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 mates!

I hope that you just’re having an incredible week and I’m so pumped that so lots of you could 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 technique to do it!

For at present’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 tough to navigate how and what to share. I’ve all the time been open with you guys in terms of my life, however the aim of the weblog has all the time 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 lots of you might be 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 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 personal faculty in January. We had been all fighting the mind-boggling quantity of homework, exams, and assignments. It was particularly arduous along 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 every thing for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in arduous work and I believe educational rigor has its place, nevertheless it 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 massive 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 anxious 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 nervousness bought so unhealthy 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 exams.

The Pilot was house for retirement and was educating her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the large packets of classwork, and taking her to highschool for exams. He had return to business airline coaching and I couldn’t fathom solo parenting, working, and attempting to maintain up with all the faculty work she was lacking, so I requested her to both select to return to highschool or we may pull her out, and she or he stated, “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 Lady! An amazing rec from Brittany.)

Additionally price mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Food Sentivity Test (and another purposeful labs) and bought to the basis 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 vastly 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 father or mother anticipate to show their youngsters extra successfully than a instructor?”

Throughout the ladies’ time in class, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re every thing lecturers needs to be. They love youngsters, love what they’re educating, they’re above and past. However on the similar 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, if you find yourself paying in 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 youngsters had been in all probability awkward as a result of they don’t have as a lot social interplay. The fact is that all the homeschooled youngsters I’ve met are variety, articulate, pleasant, and extremely sensible.

Regardless that I’ve seen mates homeschool and type of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it might be, I didn’t take into account it a risk as a result of I do business from home, juggling shopper calls, content material creation, podcast interviews, Zooms, IHP work, and so on. I didn’t really feel like I may add one other issues to my plate, however I didn’t even suppose twice about it once we bought so far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round so much so that almost all 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 in 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 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 further time collectively and are trying into all the cool homeschool actions that Tucson presents!

xoxo

Gina