Home Schooling- How Come?
Home Schooling. Its been a long road getting to this. I can remember way back when I was pregnant for Elanee, I picked up some books on home schooling. I thought at the time it was a great idea. Then life got bonkers. 5 yrs later I was marrying Jody and acquiring 4 step kids. All of his kids were enrolled in public school in Ithaca and doing fine academically but otherwise they were loaded
with problems. Their history was...home school. Jody worked full time and his X home schooled all 4 of the kids. Because I don't want to paint an ugly picture of anyone here I will just say that there was a lot of abuse going on. The end. So- at age 26 I took these issues the kids had as proof positive that home schooled kids were whacked and it was a terrible horrible selfish thing to home school your kids. I asked Jody, "What were you thinking!?!?!" Flash back further than all that- when I was a kid my young cousins were being home schooled. My aunt would come to visit and I can now remember some tense conversation around the home schooling. "What about socialization?" my mother would say. I don't remember it all being mean or mad but I got a definite 'bad vibe' message on the topic.
So- how did I end up home schooling my kids after that? Well- When Elanee was 5 I didn't think for one second to not enroll her in public school. It just simply never occurred to me to keep her home. Right from the start she had issues. She was super smart and was reading well above grade level but she just wasn't flowing with the crowd. It never got better. There are a million details that I will spare ya but by the 8th grade I finally said enough is enough and pulled her out. By that point her anxiety was outrageous and her grades were suffering. Her slipping grades were actually the least of her issues. She was being bullied relentlessly as well. She was lying to me and to the teachers. On and on. I had toyed with the idea of pulling her in the 7th grade but didn't have the guts. Besides- this was the one kid I knew I was gonna kill if I had to deal with her all day long.
So- in Oct of Elanee's 8th grade yr (last yr) I prayed and prayed and prayed- I worried and panicked and fretted- and prayed some more. I was sooooooo scared to do more damage. I have made plenty of mistakes with my kids. I was just terrified to take this on. I didn't know what to do! So I prayed one morning in the shower. I ended up just sobbing and begging for an answer. THEN- it was like a smack in the forehead! "Call the Finger Lakes Unschoolers." That was it. Like a stamp on my forehead. The words were there and the fear left and that was that. I went and made the call and I began home schooling a week later. Yup- for real.
The first year was full of adjustments for Elanee and I. First off the public school called and harassed me. That was less than a thrill. We chose an online program http://www.globalstudentnetwork.com/ . It was $600 but it took the burden off of me to figure everything out all at once. Elanee loved it. We have figured out cheaper ways to do it now so we wont be using the program this year.
As for killing Elanee, well the exact opposite happened. I kinda figured her out. Our relationship is 100% better! That's really been the best part of all this. She's a pretty cool kid. She doesn't lie anymore and she is soooooooo much more relaxed, reliable and generally pleasant. She says she'll never go back.
So now I am home schooling Maya Rae too. She 6 and in 1st. I am psyched! She too suffered from a lot of anxiety. To make a long story short she went to school and I received weekly letters from the teacher saying that "Maya Rae is doing great" then one week to the end of school I get a note "Maya Rae is border line passing. She needs summer school." :( WHAT!?! I went in and told the teacher. No thanks. I will teach her at home. Poor kid. Jody was so angry. Says, "I feel like they broke my kid". We sent her to them fine and she came out full of anxiety and clingy and hating reading :( sigh.
At this point I wish I could go back in time and start over. I would have home schooled all of my kids from the start. Reality is that I couldn't have back then but- if I had today's wisdom and yesterdays spunk I would have ;)
What about the other kids? Well- 3 of the kids are grown and out and that leaves Ben who is in 10th. He is my step and I don't feel its my place (or my job to be quiet frank) to educated him. Besides, he's doing just fine where he is. As for Vayda...I wanna! Mainly because I miss her. She is gone so much and I think she Rocks! But- she really really does not want to. She is really into her in school social scene right now. That's ok because she's doing fine and I have my hands very full right now. If she ever came and said she wanted to come home I'd say-ok!
Home Schooling. Its been a long road getting to this. I can remember way back when I was pregnant for Elanee, I picked up some books on home schooling. I thought at the time it was a great idea. Then life got bonkers. 5 yrs later I was marrying Jody and acquiring 4 step kids. All of his kids were enrolled in public school in Ithaca and doing fine academically but otherwise they were loaded
with problems. Their history was...home school. Jody worked full time and his X home schooled all 4 of the kids. Because I don't want to paint an ugly picture of anyone here I will just say that there was a lot of abuse going on. The end. So- at age 26 I took these issues the kids had as proof positive that home schooled kids were whacked and it was a terrible horrible selfish thing to home school your kids. I asked Jody, "What were you thinking!?!?!" Flash back further than all that- when I was a kid my young cousins were being home schooled. My aunt would come to visit and I can now remember some tense conversation around the home schooling. "What about socialization?" my mother would say. I don't remember it all being mean or mad but I got a definite 'bad vibe' message on the topic.So- how did I end up home schooling my kids after that? Well- When Elanee was 5 I didn't think for one second to not enroll her in public school. It just simply never occurred to me to keep her home. Right from the start she had issues. She was super smart and was reading well above grade level but she just wasn't flowing with the crowd. It never got better. There are a million details that I will spare ya but by the 8th grade I finally said enough is enough and pulled her out. By that point her anxiety was outrageous and her grades were suffering. Her slipping grades were actually the least of her issues. She was being bullied relentlessly as well. She was lying to me and to the teachers. On and on. I had toyed with the idea of pulling her in the 7th grade but didn't have the guts. Besides- this was the one kid I knew I was gonna kill if I had to deal with her all day long.
So- in Oct of Elanee's 8th grade yr (last yr) I prayed and prayed and prayed- I worried and panicked and fretted- and prayed some more. I was sooooooo scared to do more damage. I have made plenty of mistakes with my kids. I was just terrified to take this on. I didn't know what to do! So I prayed one morning in the shower. I ended up just sobbing and begging for an answer. THEN- it was like a smack in the forehead! "Call the Finger Lakes Unschoolers." That was it. Like a stamp on my forehead. The words were there and the fear left and that was that. I went and made the call and I began home schooling a week later. Yup- for real.
The first year was full of adjustments for Elanee and I. First off the public school called and harassed me. That was less than a thrill. We chose an online program http://www.globalstudentnetwork.com/ . It was $600 but it took the burden off of me to figure everything out all at once. Elanee loved it. We have figured out cheaper ways to do it now so we wont be using the program this year.
As for killing Elanee, well the exact opposite happened. I kinda figured her out. Our relationship is 100% better! That's really been the best part of all this. She's a pretty cool kid. She doesn't lie anymore and she is soooooooo much more relaxed, reliable and generally pleasant. She says she'll never go back.
So now I am home schooling Maya Rae too. She 6 and in 1st. I am psyched! She too suffered from a lot of anxiety. To make a long story short she went to school and I received weekly letters from the teacher saying that "Maya Rae is doing great" then one week to the end of school I get a note "Maya Rae is border line passing. She needs summer school." :( WHAT!?! I went in and told the teacher. No thanks. I will teach her at home. Poor kid. Jody was so angry. Says, "I feel like they broke my kid". We sent her to them fine and she came out full of anxiety and clingy and hating reading :( sigh.
At this point I wish I could go back in time and start over. I would have home schooled all of my kids from the start. Reality is that I couldn't have back then but- if I had today's wisdom and yesterdays spunk I would have ;)
What about the other kids? Well- 3 of the kids are grown and out and that leaves Ben who is in 10th. He is my step and I don't feel its my place (or my job to be quiet frank) to educated him. Besides, he's doing just fine where he is. As for Vayda...I wanna! Mainly because I miss her. She is gone so much and I think she Rocks! But- she really really does not want to. She is really into her in school social scene right now. That's ok because she's doing fine and I have my hands very full right now. If she ever came and said she wanted to come home I'd say-ok!
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