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 an incredible week and I’m so pumped that so a lot 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. When you’re searching for a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the proper strategy to do it!

For in the present day’s submit, I wished to share a bit of 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 with regards to my life, however the aim of the weblog has at all times 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 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 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 college in January. We had been all scuffling with the mind-boggling quantity of homework, assessments, 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 a minimum of midnight each night time (for the previous 2+ years) attempting to complete every little thing for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in arduous work and I feel 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 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 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 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 every week. Her abdomen ache and nervousness obtained 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 assessments.

The Pilot was residence for retirement and was instructing her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the massive packets of classwork, and taking her to high school for assessments. He had return to industrial airline coaching and I couldn’t fathom solo parenting, working, and attempting to maintain up with all the college 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 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 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 obtained to the foundation reason 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 drastically lowered.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new college 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 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 father or mother anticipate to show their children extra successfully than a instructor?”

Throughout the ladies’ time at school, we’ve had some extraordinary academics who’re every little thing academics must be. They love children, love what they’re instructing, they’re above and past. However on the similar time, some academics are…not good. They are saying weird issues in school, disgrace kids in entrance of their friends, and this occurs in a personal college surroundings ALL the time, if you end up 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 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 truth is that all the homeschooled children I’ve met are type, articulate, pleasant, and extremely sensible.

Though I’ve seen mates homeschool and sort of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it could be, I didn’t take into account 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 suppose twice about it after we obtained so far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round loads so that almost all of my content material creation is finished over the weekend, and the sweetness 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 on your kindness and being so superb 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 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 further time collectively and are trying into all the cool homeschool actions that Tucson gives!

xoxo

Gina