School Wrap Up!

Our first year of homeschool has officially come to an end(well almost, they have tests but that's it). A lot of people have asked about our opinions on homeschooling and what we're planning on doing next year in regards to schooling. This first year of homeschooling has made me realize I love teaching my kids, I love being with them when they learn how to do new skills and am so glad that I have had this opportunity to do so this year. So of course, our kids who were homeschooled will for sure be homeschooled again next school year. As for our kids who went to regular school this passed year, for the most part they will remain the same. Callie, Estella, and Tyson all love being in school, as much as I would love to have them home with me I know that isn't best for them. Those three need constant interaction with different kids and they get that at school, so I will swallow my pride and let them do their thing. Now onto Hunter, if you didn't know this our son Hunter has Aspergers and we tried mainstreaming him this passed year, it was not a good fit for him. He was biting kids, he was hitting kids, he was having a hard time. We realized that he needs a different kind of schooling, so we went ahead and found a special needs school in our area. Since switching him to this school he has made incredible strides, he went from being an angry child who couldn't channel his anger back to the sweet kid we know and love. He has only bit a few children since then, seeing as it was a daily occurrence I saw this as a win, and hasn't hurt himself since. As for our homechooled kids, we learned a lot about learning styles and my teaching style. I learned that following the books perfectly isn't needed, we don't need every single homeschool book on the market, and most importantly I learned that it really is okay if you have a day where you just don't do work. Working full time and homeschooling is a hard task, I'm sometimes exhausted in the morning and more than once I have taught my kids while holding back tears and being physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. Just recently I decided to put on an educational show and let them learn from that instead, obviously I don't do this often, but I learned it is more than okay to let them double up some days and relax on some. I am so excited that this school year is coming to an end and summer is upon us, I miss being able to sleep in and to see my kids for more than just a couple hours. I just hope I can muster up some energy to get through these next few weeks(4 to be exact). Here's to summer!