Moving Onward and Upward

Well, Erik graduated from elementary school! I can't believe this day is here. He had a wonderful year and great teachers. He got the opportunity to have three different teachers: Mrs. Van Blaricom for his homeroom and language arts/social studies, Ms. O'Brien for math, and Mrs. Marlatt for science. They did a lot of fun things this year and he really learned a lot. He's very excited for middle school. They had a little "graduation walk" for the 5th graders. They walk through the school hallways and all the other students stand outside and clap for/cheer for/high five the 5th graders as they go by. Then, they have the parents wait outside and one by one they come out and go through the parents who clap for/cheer for/high five the kids as they go by. Most of the kids were crying and sad, but I knew that wouldn't be Erik. He doesn't show a lot of emotion anyway, but I knew he was excited, not sad. Sure enough, he came out with a HUGE smile on his face. I asked him if he was sad about leaving West Ridge, or going into middle school, or leaving friends. He answered "Nope!" every single time. He also had wanted a mohawk for awhile and we told him he could on the last day. His hair was long so it turned out really cool.  His teacher told me that when she saw him walk into class that morning she was like, "Yes! That is so cool!" The little kids and I went and got balloons and candy to bring to the kids to celebrate an awesome year.

Our Decision to Homeschool

Homeschooling Post #1

 When I first started getting thoughts about homeschooling I went back and forth quite a bit. I'd be all gung ho about it for a few weeks, then Daniel and I would talk about it and I'd decide to leave them in public school. Then a few weeks, or a month, later another thought about homeschooling, or some incident at school would happen that would make me consider it again. This went on for probably 6 months. I have a few friends who had decided to homeschool and loved it. Another friend brought up that she had decided to start homeschooling. About the time I first started thinking about this, someone told me about Options schools, so I looked into those and visited the one closest to me and was impressed with what I saw. At West Ridge, I felt like Drew was falling through the cracks at school and Lily wasn't being challenged. Drew would come home with Needs Improvement or S- scores on many reading and math assignments, which can be compared to Ds and C-, but he wasn't being pulled for extra help outside of his classroom. Lily was making improvements, but would finish her math assignments days before the rest of her class. She also didn't need to do five worksheets on the same topic. She catches on quickly and usually has it after the first try or two. She tested out of the guided reading levels (A-Z) which is above a 5th grade level. When I gave her a math placement test she was almost a 7th grade level, except that she hadn't learned multi-digit multiplication (a 4-digit number x 1 digit) or division (a 4-digit number / 1 digit). Once I showed her how to do these, she got them all right, which would have put her at a 7th grade level. She was not being pulled for the gifted/talented group either. I was also concerned about the direction of academics/testing as well as social behaviors and where they're headed in the coming years. I started to feel like school was a prison in that kids are usually sitting and not able to do much talking....even at lunch, which I think is just ridiculous!! I finally felt like Heavenly Father was giving me little nudges and pushes telling me that homeschool was right for my kids. Once again, Daniel and I talked about it and this time felt like it was the best thing for our family. Erik decided he wanted to try middle school, so I'm starting homeschool with Lily and Drew. This is good because now I only have two different levels to worry about instead of three. If it goes well we will think about adding Erik next year. Luckily our principal at West Ridge was very supportive and understanding. She let me know that the kids would be welcome back at any time. I am also thinking about having them take one elective class up there next year, but we haven't decided on that.

Goodbye.....for now. West Ridge is a wonderful school.

  The Options schools are run through Aurora Public Schools. They have a few different "campuses" throughout the Denver area. The one closest to us, Brighton Options, is only about 10 minutes away, which will be really nice. Here are the basics of how they work:
  The kids are technically enrolled in public school. We pay a fee per student to cover various activities held throughout the year. The school rents out a church building and offer classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, 8:30-3:00. Students attend school ONE day per week. They offer a variety of classes which change from year to year. We get to pick the five classes the kids want to take and then they take the class all year long. Some classes are academic, and some are more elective type classes. They ask all families to provide a parent volunteer for something like 18-20 hours for the year, which works out to about one hour per day that your child attends. The classes are taught by certified teachers. My favorite part about Options schools is that they have curriculum available through Aurora Public Schools that can be checked out for the year. This is nice because I don't have the money to buy different curriculums. I could do it on my own, it would just be quite a bit more difficult and time consuming. I looked at the available curriculums to check out and a few were ones I had used as a teacher. They even have my favorite language arts program available....Open Court. My students had quite a bit of success with this program when I used it to teach reading in Granite District.

  Unfortunately, Brighton Options was full, so we were put on the wait list. I waited a few weeks but still hadn't heard if we were in or not. So, I felt like maybe Heavenly Father was waiting for me to take the leap of faith. I did and informed our school that the kiddos would not be back in the fall! YIKES!!! Now I was committed to this adventure....whether I was ready or not. A few weeks after school ended I received the email I had been waiting for. We were in!! I went online to the classes offered on Mondays at Brighton Options and filled out the kids request forms ASAP!! Drew and Lily both had some input and were pretty excited about the classes we chose. Now, we just have to wait to hear if we made it into our chosen classes.

Drew's class choices

Lily's class choices

  I have also been putting together binders for each subject and planning out my calendar, breaks, and topics I'm going to cover the first year. My tentative schedule is to teach math and reading separately, and science, social studies, and electives together. In the morning I will spend 30 minutes teaching Drew reading while Lily works on her own, either online, worksheets, or silent reading. Then, we'll switch and I will work with Lily while Drew works/practices on his own. We will do math the same way. After lunch is when I plan to do 30 minutes each of science and social studies each day. We will rotate through electives, or incorporate them into other content areas. I've also been gathering information on the standards for each subject at each grade level, just so I can try to cover as much content as possible for each grade. That way, if they ever decide to go back into public school they won't have too many gaps in content, or be too far behind in any area. I'm nervous about this adventure going well, and am hoping the kids will be more receptive to it as we all get more comfortable with our new arrangement. They swing back and forth right now as well, between being excited and being sad about not going back to West Ridge.

This is our work space. The computer desk is just to the right of here. It's nothing fancy, but there are two desks and lots of supplies, so everyone can have their own space.

This is one of my binders with standards and lessons/activities that I've planned so far. This notebook is Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.

Some of our books for science and social studies.

That's it for now. More to come as we get going. I'll try to share our success, as well as our bumps in the road.

First Scout Camp!

Erik was able to go to his first overnight campout for boy scouts. It was only one night since he's still in 11 year old scouts, but he loved it! He had a great time and gets to go on two more campouts this summer. I can see him growing up to be an avid outdoorsman and camper.....kind of like his Grandpa Dub. He really enjoys scouts and already has his tenderfoot completed, as well as most of his 2nd class requirements. Daniel was able to go up on Friday afternoon and stay until they came home Saturday after lunch. I think Erik is starting to get excited to turn 12 and go into Boy Scouts.

Before I Forget...

I wanted to get two stories down before I forget them.

1. When Drew was being sedated before they set his broken arm he heard the doctor telling us that the IV meds they use work quickly. We were told when they start administering the medicine, he would seem totally coherent, and it would suddenly change. His eyes would start rapid eye movements, but be open wide. However, within one minute he would be completely out. Sure enough, when they started the medicine Drew asked, "Am I asleep with my eyes open?" We all laughed and the doctor told him almost. Within 30 seconds his eyes were glassy and moving back and forth quickly. He was out! Unfortunately, he had a really hard time coming out of the sedation. He didn't hallucinate or anything, but he was in and out for about 30 minutes, and very fidgety. We could leave until he could hold down some food. After an hour and a half or so he still couldn't keep a goldfish cracker down. I left to pick up the other kids, and it wasn't for two more hours before he was able to keep down some crackers, a popsicle and was finally able to come home.

Three weeks later...

2. When Alex was getting his toe stitched he also had to have some meds for pain. I think it was called Versed, or something similar, and Daniel said it made him act drunk. He was in the room waiting for the doctor to come back in and saw his juice box on the counter. He asked if he could have it with slurred speech. They gave him a small Olaf stuffed animal and on the way home he was holding him in the back seat. He looked at Daniel and sadly said, "Olaf's head fell off!" Daniel looked back and replied, "You're holding him upside down buddy." He looked and started laughing! By the time he was home 15 minutes later he was totally fine. I laughed pretty hard at that story!!

Two weeks later...