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 buddies!

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. Ensure to enroll right here – it’s completely free and it’s going to be a ton of enjoyable. In case you’re searching for a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the proper technique to do it!

For as we speak’s publish, I needed 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 the case of 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 a lot 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 personal faculty in January. We had been all fighting the mind-boggling quantity of homework, exams, and assignments. It was particularly exhausting along with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and reduce her hours in half, and he or she was nonetheless up till not less than midnight each night time (for the previous 2+ years) attempting to complete all the pieces for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in exhausting work and I feel 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 massive sis in school, which was difficult for her. The Pilot additionally retired, which was an enormous transition, and he or she 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 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 per 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 dwelling for retirement and was instructing her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the large 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 may pull her out, and he or she 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 price mentioning right here that I made a decision to do a Food Sentivity Test (and another purposeful labs) and bought 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 significantly lowered.

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 dad or mum count on to show their youngsters extra successfully than a instructor?”

In the course of the ladies’ time at school, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re all the pieces lecturers ought to be. They love youngsters, love what they’re instructing, they’re above and past. However on the identical time, some lecturers are…not good. They are saying weird issues in 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 in 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 youngsters had been in all probability awkward as a result of they don’t have as a lot social interplay. The fact is that the entire homeschooled youngsters I’ve met are variety, articulate, pleasant, and extremely good.

Regardless that I’ve seen buddies homeschool and form of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it will be, I didn’t contemplate it a risk as a result of I earn a living from home, juggling consumer 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 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 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 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 wanting into the entire cool homeschool actions that Tucson gives!

xoxo

Gina