Tuesday, December 13, 2011

homeschooling james

Wow. I'm just so thrilled to be homeschooling James. The older two are doing cyberschool (their choice) so it's really nice to be actually homeschooling a little one again. James was in preschool...but...well...that didn't go so well. lol ahem. Anyways, he's so excited to do things and I'm excited to do them with him. I'm pretty "on the fence" as to whether or not I'll have him do cyberschool next year. On one hand, I know he's going to have some challenges because of his special needs and I don't really want him to be identified and given an IEP, which I know will happen if he's cyberschooled. If he gets an IEP and then later I want to homeschool him, it will make it harder to do that. On the other hand, I just want him to thrive and learn and feel good about himself. If his challenges are such that he feels like he can't succeed and I feel like I'm unable to really help him, then I'll want to get him the help he needs. If he's in cyberschool, at least he's getting that help and support, but he's home here with me. And who really cares about him getting an IEP if it would help him with his learning. Even if he's doing cyberschool, that's like only a couple hours a day so we could be unschooling the rest of the time. So, that's my conundrum. I'm glad I pulled him out of preschool, though. This will give us a good amount of time before next Fall to learn together and I can get a feel for how he learns and whether or not cyberschool is even necessary. He really wants to learn to read....so, I'm going to attempt to teach him that and go from there. If he can learn to read then I think we can pretty much do anything and won't need cyberschool. Decoding the language is often where learning disabilities show up, I think, so I'm just going to start there. If anyone is reading and has suggestions or ideas, please let me know. (I don't even know if anyone reads this!) lol

Monday, December 12, 2011

wow....I'm really bad at this blogging thing. It's been practically a year since I last updated. And SO MUCH has changed for our family. The main reason I haven't updated is because I was caring for my dying partner for the better part of this year. From April-October, she was sick and passed in October. So, yes, a lot has changed. The children (at least Erin 16 and Adam 12) had decided to do cyberschool this year, which turned out to be a good thing for us and them. Erin is doing 10th grade at PAVCS....she felt like she wanted to be challenged and wanted to do higher Math than I can teach her. She needs guidance, though, so felt like enrolling in the cyberschool would be good for her. It was completely her idea and decision. She's doing really really well. She actually qualified the AP English class and is growing more and more confident in herself. She decided to wait until next year to do AP English, just because this is really her first traditional schooling experience and she doesn't want to overwhelm herself. Smart girl. Adam is doing very well, too. He grumbles and complains, but I know that he likes it....I don't have to (and wouldn't) nag him about doing his work or getting to class. They are both doing synchronous classes (which means actual classes online, real-time) and I think it's a good way to do it. Jamie (my partner) and I had decided to enroll James in a private preschool just because we knew that this Fall was going to be difficult with her sick. We wanted him to be able to go somewhere each day to play and have fun and for it to be a consistent place for him....as well as giving me a break since I was caring for Jamie full-time. I think it was a smart thing to do, as well. However, he has a lot of anxiety about going and I think that it is an overwhelming thing for him. I'm sure Jamie's being gone is certainly causing anxiety....but with his special needs, he is just overstimulated there and does not have the social or mental skills to really thrive and enjoy himself. There have been behavior issues there and I just don't see the point in keeping him in the situation when I will definitely be homeschooling (or cyberschooling) him. So, after the holidays he'll be staying home again. I'm looking forward to doing some fun stuff with him in the new year. So. That's where we are. I don't know where the future will take us but it will take us there together.