Excitement ...

Noah is getting excited about homeschooling.  Tonight, we had a little discussion about what he had been doing in public school and what he wanted to learn about while homeschooling.   Because this is going to be our first hard-core year...  I think it's an important question to ask. 

First I asked him if he was learning multiplication .......  remembering the several times where we played "what is ? x ? equal?"

His response......    HUH?

::: Sigh :::

Then we talked about other stuff ....  I asked him what he was working on in school when it ended and he said ...  "I always did my own work" .... this really makes me sad.   He goes on to explain to me that he would always just work on the folder of stuff he had while he was in the classroom.  When he did participate - although he was interested - he always had to ask his classmates for help.  And then he says "I would go into Mrs. G's room and we'd work on stuff and then we'd go in another room and work on stuff, but when I was in my classroom I would just work on my stuff."  Mrs. G - btw - was his reading and math teacher (special education) ... so ... yeah, I feel bad.

I asked him if he was excited to homeschool .....

YES!!

Then he says .... "Daddy is going to be my computer teacher and my cooking teacher..." and I confirmed it.  Told him Daddy would probably handle science stuff, too.   I'm going to be doing reading and math, art ...  we're going to both be doing history and other stuff.  We're both going to be involved with ALL of it - but ....  that's how the break-down is for the most part.

So when I asked him what he wanted to learn about ....  first thing he said was ...

"Making stuff and seeing how it works."

That's pretty good answer!

In addition to that,  he is really interested in dinosaurs, animals, archeology....  when I asked him if he wanted to learn about the stars and space he said .... "but I'm not going to be an astronaut." ... to which I answered, "that doesn't mean you can't learn about space!" ....  So I'm glad that he's excited!  Sounds like he's really looking forward to the science part of it :) 

Crossroads

I am standing smack in the middle of a crossroad ...  Friday pushed that crossroads out a little and made us more determined.   Been talking about it, questioning it, trying to figure out what's best for our children and we had pretty much decided to let Calahan learn at home, Noah was up in the air.

Noah gets speech therapy and he's very social.  Those two facts alone had us questioning if homeschooling him would be right.  We fully planned on working through the summer with him to see how he did and make that determination later ....  but....  now.... after he handed me his report card, I'm so irritated and pissed ..... I am certain that my kids are falling through the cracks.

I have discussed in previous posts how Calahan is feeling uncomfortable at school.  There is a little bit of bullying that has been going on the last 6 months or so.  He is uncomfortable with the drinking and drugs and smoking going around.  He has some major anxiety issues.  But he's made some good friends.. and he was thrilled when he got his yearbook.  He thought it was super cool.

Now, I have to say that I'm really proud to know that I instilled in him ... I  never did any sort of drugs, unless it was prescription ... lol... highly against smoking and have many pet peeves of others smoking habits infringing on my direct air quality.  I have lung issues and my kids have lung issues, so it's a little more than just me not liking it.  I don't like the taste of alcohol.  So I would take sips now and then of my friends stuff, but I never liked anything.  Then I dated a bartender when I was 29 and he created a drink where I didn't taste the alcohol ... Drinking has never been important and I keep telling those I'm around that if you don't start it - you won't miss it.  That's one reason Calahan is uncomfortable around it - he has very strong convictions about it already.

Based on a lot of reasons, I think homeschooling is a better choice for him.

Then there is Noah....  we were back and forth over what's best with him... but when he handed me his report card for the year - it pushed me over the edge.

37 out of the 56 spaces for grades is marked *  .... meaning "ungraded"

He got no grades in Reading, Writing & Math... and Participates In Service (whatever that means)

In Science:
Effort - he got a "Satisfactory" when he got "Excels" the prior two grading periods.  
Content - He got a "2" meaning "Approaching Standards" which is what he got both the prior two grading periods also.

In Social Studies:
Effort - he got a "Satisfactory" when he got "Excels" the prior two grading periods.  
Content - He got a "3"meaning "Proficient" which is what he got the prior grading period, and a "2" the grading period before that.

In Health and Fitness:
Effort/Cooperation - he got a "Satisfactory" when he got "Excels" the prior grading period and "Satisfactory" the period before
Demonstrates Knowledge - he got "Excels" all three grading periods

In Music:
Effort/Cooperation - he got "Satisfactory" all three grading periods
Skills and Concepts - he got a "Approaching Standards" and was completely ungraded the two grading periods prior. 

In Behavior:
Cooperative Learner - he got "Excels" in all areas, all three grading periods, for:

• Cooperates and interacts positively with others
• Respects rights, feelings and ideas of others
• Resolves problems with peers appropriately

Quality Worker - he got "Excels" in the following areas: Shows willingness to try and Keeps workspace and materials organized (for willingness he got Excels in all three grading periods, in organized, he got Excels, Satisfactory, Excels) ......  "Satisfactory" for Shows persistence (as he did in all three grading periods) ... and "Below Expectations" for Writes legibly (which is funny since he got a not graded the first period, and then Satisfactory for the second, then went down to Below Expectations?) and "Ungraded" for Produces Quality Work (as he did all three grading periods).


Self-Directed Learner - he got "Ungraded" for all grading periods for Works Independently, Completes assignments in a timely manner, Returns home assignments on time, and Makes productive use of class time...... and for Follows Directions he was "Ungraded" for all grading periods except the current one for which he got "Excels".... he also got "Excels" for Is prepared with materials, and Follows school/classroom expectations. 

He got two notes for June....  the first under Reading is:
"(Noah) is very sociable and interacts well with peers.  Displays a positive attitude towards learning."

The second note that was on this report card for June is the one that set me off (other than all his ungraded spots) ....
"Noah was administered the DIBELs Next Progress Monitoring in June. The DIBELS NPM consists of 3 sub tests: Oral Reading Fluency (Words per minute); Retell of the passage read; DAZE Passage (fillin the missing word comprehension passage).  A Composite score of 400+ is considered grade level performance in June and an oral reading fluency (ORF) words per minute (wpm) of 118+.  Noah scored a composite score of 10 and an ORF of 24 wpm." 

 Yeah ...  I'm kinda pissed.

  This is the graph I found for the wpm part....  I don't know if it's reflective on the previous grades, however - if it is - he's Kindy level....

And I can't find anything for the other part since it varies from grade to grade and isn't reflective on the previous grade.  BUT a TEN???  My heart sank for him!!!   So did my husbands!

Now that the decision is made, I'm feeling a lot of things - excitement to help encourage or refresh my children's love of learning....  creating fun interactive lessons for them on things they love or have interest in .... but I'm scared I'm not going to do the right thing or enough....that I'm going to fall short, and all sorts of things. 

I feel like yelling - WHAT ARE THEY DOING FOR MY CHILD!?!?!  Other than giving him self-esteem issues?   

There is a big ol' YAY and WOW in my head.... and the the hesitant Oh BOY!!

Do you have any advice?  Things you wish you had known starting out? 

Last Day of PUBLIC School

So today is the kids last day of PUBLIC school...   I thought about letting them just stay home, but I also have this need to make sure that they do what they are suppose to. 

Calahan is finishing up his Sophomore year, which he completely and utterly failed. 

Why did he fail?

1. He didn't turn in work.
2. He has a lot of trouble asking for help.
3. He has major anxiety.
4. The School was not following his I.E.P. 
5. He stopped caring.
6. He was uncomfortable at school
7. There was some bullying. 
8. He had a lot of absences

So yeah, there are a lot of reasons - some in his control, some not.  Regardless - my biggest concern is that they aren't following his IEP.  I brought it up - and the first thing out of the counselors mouth was "are you reminding your teachers?"

I realize that a lot is piled on top of teachers these days... they are over worked, over stressed, and have to use a lot of their own money to make sure their classes are fun and interesting.... 

But since when is it the CHILD'S responsibility to make sure their I.E.P. is followed??? 

So we are certain we're going to allow Calahan to Homeschool/On-line School this coming fall.

Noah did really well this year... 

He "finished" 4th Grade, and by finished, I mean he made it through the school year.  He is at a 1st or 2nd grade level academically and they just keep pushing him forward even though I don't feel it's doing any good.  I have asked repeatedly that they hold him back a year.  I was told "no, we feel it's more important to keep him with his peers then giving him the stigma of being held back" .... Thanks No Child Left Behind Act ..... but let me ask you this....  How do you think it makes him feel to be pulled out of the class and exposed to the fact that he isn't at the same academic level as the other students in his class? 

When we moved here and decided to give the school district a try here ... I asked them to hold him back a year then, to make things a little easier on him.  They wouldn't.   So this past year, he was pulled out of class a lot, he couldn't work with his classmates because he wasn't at their level...  he was allowed to not do work because he couldn't... because it wasn't at his level.  When things were too hard in class, he had a folder of work (at his level) he could do ...  so he would pull that out and work on that while the class worked on something else.  Which is great, he showed initiative on pulling out work he could do... but ...  I don't think it's fair to him.  What exactly is he learning by this?

And then, he expressed to me one day - he doesn't feel smart because he can't do the same work as the other kids.

This broke my heart....

............ broke it....

So DB and I discussed it - and we're going to give it a chance through the summer and see if he'll listen to me and do his work, if he does - we're going to homeschool him, if he doesn't ... then I have no choice but to put him back in public school next year.  

Noah is a whiner - he whines at me all the time not to do stuff.  I still make him do it but it's a chore and hard  ... he doesn't act like this at school.  He listens, he's good, he's behaved....  I wish I had that Noah more often. 

In addition to that - we found out that Noah has Dyslexia - which I suspected and Calahan has something called Dysgraphia.   I actually wrote a blog about the Dysgraphia recently ...  check it out. 

I'm giving both kids a week off - one because it's my birthday on Monday - ha ha - and I don't want to start then.  But I think we're going to start the following week, on July 2nd.   That'll give me some time to get a plan in place. 

As for the babies ..... we'll see.  Nathan *hates* going to school - he cries everyday.   Kaedyn LOVES going to school ...    Nathan gets services through school like Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy ...  which are important.  And he needs to be exposed to a structured social environment right now, due to his Autism.  So we feel it is important to at least *try* to get him to like school.  He's starting a new school next year, and Kaedyn will be returning to the same pre-school.  We have no idea how this is going to go over since they were in school together this past year, and next year, they aren't even at the same school.  

So we're going to start off with the older two, and see how it goes with the younger ones..I'm excited!!

One More Step to "Legal"

So I was putting off calling up the number I have to call to get the paper work to be "legal" in Homeschooling the boys, and I planned on calling beginning of August or so that I'd be able to have it all done before public school started, and ... well... next thing I knew, school was starting!!

Um.... oops!

Luckily I have until October 15th to have it all done.

However, I called the Friday before public school started - even though Cal's school had been informed at the end of the last school year, Noah's hadn't been so I knew I'd have to let them know.  Wasn't looking forward to that, I love his school, I love a lot of the teachers there, but I just started to feel that his needs weren't being met there in a lot of ways...  I've already gotten into that though. 

So ...  I called and did the recorded answers to get the paper work sent (screwed up might I add, but whatever, I got through it) ... and then school started.  We were out of the house the day it started and I got home, listened to my messages on my machine (something I just normally ignore unless I'm expecting something) and there were messages from BOTH schools stating both boys were out of school and wondering where they were.   Well I had tried to call Noah's school the day before school to let them know not to expect him and I didn't get an answer and they took their machine away a few years ago ... so I called them back and talked to the secretary - told her what was going on - she was good about it. 

Then I got on the phone calling Cal's school - who - remind you - were informed at the END of last school year.   So...I called and a young voice answered the phone, not the normal secretary - the one that had called me earlier.  I asked for the secretary ... "she's busy right now can you call back?" ... ah... yeah... sure....   So I wait a half hour (school has already been let out, it's 3pm) ... same voice...  I sorta explain the situation just incase it's a young sounding adult who works there now... and I get "she's like, in a meeting until 4" .. nice... real, nice....  So THEN ... I call back the following morning.  I tell her, I informed the school at the end of last year that we were doing this.  And I get "have you done the paper work?" ... I said "I'm in the process of doing it" ... insert attitude "WHERE in the PROCESS are you?"   None of your damn business ... so I told her, I am waiting to get it in the mail and will be sending it back in as soon as I get it.   She was still coppin an attitude with me, and I almost reminded her with my OWN attitude that I have until October 15th to get it in and to get over it. 

UGH!!

It frustrated me. 

So today I finally got the paper work... YAY!!!

And I've already filled it out, got it addressed, sealed and stamped, and it's going out in the mail tomorrow!  And the envelope under it is a free DVD I found an offer for that I'm sending off to get.  We'll see if I get it I guess :)

Three Questions.... to start...

I found a website Design*Your*Homeschool.com ... it's geared towards families who are starting out homeschooling (and maybe for those who are not) ...

They suggest you answer these questions first:

What sort of individuals are we raising?
What are we raising them for?
What is the purpose of education?

What sort of individuals are we raising? These are hard questions! I wonder if they has specific answers in their minds when they created these questions? Course that's just me, I often wonder a lot before answering.

We are raising smart children who have some challenges in life and health. Things that they will have to face when they are older, things that may break them down now and make life more difficult. We are raising children who are fighters, 100% ... they are wonderful children and I am blessed to have them in my life.

So ... Calahan, I want him to grow up into a wonderful man. One who is compassionate, hard working, true to himself and who follows the path he needs to. I want him to pursue his dreams - if it be working with Orcas or following his heart with Art. I want him to stay off the path his Dad followed and realize the things he needs to change before making a wrong turn. Course what parent doesn't want that? He is an amazing child, who struggles a lot right now. He knows what his dreams are, and he has been passionate about it from the moment most children wish-washy around on "what they want to do when they grow up" ... Noah, I mainly just want to see him grow up and find happiness. He's struggled so much with health issues it makes me hurt inside thinking about everything he's been through, equally, it makes me proud. He's a fighter and a miracle! His current dream is to be a police officer, we'll see how long this sticks. This on the heels of a long line of .. I want to be a puppy, a power ranger, LOL... Seriously though, I want to help him grow up to be everything he can be - whatever that may be. He is such a smart kid deep down, I want to help raise that out of him. Both Nathan and Kaedyn are to little to really know, or even guess, what direction their life may take. Right now Nathan is struggling so bad with his hearing that speech is the BIGGEST issue and going in for the autism testing next month. I'm not looking forward to it, but I really wonder if my suspicion is correct. Mainly, with Nathan and Kaedyn, I just want to help guide them into discovering what their "dream" is and helping them realize that with hard work anything is in reach.

The purpose of education is to feed the mind and soul with the love of knowledge. There are so many exciting and fun facts and puzzles out there to figure out. If it be a great book that lets you fly on the back of a dragon or fight down the big giant one handed in a way that never thought possible... to the great numbers puzzle (math) or the ultimate "how does this work?" Science question. There are so many things I want to help and watch my children learn and discover. The greatest wonder of excitement over the "WOW" factor, when something clicks for them and they understand. Education is the most rewarding , in itself, feeling around.

Those probably aren't exactly the type of answers being sought, however - they are mine. They work for us I guess.