Pretty much any time I vow I will NEVER do something.....I inevitably do.
Example:
I will NEVER marry a red head. Check
I will NEVER drive a mini-van. Check
I will NEVER home school my kids. Check
Technically I'm only home schooling ONE kid. Leah. For the past two years Lars and I have been concerned with her performance in public school. Granted we have probably contributed to the problem by moving so much. L really takes a long time to adjust to new environments. Her problems really started in third grade...when we moved the day before school started. (Oops)
I don't have a problem with public school, in fact I truly value and appreciate it. Leah has had spectacular teachers. I've been really very pleased with them, it's more the class size that I have a problem with. She started this school year with 30 kids in her class. There have been several move-ins during the year and last week L came home and announced that their class was up to 38! I don't care who you are and how many years you've been teaching, once you have 38 fourth graders in one class it just turns into crowd control. The few disruptive kids get all the attention and the sweet, quiet ones...like Leah, are appreciated but overlooked.
I was expressing my frustrations to my sister on the phone who home schools her seven brilliant children. She told me about Connections Academy which is in essence, public school on line. http://www.connectionsacademy.com/home.aspx They follow your state public school curriculum, have kids do the same state standard testing and assign the kids to "classes". Each child is assigned a teacher and talks to them on the phone. They even have art in their curriculum which all public school in Oregon no longer have because of funding...or lack of.
This appealed to me because I know myself...structure and follow through are not my strong suits. All of the lessons are already planned. I am not the teacher, I am the "learning coach". Any questions about the lessons can be directed to the teacher through email, a phone call or video chat. I can still be the good guy :)
Monday Leah got approved for the program and she started Tuesday. They are shipping her all her books, supplies and a personal computer this week. She is super excited about it and so am I. It will be so nice to know exactly where she is at with her subjects and know that she is getting the one on one attention that she needs to get caught up. More than that though, I hope this really builds her self confidence. She compares herself to everyone else, so working solo for a while may eliminate that problem.
A TOAST, to another hearty helping of Crow. May this one go down more easily than the last. :)
2 comments:
WELCOME!!! Do you want to joing the parent board with Preston? ;) Who is Leah's teacher this year? Did she by chance get Dea Begert? You will LOVE ORCA!!!
PLEASE be sure to let us know if you have any questions or need to vent or anything. Starting can be a little overwhelming at first.
You give yourself a big ole helping of ice cream vs crow. You will find this the best decision you ever made!
You are going to LOVE the art curriculum and the portfolio projects and the clubs. SO much room for individual creativity in these areas (really, in all areas, but esp in these). They have a photography club too, maybe she will be like you and have jaw dropping, drop-dead gorgeous images!
PLEASE let us know how we can help or just let us know if you want to chat -k- You are going to really love it. Yea for you and Leah! Yeah for a happy and succesful rest of the school year!!
Hugs to all!!!!
Shar, I think this is very awesome! I have said before that I will never homeschool my kids either...unless the Lord comes to me in person and says I have to. HAHA OK, maybe not. But anyway, I have given a lot of thought to HS Gracie over the last couple years. You know, because middle school is HELL. It makes me shudder just to think about it. We live in a great public school system, but I think that taking a few years and giving her a little boost for high school would be beneficial. Plus, by then I'll have most of my kids out of the house and in school themselves so I'll actually have the time to devote and maybe a teeny tiny bit of patience too. Maybe. Anyway, Leah is so sweet and smart. I think it's great you've decided to take this on. She probably does too.
Post a Comment