Making a decision about your child’s education can be heart wrenching.It can be frustrating, even perhaps discouraging.If you’ve been told that your child has processing issues and you are not sure where to turn here are perhaps some options for you to explore.I hope that you can learn from my experience.
In 2005, Halle was in kindergarten when teachers began to tell me that she had a short attention span and that she seemed to stare off into space as though she were not mentally present.I called her a dreamer. I noticed that she was fully capable as long as she was doing something that she was interested in.Halle has a love for dinosaurs and at a very young age decided that she wanted to be a Paleontologist.She also loved to art and anything that allowed her to be creative.Teachers did say that Halle did well if someone worked one on one with her.I also noticed this and began to look at my options.
My searches lead me to homeschooling.At the time I had a thriving business and could not see myself giving up part of that time homeschooling. After a discussion with a seasoned teacher she referred me to SST (Student Support Team), a group of teachers who come together to evaluate and offer suggestions to the lead teacher.They work under the leadership of a school appointed student support team administrator.I had been through this process with my boys so with the knowledge that I had about learning disabilities (ADHD, Aspergers syndrome, ADD) I decided that Halle needed a little more one on one time.My online searches suggested homeschooling so I followed my heart and removed her from public school and homeschooled Halle for kindergarten and first grade.
After those two years it became necessary for me to regain the success I was having in my business.Our finances were getting tight so with a heavy heart I sent Halle back to public school in 2008.Third grade was not good at all.Academically she did well in language arts, spelling and all other subjects that did not directly deal with numbers.In math Halle was behind.Although the information that was being covered had already been covered in home school she failed to retain it and the teachers also felt that she was unable to retain the math she learned from the previous day.Shortly after taking an assessment test to evaluate her abilities Halle was hurt in school.She ran into a brick wall while running from the trailer to the inside of the school building.She was sent to the bathroom with 3 other students and without an adult present she was being chased by the boys who accompanied them.She hit her head above her left eye.She had 14 stitches and her skull could be seen through the hole.I decided from that point that I would find an alternative to public school.
I later in 2008 placed her into a private Montessori school to complete the third grade.She is currently attending the school now and is in the middle of fourth grade.I strongly believe in the Montessori way of teaching but this situation is proving not to be the best environment for her.The work load still requires a lot of one on one for Halle. So here I am again at the same crossroad.I know what needs to be done.I have to be the one to teach her.I now have removed her from school again and have enrolled her into an online K12.com school. Halle remains on grade level with the exception of math which I believe she is a half grade behind.All the decisions I have made in regard to her education have all been in the thought and mind of what is best for her individually.I certainly could have just sent her to school and let the teachers work it out or let her fall through the cracks.I could not and I am at peace with my choices because I made them for Halle and I was not willing to settle for the status quo.
When you get to know Halle you realize how special she is.She has an interest in learning and desperately wants to be successful in school.I am excited tohome school her again but this time online. I’ll be her coach and with the help of a teacher that is provided by the K12 program, I know she will reach her goals in mathematics and excel beyond her wildest dreams.
I’ve learned three things through this, the first is;
It is okay to change your mind. If you make a choice and later feel that something else would work better than it is okay to make a change to a better situation. What is important to make sure of is that your child is on his/her grade level or above.
Secondly, do not try to recreate what goes on in the public school classroom.Make sure you cover the basics; reading, writing, math and language arts. You can cover all the other subjects as well.They will fall into place.You will find that your schoolwork will take about 4 hours.So much of the public school day is fluff.
Thirdly, do not let family or friends discourage you. They seem to have all the answers but none of them would have the heart that you have to remove your child from public school for a better education or situation.
Halle is a 4th grader and currently being homeschooled. She will be 10 years old in 2010.I am her homeschooling coach.I am still running my business from home.I just had to rearrange my priorities.
Sunday I baked 4 sweet potato pies. I've been trying to perfect the recipe for quite some time. I didn't have trouble with the taste of the pies but it was the texture I couldn't get quite right. I planned to bake one for my brother-in-law Marvin who had a birthday on 12/13. The same day I baked an apple crisp.It was the perfect day for baking since it was very cold and rainy outside and no one wanted to venture out for any reason.The pies came out perfectly and the apple crisp was really good too.Tony ate it on top of his oatmeal as well as ice cream.Now I’m ready for Christmas.Here’s the recipe.
Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch pie
Ingredients
1 (1 pound) sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
Directions
Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a soufflé, and then will sink down as it cools.
Now remember I made 4 pies so you will need to double the wet and dry ingredients. I used 6 medium sized sweet potatoes.
I found this today. I thought it was very cute. I posted it so you could take the test. I had no idea that I would score a 96. Shoot, I don't even cook every night. Well I do every night except Wednesdays. It depends on what's going on. Anywho take the test and post here. I'd like to know your score. By the way, there's a test for men too:)
Today is my birthday. I'm 44 today. Lots of calls and posts on Facebook wishing me a happy b-day. I had fun today. I took a long nap and it was fun. I even received flowers from Melaleuca. Another year gone by. Tough year. I'm looking forward to 2010.
Last night at 10:45PM I sat in the loft area with Halle working on homework.She had several projects that were due on Friday, almost all of which she started on Wednesday.Without going into every assignment we ended the evening practicing for her spelling test today.So into the night we went "c-o-n s-t-i-l-l-a-t-i-o-n-s", NO listen to the word and hear the letters"."Listen and spell it again c-o-n-s-t-e-l-l-a-t-i-o-n-s, Yes that’s it"!"Ok now retriever"…..into the night we spelled, circled nouns and looked up definitions.
Now I understand why most mommy blogs have titles like Confessions of a Suburban Housewife, Redheaded Temper Tantrums, Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins, The Mommy Trenches, the list goes on.I certainly named this blog perfectly. As my children get older, more and more gets plied on my plate.Last night Tony sat in the loft area with me while I was working with Halle and he said “I cannot get over how long our days are”.Sixteen hours of the day are spent doing things for other people, the children or taking care of responsibilities. That leaves 8 hours in which we must feed ourselves, spend time a little time together which is when we usually end up nodding in and out of sleep on the couch together and actually sleeping in bed.There’s no room for anyone else.Now there’s talk of Wesley taking some karate classes.Between working, school, housework (which there is never time for) homework, parent teacher meetings, fundraising and more parent meetings, MY Melaleuca business, and being everyone’s Girl Friday, I am crazy.
Right now I am sitting here about to wake up Kyra for school.Wesley and Justin left for seminary at 6:35am this morning; Tony drove them.I made them a quick hot breakfast after waking up at 6:15am.I could get up earlier but I don’t.Perhaps if I woke up at 5:00am I could squeeze in a post to my blog.I listen to XM radio in the van as I travel back and forth because if I don’t I would never know what was going on in the world.There is ZERO time to watch TV which is why we cancelled our cable subscription last year.No one had time to watch TV in my house.I opened a Netflix account so that we could at least watch movies on the weekend.Also with everyone being so busy I found that the TV was getting in the way of us connecting when we could.Without the TV I feel I have their attention more often.
In all the chaos we still have Family Home Evening occasionally on most Monday evenings for about an hour.It helps to keep everyone in the team effort.It also reminds us that our family is the most important thing above all else and above everyone else. These 6 people and our purposes are number one.All these little world’s with their own trials and tribulations, the homework, the chores, the scripture memorization, earning merit badges for Boy Scouts, the school projects, the half painted walls, unfolded laundry, the sink full of dishes, the 2 dogs pooping in the garage, the constant flow of trash being emptied from smaller receptacles into a larger one for Friday pickup.When does it end?And it the midst of all of this chaos we are supposed to be madly in love, have mind blowing sex, remember to say I love you, meet all the kids emotional needs, keep a clean house, be friends, manage finances and this house and be a good Latter Day Saint.All of this while obeying the words of wisdom and keeping our bodies clean and free of drugs, caffeine, alcohol and anything else that is harmful to the human body.I tell you if it were not for my beliefs and my commitment to the gospel I would be under the influence of something everyday…LOL.
And after saying all of this I say “This is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”
I'm a work at home Mother of 4 really great kids here in Georgia. I am happily married for 15 years and counting. I've been blessed to work at home as a marketing executive and mentor. I am always looking for new partners to team up with. If you want to work from home then you need to contact me. I blog about my life, the kids, my DIY projects and anything else that happens in our lives.
Making a decision about your child’s education can be heart wrenching. It can be frustrating, even perhaps discouraging. If you’ve been told that your child has processing issues and you are not sure where to turn here are perhaps some options for you to explore. I hope that you can learn from my experience.
