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 pals!

I hope that you just’re having an incredible week and I’m so pumped that so lots of you will 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. In case you’re on the lookout for a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the proper method to do it!

For right now’s submit, I wished to share a bit 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 all the time been open with you guys in relation 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 tough line to stroll, particularly once they’re an enormous a part of my life and I really feel like so lots of you’re 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 fighting the mind-boggling quantity of homework, exams, and assignments. It was particularly onerous along with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and lower her hours in half, and she or he was nonetheless up till no less than 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 feel educational rigor has its place, however 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 massive 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 all the time frightened 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 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 exams.

The Pilot was house 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 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 high school or we might 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 value mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Food Sentivity Test (and another practical labs) and received to the foundation explanation for 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 enormously diminished.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically gained’t be capable of 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 guardian anticipate 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 surroundings ALL the time, if you find yourself paying to 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 lessons.

Rising up, I additionally thought that homeschooled children 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 children I’ve met are type, articulate, pleasant, and extremely good.

Although I’ve seen pals homeschool and sort of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it could be, I didn’t contemplate it a chance as a result of I work at home, juggling shopper 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 assume twice about it after we received so far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round quite a bit 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 submit is already tremendous lengthy, so I’ll share one other submit 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 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 wanting into all the cool homeschool actions that Tucson gives!

xoxo

Gina