When we made the shift from homeschooling to enrolling our three bigs in the local public school last year, I felt like a failure. In the weeks between registering our children and them starting class, I worried and fretted over what this meant for their futures, and how they would be treated by the school system and their peers, as well as more mundane concerns like getting up and out the door every day and school clothes and supplies.
I haven't blogged much over this last school year, and what I did write didn't address the kids' schooling. This year has been a roller coaster in many ways, but the kids' school has been a blessedly stable, positive experience. The twins' teacher was wonderful, and my dd's teacher was reasonably good. They are all now reading, which is a huge, huge improvement. My dd is now getting the additional help and support she needs to overcome her newly-diagnosed learning disability.
It is wonderful to now have other caring adults invested in my children's education. Homeschooling is an excellent option for many families, and the season we spent schooling together was good in many ways. But with my dh traveling extensively, dd having an undiagnosed learning disability, and three littles home, too, I just couldn't continue.
School began yesterday. My 9yodd is in 4th grade, and the twins are in the same 3rd grade classroom. 5yods begins kindergarten next Monday, and went in for an evaluation this afternoon. So far we like all the kids' teachers, and have high hopes of having another very successful school year.
And when I hear my dd read a book to me, or listen to the twins quiz each other on their spelling words, or see my 5yods write his name, I see them succeeding--and I am grateful.
Showing posts with label school in a full house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school in a full house. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
9/365
L and S, "working" on homeschool preschool. Dinosaurs, colors, and sorting on the agenda for the day.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Countdown
Six days until my three bigs begin school.
I made them eggs in a basket for breakfast this morning. We're really starting to get into the routine of getting up early and eating right away. As messy as they are, though, I wonder if I should have them get dressed after breakfast, so they at least show up to school in clean clothes. Or maybe I'll make them wear bibs.
Later this morning we are going to go to the school and find their classrooms and the nearest bathrooms. If the teachers are there, we'll meet them, too. This isn't a school event, but I called last week and the receptionist said that we could come on Tuesday and look around.
We have lots of school supplies. A friend gave each of my children personalized backpacks in their favorite colors from Land's End, and when they arrived last week the kids wore them all afternoon.
I made them eggs in a basket for breakfast this morning. We're really starting to get into the routine of getting up early and eating right away. As messy as they are, though, I wonder if I should have them get dressed after breakfast, so they at least show up to school in clean clothes. Or maybe I'll make them wear bibs.
Later this morning we are going to go to the school and find their classrooms and the nearest bathrooms. If the teachers are there, we'll meet them, too. This isn't a school event, but I called last week and the receptionist said that we could come on Tuesday and look around.
We have lots of school supplies. A friend gave each of my children personalized backpacks in their favorite colors from Land's End, and when they arrived last week the kids wore them all afternoon.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Less than two weeks to go
On July 28 my three bigs will be starting their first year of public school.
Their school is on a year-round schedule, and my three are on Track C. This means that they will go to school for three weeks, and then will be off-track (out of school) for three weeks. They start back on track (in school) on September 8, and will be in classes through the month of October. Then they have the entire month of November off-track! They'll be back in class on December 1, only to have off two weeks for Christmas/New Year's.
I think the year-round schedule will take some getting used to, but I'm glad that it gives them breaks throughout the year, rather than one long break in the summer. This way, we can still do fun things together throughout the entire year--we'll just have to plan it for when they're off-track.
The local stores have some good back-to-school sales right now, and I've stocked up on school supplies. We haven't yet received any class supply lists, so I'm guessing. But it's probably a safe guess that they'll need pencils, crayons, colored pencils, and notebooks. Hopefully their class lists will arrive soon.
A good friend who understands my angst about sending the kids to school gave them (and me) a very thoughtful gift: personalized backpacks in their favorite colors from L.L. Bean.
My 8yodd will be in third grade, and my twin guys will be in the same second grade class, as we requested. I am most anxious about the fact that none of them are reading fluently, but are still in the decoding stage. So they are not to grade level, especially my dd. They are similarly behind in math. I'm trying not to convey my anxiety to them. I don't want them to be worried.
We've begun getting up/going to bed according to school times, which means they are going to bed (theoretically) at 8:30 and getting up at 7:00. I want them dressed, fed, and walking out the door by 7:40 each morning, so we'll see how that works.
I'm working on pulling together their school clothes and pulling them out of regular circulation. I'll have a bit of money for school clothes shopping after dh gets paid at the end of the month, but probably not much. My guys are pretty well set while it's still hot weather--they have tons of shorts and nice tees--but my dd is a bit short on nice clothes. I'm hoping to come across some good sales at yard sales/thrift stores to suppliment her wardrobe. They will all need new sneakers, and dd needs some new dress shoes eventually.
Please pray for us, that all these details will come together smoothly. Pray especially that God will be glorified by our family in this new venue, and that we will be a light.
Their school is on a year-round schedule, and my three are on Track C. This means that they will go to school for three weeks, and then will be off-track (out of school) for three weeks. They start back on track (in school) on September 8, and will be in classes through the month of October. Then they have the entire month of November off-track! They'll be back in class on December 1, only to have off two weeks for Christmas/New Year's.
I think the year-round schedule will take some getting used to, but I'm glad that it gives them breaks throughout the year, rather than one long break in the summer. This way, we can still do fun things together throughout the entire year--we'll just have to plan it for when they're off-track.
The local stores have some good back-to-school sales right now, and I've stocked up on school supplies. We haven't yet received any class supply lists, so I'm guessing. But it's probably a safe guess that they'll need pencils, crayons, colored pencils, and notebooks. Hopefully their class lists will arrive soon.
A good friend who understands my angst about sending the kids to school gave them (and me) a very thoughtful gift: personalized backpacks in their favorite colors from L.L. Bean.
My 8yodd will be in third grade, and my twin guys will be in the same second grade class, as we requested. I am most anxious about the fact that none of them are reading fluently, but are still in the decoding stage. So they are not to grade level, especially my dd. They are similarly behind in math. I'm trying not to convey my anxiety to them. I don't want them to be worried.
We've begun getting up/going to bed according to school times, which means they are going to bed (theoretically) at 8:30 and getting up at 7:00. I want them dressed, fed, and walking out the door by 7:40 each morning, so we'll see how that works.
I'm working on pulling together their school clothes and pulling them out of regular circulation. I'll have a bit of money for school clothes shopping after dh gets paid at the end of the month, but probably not much. My guys are pretty well set while it's still hot weather--they have tons of shorts and nice tees--but my dd is a bit short on nice clothes. I'm hoping to come across some good sales at yard sales/thrift stores to suppliment her wardrobe. They will all need new sneakers, and dd needs some new dress shoes eventually.
Please pray for us, that all these details will come together smoothly. Pray especially that God will be glorified by our family in this new venue, and that we will be a light.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
The kids are registered for public school
This feels so strange, like suddenly I'm someone that I don't recognize.
Dh made this call, but I do agree with him that it's the right decision. Our kids deserve a good education, and they're not getting it right now.
Getting them registered was relatively painless. Thankfully, I could easily lay my hands on their birth certificates and immunization exemption forms. I wrote a letter to the principal explaining our concern that our kids' lack of reading skills will make it difficult for them to be in their age-appropriate grade levels, but left that call to them. I did request that our twins be put into the same classroom, so hopefully they'll do that.
The elementary schools in this area are year-round, so classes were in session today for B, C, and D tracks. Classes end for them in two weeks. Most of the month of July is summer break, and then A, B, and C tracks start back on July 28. I've requested that they not be on the D track, just so they can start sooner rather than later. My preference is B track, but I'll take A, B, or C and be content.
The school itself seems nice. The office staff were kind and helpful, both on the phone and while were were in the office. And the stack of handouts I grabbed look engaging.
I'm trying hard to be enthusiastic when talking about this with the kids. They have lots of questions, as you can imagine. I've been reassuring them that I LOVED school when I was their age--and I did. Junior high and parts of high school sucked, but elementary was mostly a good experience for me. They are excited and nervous, but we have over a month before they'll start, so I'm sure we'll have some ups and downs.
My 7yodsC has already told me a couple of times that he'll really miss me. I am glad that they're bigger, now, and not little 5yos. I can't imagine sending my 4yod to school in another year, even though he'd technically be the right age for Kindergarten.
This is all really overwhelming. We had talked about this in the past as a possibility, but dh very suddenly decided this last night. I'm still feeling somewhat whiplashed.
I was told to expect a letter from the school sometime next week, telling us what track and teachers our kids have. So I guess until then we'll just have to be patient.
Dh made this call, but I do agree with him that it's the right decision. Our kids deserve a good education, and they're not getting it right now.
Getting them registered was relatively painless. Thankfully, I could easily lay my hands on their birth certificates and immunization exemption forms. I wrote a letter to the principal explaining our concern that our kids' lack of reading skills will make it difficult for them to be in their age-appropriate grade levels, but left that call to them. I did request that our twins be put into the same classroom, so hopefully they'll do that.
The elementary schools in this area are year-round, so classes were in session today for B, C, and D tracks. Classes end for them in two weeks. Most of the month of July is summer break, and then A, B, and C tracks start back on July 28. I've requested that they not be on the D track, just so they can start sooner rather than later. My preference is B track, but I'll take A, B, or C and be content.
The school itself seems nice. The office staff were kind and helpful, both on the phone and while were were in the office. And the stack of handouts I grabbed look engaging.
I'm trying hard to be enthusiastic when talking about this with the kids. They have lots of questions, as you can imagine. I've been reassuring them that I LOVED school when I was their age--and I did. Junior high and parts of high school sucked, but elementary was mostly a good experience for me. They are excited and nervous, but we have over a month before they'll start, so I'm sure we'll have some ups and downs.
My 7yodsC has already told me a couple of times that he'll really miss me. I am glad that they're bigger, now, and not little 5yos. I can't imagine sending my 4yod to school in another year, even though he'd technically be the right age for Kindergarten.
This is all really overwhelming. We had talked about this in the past as a possibility, but dh very suddenly decided this last night. I'm still feeling somewhat whiplashed.
I was told to expect a letter from the school sometime next week, telling us what track and teachers our kids have. So I guess until then we'll just have to be patient.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Failure
Tomorrow I'm calling the school district and registering our three bigs for school.
This isn't how it was supposed to go, but homeschooling and my chronic inability to follow through aren't a good mix.
Dh and I both survived public school. Hopefully our children will fare better.
This isn't how it was supposed to go, but homeschooling and my chronic inability to follow through aren't a good mix.
Dh and I both survived public school. Hopefully our children will fare better.
Monday, May 5, 2008
I'm back on my blog
I'm back, with no good excuse for my absence. Life with six kids, you know?
Bits and pieces from the last two weeks:
*My friends whose newborn was in the NICU were able to take him home after eleven days in the hospital. He initially came home on oxygen, but was given a clean bill of health from his pediatrician a few days ago and is now off of all the tubes and wires and doing well.
*The women's study group I've been a part of over the last school year completed our time together studying Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. What a great book! I'm glad we took as long as we did in studying it, because I needed a lot of time to mull over the various disciplines highlighted in each chapter, as well as work on incorporating some of them into my life. Highly recommended!
*Last week we actually began school at 8:30am for three days running. This meant that we were done with school before lunch--absolutely the smoothest homeschooling days in my memory. My new goal for school: start the day early enough so that we can complete everything (with the possible exception of math) before lunch each day.
*This last weekend was dominated by our little guy getting another ear infection. Poor little smidge! He's just been miserable, wimpering and wanting nothing but to be held by Mommy continually. Babies are so pathetic when they're sick. He just couldn't understand why the world had suddenly become such an awful place, when up until now the worst thing he's had to deal with was the occasional bad diaper or bad bout of gas.
*Yesterday afternoon the little guy started feeling better. After grilling brats and dogs for dinner, we took the kids to the drive-in theater. We had a ball, although The Iron Man was wayyyyy too intense in parts for our kids--they spent a fair portion of the movie covering their eyes with their hands. Even comic-book style violence isn't that great for the littles, and there was a lot of it. Lots of fun, too, though. Made for a verrrrrryyyyyyy late night, since the movie itself didn't begin until 9:00.
*Last night being such a late night and me being pretty sleep deprived because of the little guy's ear infection night-time fussiness, we ended up not doing school today. We did take an unexpected field trip to dh's workplace, though, to watch him work on a drill from a location accessible to the public--a rare opportunity. Got some great pictures, which I'll post on Facebook, and the kids were thrilled to see Daddy hard at work.
P.S. In trying to label this post, I've realized that I don't yet have a label for books or reading. How is this possible? I'm a bookaholic, and have been my entire life. I read less now than I did when I was unencumbered by short people, especially since they started growing taller and having opinions and wanting intelligent interaction and all that nonsense, but, good grief! How have I been blogging for, what three months, without mentioning all the books I've read? Some terrible kind of disconnect, I'm sure. I'll be amending that in the future, you can be certain.
Bits and pieces from the last two weeks:
*My friends whose newborn was in the NICU were able to take him home after eleven days in the hospital. He initially came home on oxygen, but was given a clean bill of health from his pediatrician a few days ago and is now off of all the tubes and wires and doing well.
*The women's study group I've been a part of over the last school year completed our time together studying Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. What a great book! I'm glad we took as long as we did in studying it, because I needed a lot of time to mull over the various disciplines highlighted in each chapter, as well as work on incorporating some of them into my life. Highly recommended!
*Last week we actually began school at 8:30am for three days running. This meant that we were done with school before lunch--absolutely the smoothest homeschooling days in my memory. My new goal for school: start the day early enough so that we can complete everything (with the possible exception of math) before lunch each day.
*This last weekend was dominated by our little guy getting another ear infection. Poor little smidge! He's just been miserable, wimpering and wanting nothing but to be held by Mommy continually. Babies are so pathetic when they're sick. He just couldn't understand why the world had suddenly become such an awful place, when up until now the worst thing he's had to deal with was the occasional bad diaper or bad bout of gas.
*Yesterday afternoon the little guy started feeling better. After grilling brats and dogs for dinner, we took the kids to the drive-in theater. We had a ball, although The Iron Man was wayyyyy too intense in parts for our kids--they spent a fair portion of the movie covering their eyes with their hands. Even comic-book style violence isn't that great for the littles, and there was a lot of it. Lots of fun, too, though. Made for a verrrrrryyyyyyy late night, since the movie itself didn't begin until 9:00.
*Last night being such a late night and me being pretty sleep deprived because of the little guy's ear infection night-time fussiness, we ended up not doing school today. We did take an unexpected field trip to dh's workplace, though, to watch him work on a drill from a location accessible to the public--a rare opportunity. Got some great pictures, which I'll post on Facebook, and the kids were thrilled to see Daddy hard at work.
P.S. In trying to label this post, I've realized that I don't yet have a label for books or reading. How is this possible? I'm a bookaholic, and have been my entire life. I read less now than I did when I was unencumbered by short people, especially since they started growing taller and having opinions and wanting intelligent interaction and all that nonsense, but, good grief! How have I been blogging for, what three months, without mentioning all the books I've read? Some terrible kind of disconnect, I'm sure. I'll be amending that in the future, you can be certain.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Manic Monday
Today I am watching a friend's 2yo daughter while her baby brother makes his entrance into the world. She's a sweet little thing, and she and my 2yo guy are hilarious to watch playing together. She's an only--well, she was until today--and my little guy is number five in our family. So when they play together, she definitely directs the action.
The three bigs and I are continuing on with first grade. Reading is coming just a bit easier every day, and I'm encouraged by their progress. I am now a complete convert to the BJU curriculum. Today in math the three bigs were "writing" equations by laying out their number cards with the + and the = signs. They are really grasping concepts now, and go around the house adding together everything from their markers to the number of plates they must use to set the table for dinner.
The weather today is gorgeous--sunny and warm. I'm so happy that we seem to have finally seen the end of winter. All the kids spent time playing in the back yard, and the windows are wide open, airing out the house from the stale, closed-up months of winter.
The three bigs and I are continuing on with first grade. Reading is coming just a bit easier every day, and I'm encouraged by their progress. I am now a complete convert to the BJU curriculum. Today in math the three bigs were "writing" equations by laying out their number cards with the + and the = signs. They are really grasping concepts now, and go around the house adding together everything from their markers to the number of plates they must use to set the table for dinner.
The weather today is gorgeous--sunny and warm. I'm so happy that we seem to have finally seen the end of winter. All the kids spent time playing in the back yard, and the windows are wide open, airing out the house from the stale, closed-up months of winter.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
School catch-up
Winter is still here, despite the calendar telling us Spring began last week. Another storm last night covered the ground in snow. The kitties were offended by having wet paws when they went outside this morning, and quickly shook them off when they came back inside.
School isn't getting done today. We managed Bible and English, and I think we'll at least get Spelling done once the little guys go down for their afternoon naps. I'm already planning on Saturday being a catch-up day, to make up for our abbreviated day on Tuesday with the unexpected doctor's office visit and emergency room run. So far it looks like we'll have one lesson each of English and Spelling, and two lessons of Math and History. I may try to do two Math lessons tomorrow, so Saturday is less stressful.
Since we've made the change in homeschooling curriculum to Bob Jones textbooks with the lessons taught on video, our three bigs have made huge strides in their learning. They are all now reading, with a lot of hesitancy, but definitely decoding the words in the stories in their readers and understanding the meaning.
Today's reader story was the first time I've seen my 8yodd read with confidence. The story had a fair amount of repetition, and once she read through the beginning section she was able to continue on with almost no help from me. This was wonderful to see. My 8yodd often struggles with recognizing that she's read a word before, even if it was in the previous sentence. Listening to her read through today's short story without hesitancy was a beautiful thing.
School isn't getting done today. We managed Bible and English, and I think we'll at least get Spelling done once the little guys go down for their afternoon naps. I'm already planning on Saturday being a catch-up day, to make up for our abbreviated day on Tuesday with the unexpected doctor's office visit and emergency room run. So far it looks like we'll have one lesson each of English and Spelling, and two lessons of Math and History. I may try to do two Math lessons tomorrow, so Saturday is less stressful.
Since we've made the change in homeschooling curriculum to Bob Jones textbooks with the lessons taught on video, our three bigs have made huge strides in their learning. They are all now reading, with a lot of hesitancy, but definitely decoding the words in the stories in their readers and understanding the meaning.
Today's reader story was the first time I've seen my 8yodd read with confidence. The story had a fair amount of repetition, and once she read through the beginning section she was able to continue on with almost no help from me. This was wonderful to see. My 8yodd often struggles with recognizing that she's read a word before, even if it was in the previous sentence. Listening to her read through today's short story without hesitancy was a beautiful thing.
Monday, March 3, 2008
We can read!
Today marks a momentous occasion: the day my three oldest children officially became readers.
We've been working on their sight words and using their phonics lessons to learn how to sound out what they don't recognize, and today it all came together as they each read the first story in their readers.
I'm so happy I could cry.
This has not come easily. My daughter has struggled in learning to read, and because she is the oldest our entire experience of homeschooling thus far has been frustrating, to say the least. We're on our fourth phonics curriculum. And I'm afraid that in my concern that my daughter not be the last reader among our three bigs I've held back my two boys, who have been ready to take off for some time, now. Even today, my daughter struggled and hesitated, needing several minutes to decode the pages while my boys read the text easily.
It's hard to watch her fight for what came so easily to me. I was an early, strong, voracious reader. I can't remember a time when I did not love books. But it seems that my daughter takes after her Daddy, who also struggled with reading in his early elementary years.
So tomorrow we'll be reading the next story in our readers, and will continue on in the days that follow. And hopefully by the end of our school year, I'll have three children who love books and reading, and have moved beyond learning the mechanics to being fluent readers.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
A Flop for Dinner
Today is the first day that we got through all the courses in our new homeschooling curriculum. We began yesterday, but I got suddenly sick in the afternoon and we had to put off doing the first math lesson. We did two lessons in math today, to make up for it. I'm wanting to stay as close to on-track as possible, since our goal is to finish first grade with it and move the three bigs into second grade in the fall.
Homeschooling three kids and caring for an infant, a toddler, and a preschooler, plus keeping up on the house and trying to provide such basics as clean clothes and meals for everyone...right now, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. This new curriculum is a vast improvement over what we were doing before, in that it's not completely teacher (mom) intensive, but it still requires a large time investment on my part. I'm trying to figure out how to fit everything in, still, and so far meals and laundry are suffering. Dh had leftover (homemade, at least) pizza last night, and the kids had cold cereal and toast. They were thrilled, but I can't do that every night.
So, tonight I made a not-so-great casserole with chicken, whole wheat pasta, and broccoli. The kids' weren't too enthused, and honestly I can't blame them. I'm still learning how to make the casseroles dh likes with the whole wheat pasta we're now using, and tonight's pasta was gummy and not very appealing.
Oh, well. Tomorrow we're having one of the lasagnas I made last week, so that's two nights of a good meal that I don't even have to prepare.
Homeschooling three kids and caring for an infant, a toddler, and a preschooler, plus keeping up on the house and trying to provide such basics as clean clothes and meals for everyone...right now, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. This new curriculum is a vast improvement over what we were doing before, in that it's not completely teacher (mom) intensive, but it still requires a large time investment on my part. I'm trying to figure out how to fit everything in, still, and so far meals and laundry are suffering. Dh had leftover (homemade, at least) pizza last night, and the kids had cold cereal and toast. They were thrilled, but I can't do that every night.
So, tonight I made a not-so-great casserole with chicken, whole wheat pasta, and broccoli. The kids' weren't too enthused, and honestly I can't blame them. I'm still learning how to make the casseroles dh likes with the whole wheat pasta we're now using, and tonight's pasta was gummy and not very appealing.
Oh, well. Tomorrow we're having one of the lasagnas I made last week, so that's two nights of a good meal that I don't even have to prepare.
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