It's Getting Closer, Remind me I CAN Do This? {Long, Sorry}

[Kaitnbugsmom]

Dh is leaving for Iraq in the late winter. The school is already aware that we're taking the girls out of school to go to Georgia to see him off and so forth. What they aren't aware of is that we won't be re-enrolling them. They haven't dealt well with the two three week pre deployment training stints he's had/having {on one right now} so far, and I don't see deployment as being any easier on them.

Point of fact is that we enrolled oldest dd in public school because I lost my job & health insurance, so it was the only way to get her the speech, PT & OT services she needed. THey have since completly stopped all of those, written them out of her IEP as 'unneccessary' and subsittuted social stories counseling with the school's general student counselor and the use of a computer to do her written work. Younger DD is in public school because she wanted to be like her sister and go to school. Not a good reason, but at the time I had little to no choice in the matter. Both of them now complain constantly about school, and the younger one is a little hot head sometimes, and hyper by nature, neither of which have made her teachers pet, IYKWIM. :

So we're starting to gather resources, put up money to join the HSLDA for legal security & peace of mind, and look over curriculum [Likely going with Alpha-Omega LifePacs for written work, and life-provided examples for the rest]

Anyways, I am getting super-nervous, even though we've been doing supplemental life-based education the whole time they've been in brick and mortar school. Especially since I'll be building my massage therapy practice at the same time. Thoughts, comments?

[tallanvor]

Well, while I could say don't worry, you'll do fine, I know you'll still worry. I would. Been through the deployment thing, though my oldest was just starting kindergarten and we already knew we would be homeschooling, so it wasn't quite as big a deal for us that way.

But one of the things I love about homeschooling is that when my hubby is away for work, if the kids are having a bad day, we don't have to do school. The stuff kids learn in a school building doesn't take them the whole school year anyway, so if you need to skip days, it's not a big deal. And you can focus on your family, which is awesome. You know your kids so much better than the school system, so you can help them learn much better than the school can.

And plan on taking some time right when your hubby leaves to just let your kids be kids. Deschooling, I think is what they call it. Well, we just call it taking a break, since my kids have never been to PS. But anyway, just take a week or two and let them kind of get used to daddy being gone first before starting the school work. It will probably make things a little easier.

And if you run into trouble, just pray and come chat here. You can do this. Really. Yes, you will worry and get stressed and there will be days you want to give up, but you can do this.

Crystal

[Lillian J]

I felt so good for your family as I read your post - to know that your daughters' live are going be made more comfortable in these trying times by being able to be in a home environment and out in world with one another. The only thing I'd change is to take them out now - there's no reason educationally to wait till late winter, and homeschooling is perfectly legal.

You really don't need to wait till you have a lot of supplies and a plan - you'll all need some decompression/deschooling time anyway, with plenty of time to daydream and play, watch good videos together, snuggle up and share good books, play games, get out into nature, do seasonal crafts, etc., and spend time with their dad, and generally work back to feeling like their old selves again. Some people find that during that time they begin to get to know their children as learners in a whole different way from when they were in school. Plunging into the 3Rs right at the beginning is usually not a successful or productive way to start off. I'd take some time to read through posts and articles that this thread links to: Decompression/Deschooling.

I'd slow way down on gathering resources - most seasoned homeschoolers will tell you that they wasted a lot of money by gathering things before they even got started. Things will be changing - your ideas about homeschooling will be in flux, and your children's individual ways of learning will be coming more clearly into focus as you go along.

Here are good web pages for reading up on the state laws:
Homeschooling laws
You won't really need to buy a membership to anything to have legal security - you can just make sure you're following the laws. If you contact your local and state organizations, you'll find plenty of support - here's a list of links to information on finding them: support groups.

Here are some basic links that can help keep it simple without all the overwhelm that can see to come with a step like this:
getting started.

All the best - Lillian

[lakesuperiormom]

Originally Posted by Kaitnbugsmom

Dh is leaving for Iraq in the late winter. The school is already aware that we're taking the girls out of school to go to Georgia to see him off and so forth. What they aren't aware of is that we won't be re-enrolling them. They haven't dealt well with the two three week pre deployment training stints he's had/having {on one right now} so far, and I don't see deployment as being any easier on them.

Point of fact is that we enrolled oldest dd in public school because I lost my job & health insurance, so it was the only way to get her the speech, PT & OT services she needed. THey have since completly stopped all of those, written them out of her IEP as 'unneccessary' and subsittuted social stories counseling with the school's general student counselor and the use of a computer to do her written work. Younger DD is in public school because she wanted to be like her sister and go to school. Not a good reason, but at the time I had little to no choice in the matter. Both of them now complain constantly about school, and the younger one is a little hot head sometimes, and hyper by nature, neither of which have made her teachers pet, IYKWIM. :

So we're starting to gather resources, put up money to join the HSLDA for legal security & peace of mind, and look over curriculum [Likely going with Alpha-Omega LifePacs for written work, and life-provided examples for the rest]

Anyways, I am getting super-nervous, even though we've been doing supplemental life-based education the whole time they've been in brick and mortar school. Especially since I'll be building my massage therapy practice at the same time. Thoughts, comments?

you will do wonderfully! you will have your ups and downs like the rest of us! and we'll be here to cheer you on and handhold when it's needed! what an exciting adventure you are about to begin!

[Kaitnbugsmom]

thanks for all the support. We live in Indiana, so for right now there is no real 'law' per se, but of course the legislative session will include numerous tries to change that, as usual.

I graduate from my massage program on 28 November and have my last two clinicals on 30 November. We have talked about taking them out then, since the following week will be DH's last week at home before he leaves for his last two weeks of in-state PMT training. He'll be home on Christmas leave {as of right now} before leaving for Georgia, but still. We're talking about going out to Oklahoma where his step dd from his first legal marriage lives with her kids, that week so the kids can see where he lived when he was just a voice on the phone {Fort Smith AR & Poteau OK}, and spend some time with the grandbabies {the older two are honorary aunts, and I got labeled gramma. which is fun in public, especially since it's obvious their mother and I are the same age} as well as DH.

we're going to have a lot of family opposition, but that's nothing new. We got {back} together before my legal marriage was officially over, I got pregnant with Miss Em while my legal divorce was still pending, etc. and both families have some residual issues from our break-up back in high school. Besides which, they're all very much establishment types, and are already irritated with us for not vaxing, not medicating our children into zombies, not putting a fear of God into them {we are raising them to love and respect God and be in perpetual prayer and praise mode, so it's not like we're raising them to burn down churches or anything} I've already told DH if the family gets on my nerves or tries to interfere, I'm liable as not to pack up and head out to Oklahoma and stay with his step daughter or get a small apartment. Oklahoma is as easy to homeschool in as Indiana, even more so since the right to homeschool is built into their constitution and there are so many history-rich sites in the West/Southwest to learn hands-on [and come home rich maybe? we can't wait to hit crater of diamonds next year]

Haven't actually bought a whole lot yet, and what I have I've gotten from the book bins at the goodwill pound store in the city and friends yardsales. We have flipped through the AOP stuff at Family Christian as well, and both girls seemed to like it and find it easy to comprehend.

I totally wish we could join the local HS'ing group, but its run by a couple from my former church and that is where they meet each month. The church itself and the couple in particular are very vocally pro-ezzo, pearl, anit AP and borderline racist I have corresponded with a couple of eastern OK homeschool moms over Yahoo and can't wait to meet them while we're out west. They've given me an open invitation to come to any of their HS'ing meet ups, classes, etc. whenever we're out visiting. We plan to move to the Poteau area once DH's current complication {involuntary 1 year extension} is up anyways.

wow. another book. sorry ya'll. I can't really talk about this stuff IRL or on my myspace blog, due to the above mentioned family issues.

[bobandjess99]

nevermind, lol. I'm an idiot.

[Kaitnbugsmom]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99

nevermind, lol. I'm an idiot.

okay. I didn't read whatever you edited anyways. Feel free to share in a PM If you don't want to talk on the open board

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by Kaitnbugsmom

thanks for all the support. We live in Indiana, so for right now there is no real 'law' per se...

There's not one in California either, and we love that. We're free to homeschool under the private school option, and that means no regulation and interference - the same respect any private school gets. But we do need to make sure we're operating within the few simple laws about how a private school is formed and what paperwork we need to deal with - probably much the same there? - Lillian

[carmel23]

your title is on my mind, too! I keep thinking, I can do this! I can!

Sending you all the best.