why we determined to homeschool

sharing extra about how lengthy we intend to homeschool, and why the heck we’re doing it with just a bit over a month left of the varsity 12 months. 

Hello mates!

I hope that you just’re having a tremendous week and I’m so pumped that so lots of you could have signed up for our Spring Ahead wellness problem. Make certain to enroll right here – it’s completely free and it’s going to be a ton of enjoyable. When you’re in search of a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the right option to do it!

For right now’s publish, I needed to share slightly bit extra about our homeschool journey and what’s occurring. I’ve alluded to the truth that we’ve had a tough time the previous few months and it’s been troublesome to navigate how and what to share. I’ve at all times been open with you guys in terms of my life, however the aim of the weblog has at all times been to share MY expertise; not my youngsters’s. It’s a tough line to stroll, particularly after they’re an enormous a part of my life and I really feel like so lots of you might be part of our household. On the identical, I by no means need them to really feel like their privateness has been invaded by what I share right here, so I’ve at all times tried to take a fragile method to my content material, particularly as they’ve gotten older.

The nutshell model is that this: we ended up transferring Liv to a different personal faculty in January. We have been all scuffling with the mind-boggling quantity of homework, exams, and assignments. It was particularly exhausting together with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and reduce her hours in half, and she or he was nonetheless up till at the very least midnight each night time (for the previous 2+ years) attempting to complete all the things for college. I’m an enormous believer in exhausting work and I believe educational rigor has its place, but it surely was an excessive amount of for everybody. So, she switched and has been thriving.

When she switched faculties, it was the primary time P hasn’t had her large sis at college, which was difficult for her. The Pilot additionally retired, which was an enormous transition, and she or he began to have extra frequent stomachaches. (Her abdomen has bothered her on and off for years, which has at all times apprehensive me since she had severe reflux as a baby and was on Prilosec and Zantac, which has been recalled for terrifying causes.) She noticed a number of medical doctors, had an ultrasound, her abdomen was deemed “wholesome,” and their solely suggestion was to place her on a PPI once more. She was additionally doing CBT weekly, and typically twice every week. Her abdomen ache and anxiousness received so dangerous that she missed many days of faculty, and we have been right here attempting to maintain up with the insane quantity of homework, classwork, and exams.

The Pilot was dwelling for retirement and was educating her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the massive packets of classwork, and taking her to high school for exams. He had return to industrial airline coaching and I couldn’t fathom solo parenting, working, and attempting to maintain up with the entire faculty work she was lacking, so I requested her to both select to return to high school or we may pull her out, and she or he stated, “Please homeschool me.”

I by no means meant to be a trainer, however I’ll do something for our infants and if it’s what P wants proper now, I’m going to do it.

(We love Nicole the Math Lady! An amazing rec from Brittany.)

Additionally value mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Food Sentivity Test (and another useful labs) and received to the basis reason behind some intestine points, and her gluten sensitivity was extreme. No surprise her abdomen was hurting :/ Since she began the protocols and eliminated gluten, her abdomen ache has drastically decreased.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically gained’t have the ability to get in till fifth grade

– We’ll homeschool till then and if she decides to return, that’s nice, and if she doesn’t need to, that’s okay, too.

The humorous factor is that I was actually cautious of homeschooling. Pre-kids thought to myself, “How on earth can a dad or mum count on to show their children extra successfully than a trainer?”

Through the ladies’ time in class, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re all the things lecturers must be. They love children, love what they’re educating, they’re above and past. However on the identical time, some lecturers are…not good. They are saying weird issues in school, disgrace youngsters in entrance of their friends, and this occurs in a non-public faculty setting ALL the time, when you’re paying to your child to be taught by instructors who don’t appear to love youngsters in any respect. A overwhelming majority of the time, we spent the three to 4 hour block every night time educating anyway, as a result of they weren’t taught the content material throughout their courses.

Rising up, I additionally thought that homeschooled children have been in all probability awkward as a result of they don’t have as a lot social interplay. The fact is that the entire homeschooled children I’ve met are sort, articulate, pleasant, and extremely sensible.

Despite the fact that I’ve seen mates homeschool and type of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it could be, I didn’t think about it a risk as a result of I work at home, juggling shopper calls, content material creation, podcast interviews, Zooms, IHP work, and many others. I didn’t really feel like I may add one other issues to my plate, however I didn’t even assume twice about it once we received up to now. I’ve shuffled my schedule round loads so that the majority of my content material creation is completed over the weekend, and the sweetness about homeschool is that it solely takes round two hours every day at this age.

This publish is already tremendous lengthy, so I’ll share one other publish quickly with the curriculum we’re utilizing and the way we construction our days.

Thanks to your kindness and being so wonderful over the previous few months. It’s been a tough 12 months in some ways (this is only one of them) and being right here with you all every day is a serious shiny spot. We completed our first full week of homeschool and I’m feeling fairly excited and hopeful about it! I’m additionally grateful that we get to spend some additional time collectively and are wanting into the entire cool homeschool actions that Tucson affords!

xoxo

Gina