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| Immersed in a Harry Potter add on book over dinner. |
I have been a homeschool mom since Savannah was 10 months old. When I started way, way back then, Timmy was in 5th grade. We knew we had to change something because sending him to school and expecting a different outcome from the many phone calls was just not going to happen. I think we had a general idea that if homeschooling worked for him, it would be the path for Savannah too. But, truthfully, we were focused on what to do for Timmy. As time does, it wandered by on that path and my sweet girl was 4 years old. She was now quite accustomed to homeschooling as a part of our lifestyle. I went to the convention with my sister-in-law and bought bright and happy counting bears and workbooks and all sorts of fun things. I was ready to tackle kindergarten for the first time even though she was just 4 about to be 5 because of her October birthday. We had fun together. We learned letters and numbers and all sorts of things. I think about it now and I can't believe that time went so fast. As Timmy and Savannah grew up and we added Sebastian to our family, it became clear that homeschooling was now a long term path. Now, you know I'm all about being real and I will not ever say that our days have always been great and cheerful. 7th and 8th grade for Timmy made us question our choice. We even put Timmy back in school for a couple months in 8th grade. There were hard days and lots of tears and so much uncertainty. As we turned the corner to high school with
Timmy, we found a fantastic co-op and he made more friends and the path became clear again. Time meandered on and he finished high school and Savannah finished grade
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| A field trip when Savannah had just started school. |
school and moved on to middle school. Once again, middle school proved to be difficult years on our homeschool path. Savannah was 11 when her brother died and Sebastian was 5 and well... That, obviously, effects everything. Sebastian started kindergarten at 5 almost 6 with his late September birthday. Seriously, school was a breeze with him because he is kinda like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. He had already taught himself to read and he was just that kid. I think God knew what He was going to ask me to walk through and He knew I would need
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This might have been a hint that Sebastian would teach
himself to read. |
a bit of ease here. That left my sweet girl and the struggle was beginning here. So much sadness, so much pain and so much uncertainty. It makes me tear up when I think back on those days. I was trying, desperately, to help her find her way on this path that I wish she had never been asked to walk. We struggled. Did I mention I believe in being real because hiding stuff never, ever helps somebody else with their path? At the beginning of 9th grade, she told us she wanted to go to public school. WOW! HOLY HELL! We never saw that coming! We didn't think that any of our kids would want to go to public school. Not because public school was bad, but because that was not our path. For me, it was just a no. For Tim, he was considering it. Ultimately, we decided that she was wanting to go for reasons that weren't at all about getting an education. She thought that maybe if she
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| Having fun is the key to keeping your sanity. |
tried something new, she wouldn't feel so bad, life wouldn't seem so hard, etc. In the end, we made the scary decision to go against her wishes and homeschool for high school. Where we live, it is all or none for high school. Meaning that you can't just place them in public high school anytime you want. They have to start back at 9th grade even if you have completed several grades. So... it was a scary curve in our path. Just last December, I found myself looking at private schools for her. School was still not clicking and I knew that I had a crucial amount of time to get this figured out. And then our path swerved. The lightbulb went off and the opportunities came. Savannah started online classes with Landry and got involved in a fantastic co-op. She was engaged in yearbook and drama and student council and wow... for the first time since she told me she wanted to go to public school... I thought just maybe we had made the right choice. This morning, she started her what would have been her Senior year. She has chosen to do an "extra" year of high school at this point. It is not really extra because technically with her October birthday - she is right on track. She will most likely dual enroll next year in her "Super Senior" year, but maybe
not. She may just pursue more Landry classes and stick with co-op. Not sure and don't really need to know where that path is leading just yet. What I do know is that she got up and attended her Landry Anatomy and Physiology class online. Then she repotted and worked on her plants that she loves and then it was back to working on school. She is happy. She is on a path towards going to college to be a Physical Therapy Assistant. She is excited for co-op to start with drama, Spanish and yearbook. I took a sigh of relief this morning as I sat on my porch watching how far she has come. Sure there are days that the pain from before creeps up on that path. There are days where insecurity trips her. But, overall, I see a bright future in the distance on that path.
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| Baking cookies always counts as school. |
