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 yr. 

Hello associates!

I hope that you simply’re having an incredible week and I’m so pumped that so a lot 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. For those who’re in search of a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the proper method to do it!

For right now’s publish, I wished to share somewhat bit extra about our homeschool journey and what’s happening. I’ve alluded to the truth that we’ve had a tough time the previous few months and it’s been tough to navigate how and what to share. I’ve at all times been open with you guys on the subject 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 difficult line to stroll, particularly after they’re an enormous a part of my life and I really feel like so a lot of you’re part of our household. On the similar, 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 non-public faculty in January. We had been all combating 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 a minimum of midnight each night time (for the previous 2+ years) attempting to complete every thing for college. I’m an enormous believer in exhausting work and I feel tutorial rigor has its place, nevertheless it 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 huge 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 at all times nervous 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 docs, 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 per week. Her abdomen ache and anxiousness obtained so unhealthy that she missed many days of college, and we had been right here attempting to maintain up with the insane quantity of homework, classwork, and exams.

The Pilot was house for retirement and was instructing her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the massive packets of classwork, and taking her to highschool 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 highschool or we might pull her out, and she or he stated, “Please homeschool me.”

I by no means meant 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 Lady! An amazing rec from Brittany.)

Additionally value mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Food Sentivity Test (and another purposeful labs) and obtained to the foundation reason for some intestine points, and her gluten sensitivity was extreme. No marvel her abdomen was hurting :/ Since she began the protocols and eliminated gluten, her abdomen ache has tremendously decreased.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically received’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 wish 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 mum or dad anticipate to show their children extra successfully than a instructor?”

Throughout the ladies’ time in class, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re every thing lecturers must be. They love children, love what they’re instructing, they’re above and past. However on the similar time, some lecturers are…not good. They are saying weird issues at school, disgrace youngsters in entrance of their friends, and this occurs in a non-public faculty setting ALL the time, if you find yourself 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 instructing 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 fact is that the entire homeschooled children I’ve met are form, articulate, pleasant, and extremely good.

Regardless that I’ve seen associates homeschool and form of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it might be, I didn’t think about it a risk as a result of I make money working from home, juggling consumer calls, content material creation, podcast interviews, Zooms, IHP work, and so forth. 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 obtained so far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round so much so that almost all 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 to your kindness and being so superb 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 brilliant 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