Our homeschooling adventures, learning right along with my family. We have an eclectic approach where the most important thing is to make sure we have fun while we learn. For my other family adventures check out my other blog "Ever After . . . My Way" as linked on the sidebar.
Princess Magpie
Princess Belle
Aug. 21, 2009
Random Notes
We bought our homeschool supplies yesterday. Princess Belle was with us and helping us pick out things. It was such a fun time and it was great to see her so excited. We have a few things we still want to get, (such as a World map, a Canada map, a white board (or chalk board) for household messages, notes for future homeschool days etc., and a table top white board for using to help her with her school work.
When I asked her if she was excited, she said, "Yes, because in school she just tells me what to do. You can help me when I need you." It warmed my heart. I even created a schedule for the first week and put in on the fridge for her to see. She loves the visual reminder and she keeps looking at it.
Princess Belle is so excited about homeschool that she has asked that we start on Monday instead of September 1st. I decided that I wanted to capitalize on her excitement and we are going to start on Monday. We are even crossing off the days on the Calendar. Her first words to me this morning were, "Three More Sleeps Mommy!!!"
I have been obsessing a little on the upcoming school year and how it will have changed for me. Here are some ideas I have heard about that I really like:
Do some back to homeschool shopping, let her choose a backpack, for when we study on the outside our house, also get some pencils, notebooks and other school supplies that are usually on sale at this time of year. Let her choose a lunch box in which to pack field trip lunches. She was in public school before and she might even want to pack lunch somedays even when we are just eating at home. Those school supplies are a traditional ritual, and there is no reason for homeschooled kids to miss out on them.
Choose a few decorations that fit our school curriculum-borders, posters and so on. Get Princess Belle to make some as well. Decorate one area of our house with previews of the coming year.
Let Princess Belle help plan our curriculum. She has things she wants to learn about in music, and she has ideas for field trip.
Let her catch me making things for school that I try to hide, saying they are a surprise for school. Make big plans for the first day of school-special lesson plans, a big craft, lunch out or whatever makes it fun.
Plan favorite meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner the first day.
Go somewhere in the afternoon, such as library time--it is practically empty!
Take a family portrait for our Family Homeschool Yearbook
What do you do on the first day of school? What traditions do you have?
I am planning on starting homeschool a little early, on August 24th. That will help with any time I may lose in her schooling when I have Victoria. When I told Princess Belle that I was going to start on September 1st, she was too excited and wanted to get a start on Monday. I figure, more time is always good and nice to get going while she is excited about it. I will also probably have the baby over Christmas when the public schooled kids are off for Christmas holidays so that will help with any schooling we may miss as well. So I am confident that I can make sure my girl gets enough time in her schooling even though we are going to be having a baby this year.
I haven't talked about it much but I have been really stressed about the upcoming year. I am starting so many new things and I worry about whether i am strong enough to do the right things for my kids. I am cloth diapering, I am homeschooling my special needs seven year old child, I am going to be a momma to two kids under two. I am thrilled with my life, but I am terrified too. That being said, I have seen some things lately on blogs and on Youtube which made me smile and gave me hope. I thought I would share this one with you.
On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool legally?"
On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They Can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!
On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a sports team, and we'll homeschool legally."
I am wishing I could just get a move on and get approved and get started in homeschooling my girl. This whole red tape hurry and wait mess is getting to me. I have emailed the Principal of the school that we will be assigned to (all homeschoolers here are assigned to a school) to see what help she can give me. I just want to get this done.
On the developmental specialist front, we have another appointment this month. I hope we will get a step closer to finding out what is going on with my girl. The good thing was that she was wholeheartedly behind the homeschooling idea. She even thought that we could possibly avoid going the medication route.
I got a big box in the mail today filled to the top with the Provincial Grade 2 Curriculum. It is quite in depth and heavy but I am going to wade through it over the next little while. I hope to get the books soon if I can as well so at least I can prepare for September. I also found out that if I want to, they will allow me to do the A Beka curriculum. So, I will think about that as well. I am on two hands, I will either go ahead and purchase the A Beka or I will try the Provincial Curriculum for this year, and then if I don't like it, go to A Beka next year. I am not sure. I hate that they make this so complicated for me!
I called my contact at the Department of Education and he informed me that I would not be approved to follow the curriculum that I have chosen but would have to follow the provincial curriculum. While I am willing to do that, I am disappointed. In the long run, it will cost me less money, as they will provide my books, but it isn't what I wanted. He did say that I could probably do most of what I wanted to do anyway as long as in the end, what Princess Belle learned met with the guidelines of the Provincial curriculum. AND, I won't get official approval until SEPTEMBER!!!!!! I am going to meet with the school Principal as soon as I can and get as much information as I can on the Grade 2 curriculum, try to get the books ahead of time, and get planning anyway. I am fairly confident that I will get approved once I resign myself to doing the provincial curriculum. It will work out fine, maybe better in some ways. And I can still be creative in my approach to teaching her. The curriculum has never been the problem with her learning, it has always been the environment.
On the homeschooling front things are progressing slowly but surely. I ordered a desk for Princess Belle that I think she will like. I have gotten some great information from the HSLDA. I was thrilled to get it and I loved reading it. I have heard from Bill in the Board of Education and he assured me that I should hear from him again in the next few weeks regarding my application to homeschool. I am really anxious to hear from him to make this official. This whole hurry up and wait thing is getting old.
Now I get to play the waiting game. I am NOT a patient person when it comes to stuff like this.
I have to wait to hear if I get approved to homeschool. (According to the lawyer I was talking to, I don't think it will be a problem.)
I have to wait to get paid again to order the curriculum we will be doing. I just want to have it all done and here and be prepared.
I am slightly nervous about starting my first year of homeschooling while I am pregnant but I am not backing out now, I figure if I get through this year, I can do any year! LOL
I am pregnant! I took the test and before both lines came up at once in seconds! I am so excited and thrilled and happy and speechless! OMG, we did it and it didn't take five years this time!
I already am experiencing morning sickness. Which is surprising because I have never had it this early in my previous pregnancies. I like that because is means my hormones are strong and working their mojo.
I sent in my application to homeschool, it is done. And after having talked to Paul at the HSLDA and Bill at the Board of education, I am feeling confident that I will be approved. Woohooo, this is really happening!!!
I read this post Questions I Get Asked Most Often About Homeschooling, and her answer to the final comment, “I Could Never Do That—We’d Kill Each Other” really resonated with me. It speaks to thoughts I have had myself about homeschooling an ADHD child who is wonderful but sometimes difficult. I loved it. It reminded me that while you will have difficult days, "every day is another opportunity for you to help your child become someone (s)he is proud of."
I also read The Homeschool House Part 1 which talked about a family closet. I was truly excited by this post. I had never heard of a family closet but my mind started immediately working on how I could accomplish this in our house. The truth is, I have great difficulty tackling Mount Laundry and I truly believe creating a family closet will really help me to traverse this big obstacle in my life. I am so excited about this I can't even tell you. (I Know I get way to excited about organization ideas but what can I tell you? I am an organization freak in a disorganized house. Whenever I read of things that could to rectify that, I get excited)
I have a headache again today. It sucks, and makes it hard to blog, but there it is.
I did want to share this poem that Princess Belle brought home today. Prince Charming read it and then shared it with me. It made me smile as I think about being the one who is her teacher and so I thought I would share it with you. (I have to say, I have always loved Poetry. I can remember poems that I read as a child that still resonate with me today.)
My Teacher Sees Right Through Me
by Bruce Lansky
I didn’t do my homework.
My teacher asked me, “Why?”
I answered him, “It’s much too hard.”
He said, “You didn’t try.”
I told him, “My dog ate it.”
He said, “You have no dog.”
I said, “I went out running.”
He said, “You never jog.”
I told him, “I had chores to do.”
He said, “You watched TV.”
I said, “I saw the doctor.”
He said, “You were with me.”
My teacher sees right through my fibs,
which makes me very sad.
It’s hard to fool the teacher
when the teacher is your dad.
Yet another incident at school with Princess Belle. Ugh. I am so done with this whole thing. We had an awesome morning this morning. I know she was given gluten when she was playing outside, but I had high hopes that maybe this time it wouldn't effect her and she would have a good day anyway. But . . . NOPE she had her worst incident yet. I want to be finished with this whole thing. I just want to take her home and start homeschooling now.
This whole thing just reinforces for me that homeschooling her is the best thing in the world I can do for her. I can love on her, educate her and at the same time make sure she grows up knowing that there are rules she has to follow and the fact that she gets overwhelmed or frustrated doesn't mean that mean that she is less in any way, it doesn't mean that she isn't a wonderful girl.
I am sitting her crying for my girl, for how hard this is for her. For how overwhelmed she can get by her emotions, for how frustrated she gets, for how hard it is for the people at school to see what a special, sweet, loving, hard-working, eager to please girl she is.
I wish I could just ask them to give her a pass for this grade and let her off early for the summer, then we could be done with Grade One, with Public School, with this whole disaster. If I had realized that she was going to be effected by the gluten the way that she was, I wouldn't have sent her to school. She could have had a sick day and I could have dealt with her issues myself.
And just because I am so upset and need a smile right now, here are my latest scrapbook layouts . . .
This made me smile as Prince Charming and I are always looking at each other and saying, "reason number One hundred and fifty that we are homeschooling. LOL
I got a call from the school again to find out about Princess Belle's testing (AGAIN!) , so when I got off the phone, I phoned to find out where Princess Belle is on the waiting list for her ADHD developmental testing. She has been on the waiting list since November 2008 and she will not get in for her testing until DECEMBER 2009!!! I am so glad that I am going to be homeschooling! I am so tired of the pressure from the school over things I can do nothing about. I am doing my best here. We are working with her. She is improving at home and in the meantime, I have to wait to get her testing to make her diagnosis official. The school constantly calling isn't helping at all.
And they are so disorganized. We have give permission again and again for them to call and check on the status on the waiting list themselves, but every time, they ask us to give the same written permission again for them to call and check on the testing and to try to hurry it up, only to have them forget about it and not call.
As her mother, I have more invested in this. I can call. I won't forget. And, when she is having a rough day, I will deal with it as best I can. As a homeschooled kid, our world will change. the pressures from school will go away and we will work together to make this whole experience better for her.
As an example, this morning before school, I sat down with her. She practiced her reading by reading me a story at the level she is learning in school. Then she wrote in her journal. She got ready fast, she did amazing in her work, she even had time to relax before school. And today they call from school telling me they are having a rough time and want to hurry up the testing. I wish they would just send her home now and let me finish the year out.
I just keep telling myself, just two more months and she is all mine; to educate, to mold, to play with, to have fun with, to love. Two more months . . . I can do it, right?
First Day at the Park for this Year
On a happier, less stressful note, we all went to the park yesterday. It was fun. I of course took lots of pics as I always do on our first park day of Spring. Prince Charming brought bubbles and they were a huge hit. We brought the puppy and Princess Magpie, both of whom mostly sat quietly and watched the excitement from the sidelines.
I am slowly trekking through the steps to being able to homeschool Princess Belle starting in September. This morning, I sent the HSLDA my questions regarding the homeschooling application to the Board of Education. I am so nervous. I want to word everything just right. I don't want to say something wrong, word it the wrong way, make the wrong indication and get my application turned down. This is just too important to me. So as soon as I get my answers, I will finish the application and send it off. I wish it were all over and I was approved but I am slowly trudging through the red tape to get me there.
Oh and I may as well share my latest additions to my project.
