It is surely not my intention to go so long before posting but our life's path has taken us off roadin' a bit so I haven't had much time or energy to blog.
Now hopefully I can bring you up to date without making a novel of it...
The biggest change is that I am now working full time. Yes we are still homeschooling, and Yes I have no idea how I do it or survive it. My typical day looks like this...
4:45a the alarm goes off
5:30a I leave the house at work by 6:00a
off at 2:00 and home around 2:30p
We have "lunch/dinner" as a family and J leaves for work shortly after
Olena and I work on school stuff from about 4:30-6:30p
We have a light dinner together.
She plays, I do my chores.
She showers and goes to bed by 8:00
I get stuff ready for the next day and I am in bed around 9:30.
In addition to this I am "oncall" for work every night at 5p...all night through the next day so while doing all this running I am constantly taking phone calls (even during the night).
It has been about a month and a half now and I will be honest...it is probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever made and while I know it was what was best for us, in my opinion...it sucks.
BUT Olena's schedule is still in tact, we can still homeschool, and she hasn't been effected by the change one bit. Outside of my own sanity being effected ...the rest of the benefits have been great.
We did have to change up our homeschool "methods" in order for this to work. Olena is now a virtual student and is working on a program called "Little Lincoln". She completes a lesson plan each day on the computer and then she has worksheets, and planned out projects for hands on learning. Jason is able to complete the computer portion during the day while I am at work, and then in the evening, her and I work on the projects and worksheets. Having Jason join in on HS process has been awesome and I think it has been very beneficial to Olena. Jason and I are completely different in our approach when it comes to teaching but O seems to get value from each of our styles :) And so far the program has been successful. O likes it, it gives her the computer time she loves but also still the one on one with us and the reteaching with worksheets.
They also mail you EVERYTHING you need for the school year all nicely packed in a tote with a locking lid. and when I say everything...that is exactly what I mean. It was like a teacher heaven when that box came. Every imaginable school supply, like they just walked through Office Max and put one of every item in the box. It was crazy. In addition to that, they sent every item we need to complete all of the projects for the year. They even sent me dirt....4 different types of dirt at that. When I first was offered the full time position I started researching different options and came across Little Lincoln. I read the reviews, heard wonderful things about the program and Jason and I discussed it and decided it would be a great time to test it out. Unfortunately, (in my opinion) the tuition is a bit high. BUT we were able to enroll with a local school district as a virtual student and they covered the cost!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! While it is not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to home school, it meets our needs at this point in time and no harm has been done.
On a sad note, in the last 3 weeks our beloved cat of 9 years, Otis, disappeared. He was an indoor/outdoor cat but never roamed more than a few house and always came whenever I yelled for him. One night he just didn't come when we called. We have had postings on Craigslist, Jason and Olena check the shelters every week, but we haven't had any luck. It has been hard not knowing, and all we can do is hope for the best.
Then on Monday our bird of 10 years passed away. :( Storm was a cockatiel. Sweet girl who was one of the family! I had a feeling she wasn't going to be with us too much longer because we could slowly see her health declining. Olena had a hard time at first but she has thankfully moved on. With the death of my grandma and then these two issues...she has been struggling a bit emotionally. This is definitely new territory to me as a parent. As a toddler they just trust you when you tell them it will be ok and hold them tight. Now her mind at 7 years old, almost 8...wants better answers than that. Now I am faced with the time when all the hard realities of life starts to intrude on that pure and perfect imaginary childhood of hers. It breaks my heart. Its impossible I know, but what I would give to shelter her from all of this.
Well lets lift the spirits back up...good things...I finally have my best friend back - my camera!! I have manged to take more pictures in 2 days than I have in the last year!! but boy was it fun. Looking at Olena through that lens made me notice just how much she has grown up these days! she is a silly hearted, crazy 7 year old who manages to crack me up, drive me crazy, melt my heart, and poop me out, every single day! and I can't thank God enough. :)
Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon.
PS sorry for any grammar errors, I am too lazy to proof read right now!
Now hopefully I can bring you up to date without making a novel of it...
The biggest change is that I am now working full time. Yes we are still homeschooling, and Yes I have no idea how I do it or survive it. My typical day looks like this...
4:45a the alarm goes off
5:30a I leave the house at work by 6:00a
off at 2:00 and home around 2:30p
We have "lunch/dinner" as a family and J leaves for work shortly after
Olena and I work on school stuff from about 4:30-6:30p
We have a light dinner together.
She plays, I do my chores.
She showers and goes to bed by 8:00
I get stuff ready for the next day and I am in bed around 9:30.
In addition to this I am "oncall" for work every night at 5p...all night through the next day so while doing all this running I am constantly taking phone calls (even during the night).
It has been about a month and a half now and I will be honest...it is probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever made and while I know it was what was best for us, in my opinion...it sucks.
BUT Olena's schedule is still in tact, we can still homeschool, and she hasn't been effected by the change one bit. Outside of my own sanity being effected ...the rest of the benefits have been great.
We did have to change up our homeschool "methods" in order for this to work. Olena is now a virtual student and is working on a program called "Little Lincoln". She completes a lesson plan each day on the computer and then she has worksheets, and planned out projects for hands on learning. Jason is able to complete the computer portion during the day while I am at work, and then in the evening, her and I work on the projects and worksheets. Having Jason join in on HS process has been awesome and I think it has been very beneficial to Olena. Jason and I are completely different in our approach when it comes to teaching but O seems to get value from each of our styles :) And so far the program has been successful. O likes it, it gives her the computer time she loves but also still the one on one with us and the reteaching with worksheets.
They also mail you EVERYTHING you need for the school year all nicely packed in a tote with a locking lid. and when I say everything...that is exactly what I mean. It was like a teacher heaven when that box came. Every imaginable school supply, like they just walked through Office Max and put one of every item in the box. It was crazy. In addition to that, they sent every item we need to complete all of the projects for the year. They even sent me dirt....4 different types of dirt at that. When I first was offered the full time position I started researching different options and came across Little Lincoln. I read the reviews, heard wonderful things about the program and Jason and I discussed it and decided it would be a great time to test it out. Unfortunately, (in my opinion) the tuition is a bit high. BUT we were able to enroll with a local school district as a virtual student and they covered the cost!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! While it is not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to home school, it meets our needs at this point in time and no harm has been done.
On a sad note, in the last 3 weeks our beloved cat of 9 years, Otis, disappeared. He was an indoor/outdoor cat but never roamed more than a few house and always came whenever I yelled for him. One night he just didn't come when we called. We have had postings on Craigslist, Jason and Olena check the shelters every week, but we haven't had any luck. It has been hard not knowing, and all we can do is hope for the best.
Then on Monday our bird of 10 years passed away. :( Storm was a cockatiel. Sweet girl who was one of the family! I had a feeling she wasn't going to be with us too much longer because we could slowly see her health declining. Olena had a hard time at first but she has thankfully moved on. With the death of my grandma and then these two issues...she has been struggling a bit emotionally. This is definitely new territory to me as a parent. As a toddler they just trust you when you tell them it will be ok and hold them tight. Now her mind at 7 years old, almost 8...wants better answers than that. Now I am faced with the time when all the hard realities of life starts to intrude on that pure and perfect imaginary childhood of hers. It breaks my heart. Its impossible I know, but what I would give to shelter her from all of this.
Well lets lift the spirits back up...good things...I finally have my best friend back - my camera!! I have manged to take more pictures in 2 days than I have in the last year!! but boy was it fun. Looking at Olena through that lens made me notice just how much she has grown up these days! she is a silly hearted, crazy 7 year old who manages to crack me up, drive me crazy, melt my heart, and poop me out, every single day! and I can't thank God enough. :)
Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon.
PS sorry for any grammar errors, I am too lazy to proof read right now!
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