Homeschooling Progress

Wow! I can't believe we have already been doing this homeschooling thing for almost a month now. I will say the first two weeks were rough, especially for my oldest child. She is so use to being in public school that she was having a hard time letting go of that way of thinking. She felt like she had to do tons of every subject, everyday, instead of spreading it out throughout the week. We had to change some of her supplementing curriculum already because she didn't care for it. We also had to work on time management as she wanted to wait until dinner time to do anything and then complain when she got into trouble for not getting it all done. Thankfully, I think we got those few bugs out.

Callie, on the other hand, is doing fantastic! She loves mommy being her teacher. She has already learned to recognize 1-10, say 1-10 in Spanish, recite her days of the week and the months of the year, she also can recognize letters A-C, and she knows how to write her name independently!  These are HUGE strives in such a little amount of time (2 days a wk for 3 wks). I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us.

 Today, my husband and I took our girls to the MTSU Saddle up event.  Callie had so much fun getting to do all the hands on activities that they had. I hated that there wasn't anything for older kids to do. Poor Alissa was so bored:( I did get to see first hand how much Callie really can't sit still. I got to see how severe her ADHD really is. It goes beyond her being 4 years old. It goes beyond her being a kid. She couldn't wait in line even though others could. She couldn't sit still to get her face painted even though younger kids could. Her attention span is so short that she couldn't focus on one activity because something else would catch her eye. I really don't know what to do about it either. My husband has severe ADD and needs to be medicated, so I know it's in her blood. But,she is only a little girl. A very energized four year old little girl that already has so much going on in her life. Do I really want to push meds on her? She already eats a pretty healthy diet. She already doesn't eat things with red dyes, so I really don't know what else I can do "naturally" to help her. I guess I need to schedule an appointment with her pediatrician to discuss option with them, Thank god I am homeschooling her because I know she would not be able to learn a thing in the school system.

I think it's really funny that most blogger sites  tell you to pick one topic and blog about that. Why would anyone want to stick with just one topic when this thing called life gives us so much to talk about? I started this blog to give everyone a real world view of what it's like to raise a child with BOR syndrome. With this being such a rare syndrome, I think it's important for others to see they are not alone in their journey. However, even though my blog will focus on my children, one of which does have BOR syndrome, I can't blog daily about her without sharing other parts of our lives. So, I hope you will stick with me while I share it all with you!

Callie is truly my little monkey. She is always climbing on something! She told me the other day she wanted to climb on top of the house so she could see the whole world.  She is absolutely hilarious! I have no doubt, if she were allowed, she would climb right on to the top of our roof .

Homeschooling

I always knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I wanted the old fashion ,1960 version of a life that included a loving husband, that works everyday to support his family, 3 (yes I always wanted 3) kids that I adore that I get to stay home with daily, a nice home with a white picket fence, and 2 dogs in the yard. Never, not once, did that dream include homeschooling but here I am starting the process. My reason for wanting to home school is really a two fold reason.  I am a certified teacher, and I have worked in the school system for several years. I have seen the in and outs of our public school system, and honestly..... It Sucks! So, after two years of working in the system, I started looking for other options for Callie. I knew the school system would eat her vibrant soul alive. My fourth year in the school system, I decided I didn't want to be part of it anymore either. So, I knew I didn't want Callie in the school system, and now I knew I needed out too. Callie, without a doubt, has some form of adhd so sitting is almost impossible for her. In addition to that, she doesn't do well in environments she is not familiar with nor with people she doesn't know. All in all I knew in my heart that a classroom environment was  not for her and by homeschooling it allowed me to continue to do what I was trained to do, teach!  It really was a  win, win for everyone. After the decision was made that I would home school Callie, Alissa, my 13 yr old, decided she wanted to be home schooled too. I went from never thinking about homeschooling to homeschooling both of my girls in a blink of an eye. I can't even describe the range of emotions that I am having from being excited, scared, worried, but above all blessed.

 I hope to bring you guys along for the fun ride of homeschooling. So stay tuned for tons of blog updates:)

Where are we now?

I am so sorry that there has been such a long gap between my post. I guess I am a horrible blogger! Sorry guys.. So, what has been going on with me. I found a teaching job.. I lost my teaching job.. I got an EA position at a great school.. I quit my EA position to stay at home with my girls. Now, I am actually going to start homeschooling them both starting this fall. Callie, who is only 4, will be doing a simplified pre-k program, but Alissa will be doing an 8-9th grade curriculum following the Charlotte Mason philosophy (more about that later). So, what has been going on with Callie? She has passed all her hearing screenings up to date, and all her kidney function test have all came back great. So, my little fighter is doing amazing! Her speech on the other hand is delayed. I've know since she was 2 that her speech wasn't where is should be, but everyone insisted that she would catch up. Well, last March I finally went and got her tested, on my own, and sure enough they flagged her as being delayed. We need to go in for a more in -depth analysis, but we have to wait until school is back in session. The joys of doing it through the school system, it may be free but they are VERY slow. Callie goes back this month for another hearing screening. I hope all checks out, but lately she has been saying a lot of huh when we talk to her. It really worries me. I am hoping it is just selective 4 year old hearing and not some actual hearing loss. I will update you all once I know.