Homeschooling

So far, so good. I am enjoying the more relaxed atmosphere in our home without worrying about Caroline's behavior in school. She is a little freaked out by her Algebra I class at the homeschool co-op. I don't like the text at all, and I can see why she is stressed out. There are so many other truly wonderful and easy to understand math texts out there, so why the teacher chose this one, I don't know. The book is jammed packed with superfluous information, in my opinion. I may pull her out and allow her to just do the math on the computer using Teaching Textbooks. The class is a two hour session once a week covering five lessons at a time, so the pace is quite challenging. Maybe she just needs to work at her own speed. There is a lab science at the same time as the math class so I could switch her over.

I am trying to balance working Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday afternoons, and Saturdays at the ballet shop at Mae's studio with all of my responsibilities at home. The small paycheck is very helpful right now with my husband out of work. This has been such an expensive few weeks with all of the school supplies, back to school shoes and clothes (considerably less than what we would normally buy) and start up costs for various classes and sports.

My husband is still looking hard for a job that will meet our needs both financially and lifestyle-wise. He doesn't want to travel away from us for long periods of time or commute a long distance. I hate the not-knowing.

Breathing Easier, School Options

With my oldest daughter starting her senior year on Tuesday, and my youngest daughter already in school, I am breathing easier these days. I am really looking forward to homeschooling Caroline and her younger sister Jane together this fall. I actually really like the control I have over what my kids are learning, being sure that they are reading classic books, moving ahead in math more quickly, and helping them to learn at their own pace. I love history and science and I find that when they learn without all the stressors of being in "school" they are more relaxed and enjoy learning about the world a lot more. I think that is why my kids do things like write their own books and the like because they equate reading and writing with fun instead of drudgery. Homeschooling is not for every mom or every kid, but if it works, it is wonderful. I will be sad when I will finally put away my "teacher" hat someday. Time flies by so quickly, as evidenced by the fact that our oldest will be off to college next year. Wasn't she just five, creating her own "computer" out of a cardboard box? Playing dress up on a daily basis? Begging me to read to her one more toddler book for the hundredth time?

An important note: if you wish to homeschool your bp child, just know that unless they are mostly stable, this may not work well. Find the right med mix first before you try this unless you have no other good options, and then I would say to enlist the help of another "teacher" in the form of a tutor for certain subjects, or enrolling in an online school so you can keep on task as much as possible. And you can stretch school into the summer if you lose a lot of time during the more unstable periods of the fall and spring.

One Down, One to Go

Our youngest daughter started school today, half-days all week. I breathed a sigh of relief. She tends to be the squeaky wheel. Now one more week until my oldest starts public school, and then I can focus on homeschooling Caroline and Jane together. Caroline will have all day classes on Tuesdays at a homeschool co-op and Jane will have them on Thursdays, so they will get a break from each other too. Caroline is VERY happy about being homeschooled and wrote me a thank you note. I posted it up on the bulletin board so I can refer to it later when she is hating it. Hopefully she won't, but you never know. I am using the Alpha Omega online homeschooling program called Monarch (it grades most of the work for you and prints out report cards too) combined with Sonlight readers and math. I think they will be quite busy between homework for their coop classes and all of the work I will be assigning to them. I pray for a good year!

Homeschooling Dilemma

I have homeschooled quite a bit over the last eleven years or so. I know a lot about curriculums. Right now I am having a hard time deciding what would be best for Caroline. She is so addicted to typing her novel on the computer that I am reconsidering having her do an online curriculum like K12 or Monarch because I am not sure I could trust her to do her school work and not be tempted to sneak more chapters into her book. She does love to read great books, so I am leaning toward using Sonlight at least for the literature and history. I don't love their language arts and writing program, which is based on the literature, so I checked out other curriculums like Alpha Omega, Greenleaf Press, Veritas Press, Abeka, and others, but it is very hard to find something as interesting and exciting as Sonlight. I may just have to pull together my own curriculum by piece meal.

I am doing all of this with fear and trepidation. Homeschooling seems so ideal in theory for bipolar kids, but I have not had the greatest experience with Caroline in the past. But she is more stable than she has ever been (always a relative thing) so maybe this time would be different. Maybe not. I just wish we could know where my husband is going to land a job, soon! His old job has ended and the search begins in earnest. Colorado is looking mighty good right now. But we really have no idea where we will land. Every now and then panic rises up in my throat from beneath the surface, but I kind of push it away, knowing that panic and fear never solve anything. God is in control and He has a plan. Just wish we could text Him and get an instant answer!