homeschool

Why we are not homeschooling high school this year

/ Jeanette / 1 Comment

I know just last week or so I posted that I would have a Pre-k, a middle schooler and a high schooler.  After much stress and anxiety (about 5 months worth) on my part, my daughter decided she wasn’t ready. She said there were things she wanted to go over and grasp before she jumped into high school. And I was very relieve! But then stressed again because we start school in 2 weeks. 

Are we saying she failed 8th grade? No! My daughter struggled in some minor areas but the majority she passed with flying colors. We are calling it a gap year. Yes all the formal paperwork says 8th grade but to us it is a catch up year. Which we knew she would have an extra year option.

Here in Florida if you turn 5 before September 1, then you start Kindergarten that year. Teachers here hate it! At least all the ones I have come across.  If your birthday is after September 1, you don’t start until the following August. Even though my oldest and middle daughter are 2 years apart, school age they are only one grade apart.  My middle daughter would be graduating before she is even 18. This will also happen for my son who is born in July.

My hubby and I always knew we would have a year if she felt she needed it. And I am really proud of her making the decision to take it now to prepare more knowing that high school is when it counts. Even though she feels terrible for all the money spent (that’s my frugal girl) on the curriculum for 9th grade. It’s not like it won’t get used next year. Plus my hubby was over the moon. He has had a hard time accepting it. I mean just 2 weeks ago we were talking about it and he said well she doesn’t start high school for another year. He has been in denial over the last few months. So when she asked if she could take her gap year he was quick to answer yes! Poor guy couldn’t handle his little girl growing up.

All in all my daughter may not be going into high school yet, but she showed her maturity level by making a very good decision.

 

 

Pre-K, middle and high school

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

This is my life and the cause of my anxiety. The question of the last 3 months has been how in the heck am I going to homeschool 3 kids at 3 different levels without someone getting left behind or forgotten.

I have a preschooler who needs my attention to learn the basis of learning for the rest of his life. No pressure there!

I have a middle schooler who is severe special needs and is actually on a 3rd grade level.

I have a high schooler who doesn’t need as much guidance but still needs something to make it fun and engaging. Working out of a textbook day in and day out is not going to fly around here.

We are a hands on learning family. So needless to say this next year is going to be a major success or the death of me. Regardless it should make some great blog post.

Why I homeschool?

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10 years ago I would have never thought I would be a homeschooling mom.

But now 6 years into this journey, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Let me paint you a picture of my former life.

I was a normal suburban mom. I got the kids up in the morning, fed them breakfast and off to school we went. Some days I would stay and volunteer all morning. Other days I did grocery shopping or leisurely shopping. I made lunch dates. Then I would go back and pick my kids up and go home to homework, dinner and bath time. And always couldn’t wait until bedtime. OH MY bedtime couldn’t come fast enough. One year I was even a PTA board member. Voted as volunteer of the year in our school! Homeschooling never even crossed my mind. I loved being away from my kids.

So how in the world did I become a homeschooling mom?

We moved out to the country. And people weren’t as nice as they were in our old neighborhood. I wasn’t embraced by the school, teachers or PTA and neither were my kids. We came in the middle of the year and that made us different. Why I am not sure? Tons of people move schools in the middle of a school year. Out here it made us outcast. I had a daughter who was brilliant and they couldn’t see it. And a daughter that would freeze and have a panic attack at the mention of a test and they didn’t care.

Down here in Florida we have an annual test called the FCAT. Like a standardize test, but Florida thought it would be fun to say if you don’t pass this test in 3rd or 12th grade, you don’t pass or get a diploma. So the teachers were under pressure and they put their students under pressure. This wasn’t a good situation for someone with a test anxiety. So I talked to the teachers. The results were deal with it because the State of Florida says this is the way it is. Let me tell you, I tried to walk away from this teacher without an argument. But she followed me out into the hallway and confronted me. After a huge argument which got me labeled as the Bitch mom. I walked away and decided no one was going to tell me to deal with it. This was the day we decided to homeschool.

At first it started with just my oldest two children. But half-way through the year, my youngest joined. Over the years, my kids have chosen home or school. I think we finally got it right with my oldest in a regular public school and my 3 youngest homeschooling. It fits everyone’s personalities and makes everyone happy.

It isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. And there are days when I am like what was I thinking!?! But to see my test anxiety child, who hated reading and took 3 hours to write spelling sentences, pick up a book on her own and fall in love with the characters and stories was amazing. To see her read a 700 page book with joy, unbelievable. And now I am experiencing it with my special needs child. Who always felt safer to stick with the easy reader books, branch out and found, not 1 but 2 series that has her excited for our library trips. There were tears, fights, judgement and criticism. Still is.

But I have seen so much and learned so much through homeschooling and my kids.

I realized I love them more everyday! And being with them to watch them grow is a blessing.

Night of the Living Dead

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone,

It’s been a long time since I posted on here and I missed some AMAZING opportunities in our lives over the last few months. My reason was I wasn’t here. Mentally or Emotionally. Only my physical self was here. I didn’t realize it but I was fighting depression and anxiety. I see it now. I had all the symptoms.

Lack of Motivation

Loss of appetite

Feeling of sadness

Fatigue

Yup that was me! And then I had this anxiety that I didn’t want to leave the house. The thought literally made me feel like I was drowning. I always made excuses about why I couldn’t go do this or that. Looking back it was ridiculous. But I couldn’t help it.

No one knew what was going on until one day, I told my hubby that I wasn’t myself and something was wrong. Step 1 admitting a problem~check.

I spent days telling myself I wanted to feel normal. I kept willing, begging and praying to feel normal again. I just wanted to be me again. So why couldn’t I? And how did I get to this point?

Well I think it was just my year from hell finally came crashing down on me and reality sank in.

My grandpa is gone.

My mom and I will never be the same.

My cousin died of Esphogial cancer.

HELL~ even my kids Pediatrician who was my doctor died.

I realized my childhood was a ball of lies.

My daughters are growing and one is in high school (I think that was icing on the cake)!

Ever since she started high school, it kept getting worse and worse. I became obsessive about homeschooling. It felt like the last normal part of me. And I made it consume 150% of my life.

Last straw was 2 weeks ago. I had my whole little family here including my brother. And I started sinking. It literally came out of nowhere. My brother and husband noticed it. And hubby finally convinced me to take something for it. It helped! I only took 1/2 a pill but it immediately helped.

I was so reluctant. I didn’t want too. I didn’t think I needed it. But I did and I see that now through clear eyes.

I have my life back after 1/2 a pill. I haven’t taken another one since. I don’t know if I was ready enough that all I needed was a little boost. But I feel like Jeanette again.

And I am SOOOO appreciating it to the point of being corny. But I notice the colors of the sky, grass and streams. I see everything clearly. And I love it!

But at the same time, I missed so much. And that I will never get back.

So that is why I am taking the rest of the year off. I am going to enjoy the moments and live! I am going to enjoy my family. And I will be back in the New Year. I need this and my family deserves this.

But one last thing~If you are reading this and saying I feel the same way. Please, PLEASE seek help. Mine start by vocalizing to my hubby and reaching out. Tell a friend or seek professional help on your own. It is nothing to be ashamed of and you will feel so much better once you do. You can start living again.

And to any friends and family that read this and go I had no idea. Well I am an awesome actress and should be given an Oscar.

 

Windy day fun, FINALLY!!!!!!

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Our yard has finally dried up and is somewhat back to normal. And it happened just in time. We have had some BEAUTIFUL weather lately. The kids and I had to take advantage of it. With all the rain and mud, cabin fever was beginning to set in. Not a pretty site with 4 kids and 3 dogs.

So as soon as we could we took our learning outside.

And then the wind started blowing and what does a kid always want to do on a windy day……

Fly kites!

I was lucky to have found some clearance kites at the end of summer at Walmart. And the kids were itching to get them out and in the sky.

Lil man did fantastic!

Tadpoles

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One fun thing did come from all that rain and standing water in our yard. TADPOLES!!

I have never seen tadpoles before. Yes I know I am deprived. But ya know I was a city girl!

So when the kids told me they saw a ton of tadpoles, I had to see for myself.

And then we had to catch some.

Luckily,I had a tank leftover from our pet turtle that we released in our pond last summer.

We kept them for a week or so and then released them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to school~ our core subjects

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I am very lucky in the sense that my kids all have similar interest which makes homeschooling 3 different levels easier. Not saying it’s a breeze, but easier to connect everyone together and I am not in 50 million directions, only 49 million.

This year we are doing Science, History and Geography together.

Science~ We are using Apologia Zoology 2 and are studying Marine Animals. My kids LOVE animals so the zoology books were a great fit. My 8th grader uses the corresponding Notebook while my 5th grader uses a varied of free lapbooks.

History~ We are continuing with Story of the World book 1. I did have my girls doing 2 different things. But the youngest was getting lost so I decided to bring her back in on the Story of the World lessons and she has done wonderful.

Geography~ The original plan was to have the 8th grader continue to study the states and the 5th grader to study the countries. But the oldest wanted to learn the countries. So we are all on the same page there too. For this we use Little passports and then I supplement with information from the internet and books/DVD from the library.

Language Arts/ Writing~ This has been a struggle because both kids hate writing. They hate capitalizing, punctuation, all of it. All I want is a paragraph and it’s like pulling teeth. So we have been on a trial and error basis on curriculum. We have been using Daily Language Activity book consistently.

Math~ Our 8th grader is doing Pre-Algebra while our 5th grader is doing basic math. For my 8th grader, I actually ordered an old textbook from Ebay and we found that we LOVE this book. The examples are clear and really make learning easier. Before we used the Spectrum workbooks and though I love them, there wasn’t always a good example. But this book is fantastic. I also ordered an old textbook for the 5th grader, but considering her special needs it is still way to early to tell if this will work or not.

Spelling~ Each has their own workbooks.

Reading~ Each will be reading their own assigned Novel and then supplementing with activities.This month our 8th grade is reading The White Giraffe and our 5th grader is reading The Magic Treehouse Book 1~Dinosaurs after Dark. Each also have a reading comprehension books.

I just wanted to make a quick note about some of the levels my kids are on. Both of my daughters show signs of learning disabilities. And my 5th grader is more on a late 3rd early 4th grade level. So I know this will not fit for everyone. And my oldest is right on maybe even above in some areas but then lacks in the writing department.

Letter B~preschool

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Our second week of school was a lot more productive. We learned the letter B and color green. We mostly did coloring pages which Lil man is happy doing but he especially loves hands on stuff. His 3 favorite activities were the letter B has a Boo-Boo, Stamp the B’s and Big Brown Bear.

Letter B has a Boo-Boo~ We took the letter B and then Dakota covered it in band-aids. He loved digging threw the container and finding the different kinds of band-aids.

Stamp the B’s~ I got the printable from the blog 1plus1plusequals1 and we used a bingo marker from the Dollar store to stamp the B’s.

Big Brown Bear~ I found an adorable bear picture for him to color while reading Brown, Brown Bear What Do You See. And then we glued googly eyes.

I have learned that anything involving paint, glue, a glue stick or stamper is right up my son’s alley.

Letter A week~preschool

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When we started back to school this year, I was excited to find I have a very eager 3 year old wanting to participate too. This is both a blessing and a pain in my butt. But I have 4 kids so adding to my craziness is not hard. Last year he would sporadically do school. But now he wants more structure and more learning. He wants paint, glue, pencils and books. He even had to have his own backpack. And he specifically asked for his ABC’s.

Letter A~

For the most part we are sticking to the letters and just recognizing them. But I also throw in some shapes and colors once in a while because he knows those. And we have a monthly number we learn.

This was letter A. We colored alligators and practice tracing lines.

We painted a red apple.

And we traced his hand and arm to make a tree. Then glued red pom-poms for apples.

This was a slow week for us.

Wait until you see letter B.

International Homeschool Spirit Week

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Last week was International Homeschool Spirit Week. Basically all around the world homeschoolers thought why should those public schools get all the fun. We have spirit, yes we do, we have spirit just like you!!!!! But in the comfort of our home and pajamas. Ok now that  I got that out of my system, here’s how our week went.

Monday was Homeschool away from Home. Problem was I didn’t read my email about this fun week until Monday afternoon. But my kids had a laid back Monday due to our schedule changes. So we had mostly fall fun stuff planned.

Tuesday was Comfy Cozy Day. We spent the day in Pajamas and just laid around while doing school.

Wednesday was Crazy Sock Day. This was fun. My grandma had gone out the day before and bought us some tall crazy socks. And the kids loved this. I especially loved the looks I got when I had to go to Walmart. Some just laughed and one shook her head and glared at me.

Thursday was Mismatch day. I meant to take a picture because my kids and me looked CRAZY! I mixed hubby’s hawaiian shirt over some crazy patterned clothes and then did 80’s hair and make up. My kids came out with a different sock on each foot. Mismatching clothes were easy for them because I am always telling them they are mismatching.

Friday was Twin Day! Cailin and I were twins, as were Dakota and Brianna. Again another day I meant to take a picture! But we were having so much fun! And I forgot!

I am hoping this happens again next year. My kids had a blast!