--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I hardly saw Osbert that week because he…" description: "\"“I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school, unlike Isaac and Edmond and Piper, who were supposed to be homeschooled, which as far as I co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg" --- # I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school… ![“I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school, unlike Isaac and Edmond and Piper, who were supposed to be homeschooled, which as far as I could tell meant reading whatever books you happen to be interested in, and every once in a blue moon having Aunt Penn say Have you learned any…” quote by Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg) > ““I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school, unlike Isaac and Edmond and Piper, who were supposed to be homeschooled, which as far as I could tell meant reading whatever books you happen to be interested in, and every once in a blue moon having Aunt Penn say Have you learned any geography? and them saying yes.”” [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes a chaotic school environment where formal education is absent, leading to self‑directed learning and occasional parental checks. **In simple terms:** Kids learn on their own when school is informal, with occasional guidance. Key Takeaway Encourage curiosity and self‑driven study. Themes education independence family childhood Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary observational When to use this quote - home schooling - unsupervised reading - parental involvement - creative play Key Concepts self‑directed learning informal education Questions to Reflect On - How can parents balance freedom and guidance? - What resources support autonomous learning? A Different Perspective Self‑directed learning can lack structure and assessment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-moon/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Saying yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saying-yes/) ## Related quotes > [“Now this was clearly one of the greatest improvements on the education system since time began and I was greatly looking forward to being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/now-this-was-clearly-one-of-the-greatest-improvements-on-the/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [It is very different hosting and judging a show like 'Love School'; it was unlike acting in a movie or series or being part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karishma-tanna/it-is-very-different-hosting-and-judging-a-show-like-love-school-it/) [Karishma Tanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karishma-tanna/) > [“If only you could see me as the Devil does: palatable & raw; chasing a chance blue moon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-petrucci/if-only-you-could-see-me-as-the-devil-does-palatable-raw-chasing-a/) [Virginia Petrucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-petrucci/) > [The silver friend knows your present and the gold friend knows all of your past dirt and glories. Once in a blue moon there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-mccorkle/the-silver-friend-knows-your-present-and-the-gold-friend-knows-all-of/) [Jill McCorkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-mccorkle/) > [Once in a blue moon someone like you comes along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/once-in-a-blue-moon-someone-like-you-comes-along/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [I smoke a blunt once every blue moon. But hey, the moon looks kinda blue tonight...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-moss/i-smoke-a-blunt-once-every-blue-moon-but-hey-the-moon-looks-kinda/) [Randy Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-moss/) > [I don't use Facebook or Twitter, and I email once in a blue moon, as I'm a rather slow typist and prefer to pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-whitfield/i-don-t-use-facebook-or-twitter-and-i-email-once-in-a-blue-moon-as-i/) [June Whitfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-whitfield/) > [“I mean it, guys," I said. "Why don't you play Two Foot Trivia instead? It's just as fun and much safer." "First of all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ponti/i-mean-it-guys-i-said-why-don-t-you-play-two-foot-trivia-instead-it-s/) [James Ponti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ponti/) > [“In America the magazines in which one can frequently publish stories or poems about Negroes are very few, and most of these do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/in-america-the-magazines-in-which-one-can-frequently-publish-stories/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [Life without sex might be safer but it would be unbearably dull. It is the sex instinct which makes women seem beautiful, which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/life-without-sex-might-be-safer-but-it-would-be-unbearably-dull-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Now as the rain falls like shattered pieces of glass from the sky, we bleed like water colors and drunken pastels down the stairways.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/now-as-the-rain-falls-like-shattered-pieces-of-glass-from-the-sky-we/) [REAM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/) > [It's hard to see your dad once in a blue moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mcintyre/it-s-hard-to-see-your-dad-once-in-a-blue-moon/) [Michael McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mcintyre/) > [Today's reason for everything...It only happens once in a blue moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-s-reason-for-everything-it-only-happens-once-in-a-blue-moon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The "new evangelical" wears skinny jeans and earrings made from recycled beer caps. After all, she is acquiring a taste for Blue Moon and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/addie-zierman/the-new-evangelical-wears-skinny-jeans-and-earrings-made-from/) [Addie Zierman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/addie-zierman/) > [The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-lawrence-knowles/the-night-walked-down-the-sky-with-the-moon-in-her-hand/) Frederic Lawrence Knowles ## More by Meg Rosoff > [“Maybe he's lonely, she said, and I just looked at her wondering if she expected me to open a Home for the Socially Challenged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-he-s-lonely-she-said-and-i-just-looked-at-her-wondering-if-she/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I loved horses and horse books as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-loved-horses-and-horse-books-as-a-child/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Time erodes us all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/time-erodes-us-all/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I noticed that once you realize someone's watching you it's pretty hard not to find yourself watching them back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-noticed-that-once-you-realize-someone-s-watching-you-it-s-pretty/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [Teenagers are very dark, I think. That's all the goth and emo stuff. They're experiencing a lot of stuff that adults experience, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/teenagers-are-very-dark-i-think-that-s-all-the-goth-and-emo-stuff/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Minden háború történetének van fordulópontja, és minden emberének is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/minden-h-bor-t-rt-net-nek-van-fordul-pontja-s-minden-ember-nek-is/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [She frowned at him. 'You are in love with solitude.' 'Is there a better cure for the world than solitude?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/she-frowned-at-him-you-are-in-love-with-solitude-is-there-a-better/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“He was a peculiar sight. Tears rolling down his face, shouting to drown the sound of the singing rabbit; he said he needed help,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/he-was-a-peculiar-sight-tears-rolling-down-his-face-shouting-to-drown/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I love you. I'm madly in love with you. Well, madly obviously, given I'm mad as a mudlark. But you saved my life. I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-love-you-i-m-madly-in-love-with-you-well-madly-obviously-given-i-m/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [Although I've lived in England for more than twenty years, I still have a foreigner's passion for all the details of English history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/although-i-ve-lived-in-england-for-more-than-twenty-years-i-still/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [My daughter is a fantastic travelling companion - she's totally organised, whereas I'm hopeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/my-daughter-is-a-fantastic-travelling-companion-she-s-totally/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I'm constantly snatching my books out of the hands of precocious ten-year-olds who are simply too young to read them, despite parents insisting that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-m-constantly-snatching-my-books-out-of-the-hands-of-precocious-ten/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“What else? A handful of hard white sugar lumps from the supply for the master's table. Sugar and cake and blood and pork. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/what-else-a-handful-of-hard-white-sugar-lumps-from-the-supply-for-the/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Maybe we shouldn't be living this way, without grass and trees, and ducks, always under pressure, always trying to catch up, never enough time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-we-shouldn-t-be-living-this-way-without-grass-and-trees-and/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Things Happen and once they start happening you pretty much just have to hold on for dear life and see where they drop you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/things-happen-and-once-they-start-happening-you-pretty-much-just-have/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) [Explore all 184 Meg Rosoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) ## More Blue moon quotes > [The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-lawrence-knowles/the-night-walked-down-the-sky-with-the-moon-in-her-hand/) Frederic Lawrence Knowles > [“The "new evangelical" wears skinny jeans and earrings made from recycled beer caps. After all, she is acquiring a taste for Blue Moon and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/addie-zierman/the-new-evangelical-wears-skinny-jeans-and-earrings-made-from/) [Addie Zierman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/addie-zierman/) > [Today's reason for everything...It only happens once in a blue moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-s-reason-for-everything-it-only-happens-once-in-a-blue-moon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's hard to see your dad once in a blue moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mcintyre/it-s-hard-to-see-your-dad-once-in-a-blue-moon/) [Michael McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mcintyre/) > [Now as the rain falls like shattered pieces of glass from the sky, we bleed like water colors and drunken pastels down the stairways.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ream/now-as-the-rain-falls-like-shattered-pieces-of-glass-from-the-sky-we/) [REAM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ream/) > [Life without sex might be safer but it would be unbearably dull. It is the sex instinct which makes women seem beautiful, which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/life-without-sex-might-be-safer-but-it-would-be-unbearably-dull-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“In America the magazines in which one can frequently publish stories or poems about Negroes are very few, and most of these do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/in-america-the-magazines-in-which-one-can-frequently-publish-stories/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [“I mean it, guys," I said. "Why don't you play Two Foot Trivia instead? It's just as fun and much safer." "First of all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ponti/i-mean-it-guys-i-said-why-don-t-you-play-two-foot-trivia-instead-it-s/) [James Ponti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ponti/) > [I don't use Facebook or Twitter, and I email once in a blue moon, as I'm a rather slow typist and prefer to pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-whitfield/i-don-t-use-facebook-or-twitter-and-i-email-once-in-a-blue-moon-as-i/) [June Whitfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-whitfield/) > [I smoke a blunt once every blue moon. But hey, the moon looks kinda blue tonight...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-moss/i-smoke-a-blunt-once-every-blue-moon-but-hey-the-moon-looks-kinda/) [Randy Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-moss/) > [Once in a blue moon someone like you comes along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/once-in-a-blue-moon-someone-like-you-comes-along/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [The silver friend knows your present and the gold friend knows all of your past dirt and glories. Once in a blue moon there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-mccorkle/the-silver-friend-knows-your-present-and-the-gold-friend-knows-all-of/) [Jill McCorkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-mccorkle/) > [“If only you could see me as the Devil does: palatable & raw; chasing a chance blue moon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-petrucci/if-only-you-could-see-me-as-the-devil-does-palatable-raw-chasing-a/) [Virginia Petrucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-petrucci/) > [The best things in life only come once every blue moon, so when it come remember to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levita-charin/the-best-things-in-life-only-come-once-every-blue-moon-so-when-it/) [Levita Charin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levita-charin/) > [Once in a blue moon, everything will be right with the man in the sky, and when I start singing 'I Love a Rainy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rabbitt/once-in-a-blue-moon-everything-will-be-right-with-the-man-in-the-sky/) [Eddie Rabbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rabbitt/) [Browse all 65 Blue moon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-moon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school, unlike Isaac and Edmond and Piper, who were supposed to be homeschooled, which as far as I could tell meant reading whatever books you happen to be interested in, and every once in a blue moon having Aunt Penn say Have you learned any geography? and them saying yes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Meg Rosoff" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he-went-to-school-unlike-isaac/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blue moon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he-went-to-school-unlike-isaac/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/meg-rosoff-2050_blue-moon_i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he_457130.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I hardly saw Osbert that week because he went to school, unlike Isaac and Edmond and Piper, who were…” — Meg Rosoff", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Meg Rosoff", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I hardly saw Osbert that week...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he-went-to-school-unlike-isaac/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-hardly-saw-osbert-that-week-because-he-went-to-school-unlike-isaac/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```