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 a tremendous week and I’m so pumped that so lots of you will have signed up for our Spring Ahead wellness problem. Be sure to enroll right here – it’s completely free and it’s going to be a ton of enjoyable. For those who’re searching for a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the right solution to do it!

For right this moment’s put up, 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 at all times been open with you guys in the case of 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 once 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 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 personal faculty in January. We had been all combating the mind-boggling quantity of homework, assessments, and assignments. It was particularly onerous along with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and lower her hours in half, and he or she was nonetheless up till no less than midnight each evening (for the previous 2+ years) making an attempt to complete every part for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in onerous work and I feel tutorial rigor has its place, however 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 he or she 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 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 acquired so dangerous that she missed many days of faculty, and we had been right here making an attempt to maintain up with the insane quantity of homework, classwork, and assessments.

The Pilot was dwelling for retirement and was instructing her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the massive packets of classwork, and taking her to highschool for assessments. He had return to business airline coaching and I couldn’t fathom solo parenting, working, and making an attempt 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 mentioned, “Please homeschool me.”

I by no means meant to be a trainer, 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 useful labs) and acquired 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 vastly lowered.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically received’t be capable 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 mum or dad anticipate to show their children extra successfully than a trainer?”

Through the ladies’ time in class, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re every part lecturers ought to 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 kids in entrance of their friends, and this occurs in a non-public faculty atmosphere ALL the time, when you’re 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 evening instructing 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 most likely awkward as a result of they don’t have as a lot social interplay. The truth is that the entire homeschooled children I’ve met are type, articulate, pleasant, and extremely sensible.

Regardless that I’ve seen pals homeschool and type of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it will be, I didn’t contemplate it a chance as a result of I make money working from home, juggling consumer 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 acquired up to now. I’ve shuffled my schedule round rather a lot so that the majority 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 put up is already tremendous lengthy, so I’ll share one other put up quickly with the curriculum we’re utilizing and the way we construction our days.

Thanks in 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 further time collectively and are trying into the entire cool homeschool actions that Tucson presents!

xoxo

Gina