Homeschool

This seemed like the perfect time to publish this post…

I’m sure a lot of people think I am crazy for homeschooling! And until this past year, I would have thought the same thing for myself. Really, I would have never seen this coming and it took a lot to get me here. Elementary school was very challenging for Kloey and private school was not the best option either come to find out. So this year we decided to give homeschool a try. With everything going on in our personal life, Kloey needed the pressure to be off of her academics and were willing to provide that to her.

Kloey started with pre-k 3 at a charter elementary school. When she was 3, 4 and 5 things were great for her, she was right on track with the expectations of the curriculum. Kindergarten went ok too, for the most part, I think it can be tough to make that transition even though she was at the same school. Then in first grade during the school’s routine eye screening, we learned that she needed glasses. We cried sitting in the eye doctor’s office as they told us several issues she had going on and how did we not know about this. Oh my goodness the mom guilt I felt that my baby had something “wrong” with her and I did not know. She has far sidedness, astigmatism and lazy eye in both eyes. Neither Todd nor I have any eye issues and this was a whole new world.

Things seemed to improve a little with her schoolwork, but something still felt off. She was being pulled out of class for some extra attention in math and reading. I continued to ask each year if they thought we should have Kloey tested for a learning disability and each year I was told no. We let it go until finally in fourth grade she had a wonderful teacher that was happy to help me figure out what was going on with our little girl. Because when Kloey really tried she was able to achieve better grades, the potential was always there. Her teacher helped us get the testing process started and believe me it was a process.

The guidelines now are to have a child go through a three-step tiered program of extra help before even the recommendation of testing is ever addressed. It took four years and would have taken longer had I not pushed for it and had a teacher that was on the same page. I am all for intervention with some extra help but these measures just seemed to prolong the whole process. If a child is not showing some improvement then more actions need to be taken in best interest for the child. It is not fair for any child to be expected to learn the same way the majority does, we are all different individuals. It is also not fair for a child to fail because they are not comprehending like the rest of the class.

Fifth grade was the toughest year by far! Her teacher was not supportive at all and in my opinion should not have ever become a teacher, as sad is that is. There is so much to be said for the great teachers out there, they do not get the credit they deserve. Thankfully, we were put in touch with the school’s ESE Director and she helped us proceed with the testing and accommodations. One of the first things she did was have us fill out these questionnaires. As we did them realizing that Kloey related to a majority of these questions, we definitely had to do something. We took Kloey to be evaluated to try and speed up this process of getting the proper help she needed. She was diagnosed with ADHD for the inattentiveness and Generalized Anxiety, no way to not feel guilty about that. Todd was diagnosed with ADD as a kid and I obviously have anxiety issues. Of course, she is having a hard time in school. This time the guilt was more about me not understanding her issues as I have no idea how her mind processes things.

A few months later is when Todd was diagnosed with cancer after a lymph node removal surgery. Kloey’s world came crashing down on top of what she was already dealing with and something needed to change, I was so frustrated with the waiting game! Unfortunately, it took until the last months of school for her 504 plan to take effect. Then she was finally given accommodations for an IEP right before school ended. I think that having the plans in place would have helped her, but we felt like it was taking away from the other areas of her work. Like I said, her 5th-grade teacher was not the best and we know that made a huge difference. It was the end of the year and I had enough trying and pushing that at that point I wanted the IEP in place to assure a scholarship for Kloey to attend a private school for middle school.

I could not imagine Kloey going through the standard middle school agenda with changing classes, being pulled out all the time and trying to keep up with the expectations and pressures of middle school life (it doesn’t seem like that long ago I was there 😉). That is why we opted for a private school environment so that she could learn more at her own pace and not as much judgment from her peers. She exceeded greatly in private school and to our surprise, was working ahead the whole year and was even able to finish early. I was so proud of her accomplishments and self-motivation she had throughout the year. However, once again something was still off with the environment. Kids should be allowed to be kids and I didn’t feel she could be there…I’ll leave it at that.

So with everything else going on, we decided to homeschool this year and see how it goes. We did hold off until after we were back from Mexico and settled. Kloey has started some online classes and so far I have not been extremely strict with it. We are registered with Florida Un-schoolers that allows us to be free with her learning. I love this concept, in my opinion, I feel like there is a lot of the standard curriculum that is unnecessary for kids to learn. I want her to take this time and figure out what interests her, see if she likes it and if not try something else. No pressure, she doesn’t need any added stress right now, none of us do! I want her to feel free and explore things on her own. I want her to feel comfortable learning in a way that is best for her. I want her to learn important and basic things in life. Part of her everyday schooling is her Start Today Journal, I highly recommend this practice for everyone! Starting your day with gratitude and setting intentions for your life is such an amazing concept that most of us take for granted.

So many kids with learning disabilities do not get the opportunity to explore other options, to no fault of their own. The resources are not there and unfortunately, some kids do not even get diagnosed and their issues just go unresolved. I had no idea what I was getting myself into as my brain processes things very differently than Kloey’s does which makes it hard for me to understand exactly how she feels and how to deal with it supportively. Things happen at the right times in our lives we make choices we would have never thought of unless pushed to do so. I do not know if we are making the right one, but right now it seems to be working out. We are looking forward to seeing the person she is becoming. If I can get her motivated for some other things in life that would be great!

With all of this said I hope that some of the parents that are “stuck” home with their children take this time to appreciate it and maybe understand why some of us choose to homeschool our kids. Observe the way your child learns, teach them some life skills and enjoy each other’s company. Some of us are still working for right now through this time and I do miss being home with her even if these years are not the easiest!