughed, "but Hamm dear you haven't even looked at the title."
He looked and it said "Soccer Around the World". She lead him to their big comfy couch to read while she cooked and she placed his smaller indoor soccer ball between his feet, "here, while you read you can dribble the ball between your feet."
"Wow, at school I always had to sit still."
"And you hate to sit still, I know, tell me what you think when I'm done cooking"
The book had lots of pictures, photos of world famous soccer players, sometimes there was a word he didn't know and had to ask but it wasn't that hard to read and it was so interesting. Soccer was a world sport, almost every country has it's own team, some of the players came from poor places and their soccer playing earned them money, some even had reading and school problems just like him but people believed in their playing and helped them become great players. During breakfast he told his mom about what he read and the many countries that played soccer and asked where those countries were. She helped him create a big wall map of the world and they put dots on the countries with the soccer teams. She then told Hamm to do a book report but used a recorder instead of him writing it down, told him to voice it like a sports announcer. THAT was FUN!!
Math was a bit of a surprise to him too. He could add up numbers ok, when he did some math work he thought of it as teams scores. He told him mom about how he did his adding and subtracting. She said that was a great way to think of a math problem. But it was multiplying he had trouble with. So she showed him with a picture of each player were told to bring so many water bottles, each person had to bring three, how many in all. THEN he understood what multiplication was and how it works. He didn't before, but how his mom put it made much more sense than how his teacher tried to explain.
Then she taught him perimeter and measuring using a picture of a soccer field. In all his learning she used things Hamm was familar with and understood well, soccer.
The weeks went by and soon it was the end of his first month of Hammschool. They brought all their work in to the principal and Hamm's old teacher to show how well he's doing now and asked if Hamm could participate in the Final Friday of the month game. The principal ok'd it but Mrs. Crabb didn't.
"Hamm is no longer part of my class nor this school, why should he play?"
Nobody was happy with what she said, the principal was shocked she would feel this way. Mrs. Iggle was angry about how unfair she was being and poor Hamm was so sad he was about to cry again. When Mrs. Crabb left the office the principal looked at Hamm.
"You know Hamm she might change her mind after having her first game without you."
He wiped the tears from his eyes, "why would she change her mind?"
"Both of you come to the game and see what happens when Hamm isn't part of the team."
The principal, Mr. Snout, decided on a conference with Mrs. Iggle, Hamm's mom, and Mrs. Crabb his irritated teacher. Hamm was there too, he hung his head when his mom came in. She patted him on the shoulder. "What is the problem now?" she asked.
"Your son won't do any of his classwork!" huffed Mrs. Crabb.
"And he's a continuing disturbance in the class with his fits and crying and outbursts." Said Mr. Snout.
"Something must be done."
"he's lazy, he needs more discipline!" said Mrs. Crabb.
Mrs. Iggle nodded, "Yes, I agree something must be done, but it isn't discipline he needs. I know he isn't lazy, he's always playing soccer. I know he's very bright and I can prove it but I must withdraw him from school and teach him at home. To be honest I have been thinking about this for some time, ever since the trouble started."
Mr. Snout smiled and agreed to it but Mrs. Crabb just huffed and said, "ha! you will see, your son is just not interested in learning, I doubt you could do anything about it." She walked out of the office muttering about lazyness and homeschooling.
Hamm heard of homeschooling, it was when one of your parents teaches you at home. Now his mom will really know how hopeless he is and she will probably yell at him and hate him just like his teacher. His head hung down lower but his mom made him look up in her eyes, "hey, don't worry Hamm, you'll do fine, trust me. You will have your own way of learning and we can hall it Hammschool, doesn't that sound like fun?"
That sounded funny and he smiled, just a little, but he was still worried.
The next morning Hamm did not go to school. In a way it was a bit of a relief, but he missed his friends. Before breakfast he and his mom went out to their large backyard to practice soccer drills. When he had worked up an appetite they went in for breakfast and while mom was cooking she wanted Hamm to read. Hamm was nervous, he had trouble reading, it was boring to him. "READ!!" he wailed, "I don't like to read, I'm not good at reading!"
His mom just laughed, "but Hamm dear you haven't even looked at the title."
He looked and it said "Soccer Around the World". She lead him to their big comfy couch to read while she cooked and she placed his smaller indoor soccer ball between his feet, "here, while you read you can dribble the ball between your feet."
"Wow, at school I always had to sit still."
"And you hate to sit still, I know, tell me what you think when I'm done cooking"
The book had lots of pictures, photos of world famous soccer players, sometimes there was a word he didn't know and had to ask but it wasn't that hard to read and it was so interesting. Soccer was a world sport, almost every country has it's own team, some of the players came from poor places and their soccer playing earned them money, some even had reading and school problems just like him but people believed in their playing and helped them become great players. During breakfast he told his mom about what he read and the many countries that played soccer and asked where those countries were. She helped him create a big wall map of the world and they put dots on the countries with the soccer teams. She then told Hamm to do a book report but used a recorder instead of him writing it down, told him to voice it like a sports announcer. THAT was FUN!!
Math was a bit of a surprise to him too. He could add up numbers ok, when he did some math work he thought of it as teams scores. He told him mom about how he did his adding and subtracting. She said that was a great way to think of a math problem. But it was multiplying he had trouble with. So she showed him with a picture of each player were told to bring so many water bottles, each person had to bring three, how many in all. THEN he understood what multiplication was and how it works. He didn't before, but how his mom put it made much more sense than how his teacher tried to explain.
Then she taught him perimeter and measuring using a picture of a soccer field. In all his learning she used things Hamm was familar with and understood well, soccer.
The weeks went by and soon it was the end of his first month of Hammschool. They brought all their work in to the principal and Hamm's old teacher to show how well he's doing now and asked if Hamm could participate in the Final Friday of the month game. The principal ok'd it but Mrs. Crabb didn't.
"Hamm is no longer part of my class nor this school, why should he play?"
Nobody was happy with what she said, the principal was shocked she would feel this way. Mrs. Iggle was angry about how unfair she was being and poor Hamm was so sad he was about to cry again. When Mrs. Crabb left the office the principal looked at Hamm.
"You know Hamm she might change her mind after having her first game without you."
He wiped the tears from his eyes, "why would she change her mind?"
"Both of you come to the game and see what happens when Hamm isn't part of the team."
