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 college yr. 

Hello associates!

I hope that you just’re having an incredible week and I’m so pumped that so a lot of you’ve got signed up for our Spring Ahead wellness problem. Make sure that to enroll right here – it’s completely free and it’s going to be a ton of enjoyable. Should you’re searching for a blast of motivation as we head into spring, that is the right strategy to do it!

For immediately’s publish, I wished to share slightly 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 at all times been open with you guys on the subject 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 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 at all times 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 battling the mind-boggling quantity of homework, assessments, and assignments. It was particularly laborious along with her competitors dance schedule. We switched studios and minimize her hours in half, and he or she was nonetheless up till a minimum of midnight each night time (for the previous 2+ years) making an attempt to complete every thing for varsity. I’m an enormous believer in laborious 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 faculties, it was the primary time P hasn’t had her large 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 anxious 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 acquired so unhealthy that she missed many days of college, 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 educating her the content material, ensuring she accomplished the large packets of classwork, and taking her to high school 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 high school or we might pull her out, and he or she stated, “Please homeschool me.”

I by no means supposed 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 acquired to the basis reason 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 decreased.

Our plan now:

– She’s on the waitlist for Liv’s new faculty however realistically received’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 wish 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 mother or father count on to show their children extra successfully than a instructor?”

Throughout the ladies’ time at school, we’ve had some extraordinary lecturers who’re every thing lecturers needs to be. They love children, love what they’re educating, 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 personal faculty atmosphere ALL the time, when 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 educating anyway, as a result of they weren’t taught the content material throughout their courses.

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 variety, articulate, pleasant, and extremely good.

Regardless that I’ve seen associates homeschool and sort of daydreamed about how how enjoyable it will be, I didn’t contemplate it a risk as a result of I make money working from home, juggling shopper calls, content material creation, podcast interviews, Zooms, IHP work, and many others. I didn’t really feel like I might add one other issues to my plate, however I didn’t even suppose twice about it once we acquired thus far. I’ve shuffled my schedule round quite a bit so that almost all 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 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 serious 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 affords!

xoxo

Gina