Author: Dae-dae

Progress is progress no matter what form it takes or how they get there. That’s all I want for these boys. Did I learn a few things today after our family discussion? Sure did! Do I think they are prepared? No… Not because I didn’t do my job, but simply the system failed them and their mother constantly changing schools and not wanting to send them to school didn’t help matters.

Before we pulled the kiddos from public school they were already at a disadvantage. My 13 year old was already a year behind(with needing speech class and separate help in math) and due to the accident which has caused some severe memory issues (which we are still working on) has pushed him even further behind. My 12 year old on the other hand was behind from teachers not wanting to take the time to offer help and only wanting to dish out repeat work so they didn’t have to deal with him. He also needed speech classes and extra help in math and reading.

While it was all good that the public school was offering help it took forever to get and yet didn’t put any effort into it. With the exception of the Special Ed math teacher actually trying, the Special Ed reading teacher and speech teacher were either bored with or almost threatening in their tone when talking to them. I have nothing against public schools. I myself went to catholic school and public schools plus nearly homeschooled for all of last year of highschool. I even went to college!

Regardless, these kiddos are making progress! My 13 year old, when we started had just barely completed 5th grade and just starting 6th grade. Yet when handed 6th grade work, he couldn’t master it above a 3rd grade level. It has taken nearly 3 years to get him to be able to now do 6th grade level language arts and soon to be 5th grade level math. My 12 year old, when we started just completed 3rd grade and starting 4th grade. Though he was only performing on a kindergarten to 1st grade level. He is able to now complete on his own language arts and math material at a 3rd grade level. My 10 and 9 year olds are the only ones that are on level with the exception of still having difficulty reading, but they are getting better.

Anyways, the 13 and 12 year olds would like more advanced work now. So starting next week, I will be giving them more of their supposed grade level material. Just to give them a taste. I can only hope this doesn’t dampen their progress or spirit when they discover how difficult it will be.

I’ve been debating on how to approach this topic… It can be a touchy subject for some. This is our full scoop on a few various learning methods we have gone through.

We have tried virtual learning through the school the first few months after schools were reopened during the pandemic that they were attending at the time. I have to say that I was completely disappointed with the program and the teachers.

The program they used was Schoology and it was either glitching or not loading work once the kids completed. The teachers were a completely different matter. The teachers wanted no distractions and siblings to be quiet. Distractions I understand… Siblings not so much since they all attended the same school they also had work to complete. Not to mention they were 11, 10, 7 and 5 plus they had never used a computer before so I had to be there. The zoom class was a joke, especially when they schedule multiple grades in the same hour. So I would have to chose which child got to zoom with their teacher so the other zoom meetings wouldn’t over talk the others. Not to mention there was a teacher or two that wouldn’t post work until the day of or forget all together to even post it. Then the teachers would email and complain that the work is not being finished. I wonder why?

The final straw to say the least was when I overheard the second oldest’s special education teacher for reading tell him, “that you know this and you wouldn’t be acting like this if you were here.” Now if you know this child, you know he hates cameras, videos and anything that puts him in the spotlight because it sends his anxiety through the roof. What the heck do I know?! I just raise them and live with them. So that was the end of their public schooling via virtual learning or brick and mortar learning experience.

When we finally switched over to homeschooling. I initially started after deschooling for a few months… We did school, but it was literally just the core subjects and nothing to heavy to ease them into the homeschooling process. Then I began to try different methods. Worksheets, unit studies, researching any topic one of them wanted for the week, read alouds and so on. Things were going great, but I thought they were getting enough and falling further behind than what public school had already put a few of them.

So what did I do… I tried to recreate school and teach them traditionally. Boy, after six months of it the kiddos and I were completely burnt out. It was a complete failure that taught me so much. Change my style of teaching and got new curriculum. Since then there has been little to no complaints and hardly any struggles to get through daily lessons.

You got to be flexible! I can’t stress that enough. If it doesn’t work take it out and try something else. Add games, movies, YouTube videos, field trips and so on to cut the mundane out of lessons. I can say without a doubt I wouldn’t change the way we school now.

It’s a life long process that doesn’t end just because schooling does. Knowledge is found everywhere and it is your choice to learn or remain ignorant. Hopefully with luck, I can instill the love of learning for these kiddos, so they will continue to grasp and choose to expand their learning capabilities long after their schooling years are complete.