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 college yr. 

Hello buddies!

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

For at this time’s publish, I wished to share somewhat 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 all the time been open with you guys with regards to my life, however the aim of the weblog has all the time been to share MY expertise; not my kids’s. It’s a difficult 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 all the time tried to take a fragile strategy to my content material, particularly as they’ve gotten older.

The nutshell model is that this: we ended up transferring Liv to a different non-public faculty in January. We had been all scuffling with the mind-boggling quantity of homework, checks, and assignments. It was particularly onerous along with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and minimize her hours in half, and she or he was nonetheless up till at the least midnight each evening (for the previous 2+ years) attempting to complete every part for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in onerous work and I believe tutorial rigor has its place, but it surely was an excessive amount of for everybody. So, she switched and has been thriving.

When she switched colleges, it was the primary time P hasn’t had her large sis in school, 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 all the time fearful me since she had extreme reflux as a child 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 generally twice every week. Her abdomen ache and anxiousness received so dangerous that she missed many days of faculty, and we had been right here attempting to maintain up with the insane quantity of homework, classwork, and checks.

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 checks. 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 might pull her out, and she or he mentioned, “Please homeschool me.”

I by no means supposed to be a instructor, 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 Girl! A tremendous rec from Brittany.)

Additionally value mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Meals Sentivity Check (and another practical labs) and received to the foundation 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 vastly lowered.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically received’t be capable 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 father or mother count on to show their children extra successfully than a instructor?”

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

Rising up, I additionally thought that homeschooled children had been most likely awkward as a result of they don’t have as a lot social interplay. The truth is that the entire homeschooled children I’ve met are form, articulate, pleasant, and extremely good.

Regardless that I’ve seen buddies homeschool and type of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it might be, I didn’t contemplate it a risk as a result of I do business from home, juggling consumer calls, content material creation, podcast interviews, Zooms, IHP work, and so on. I didn’t really feel like I might add one other issues to my plate, however I didn’t even suppose twice about it once we received thus far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round so much so that the majority of my content material creation is finished over the weekend, and the wonder 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 on your kindness and being so wonderful over the previous few months. It’s been a tough yr in some ways (this is only one of them) and being right here with you all every day is a significant 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 provides!

xoxo

Gina