New Year, New Goals… What Does The Future Hold?

I need to apologize. I have been more absent than usual for longer than usual. As we all know, life happens and it doesn’t always happen in the way we would hope… It also keeps moving even if we feel we are standing still and being taken for a ride. So, this is my post to renew my efforts in writing, creating, and being more mindful of the time clicking by so quickly. (And to also remind myself that Youtube and Facebook are time killers and I shouldn’t even open the apps in the mornings.)

(Was going to find a Facebook time waste meme to put here but realized I was wasting time looking for a meme about wasting time.)

Updates, updates, updates… Where should I begin? I don’t think I have written an update in so long… Let’s just say, stuff changed and is going to change again very soon. (More on that subtle little statement to come in a few months). I’m excited for the future and all its possibilities. 

Lately, I have been working on No Prep Kindergarten materials because Lou Lou is in Kindergarten now and I try to work on materials my daughter can use as well as others. I will continue to add Preschool posts in the future and will start adding some infant and toddler posts to the site as well as elementary and middle school work. I just can’t believe I have two middle schoolers now…when did that happen? Oh, yeah like six months ago…

Anyway, apparently I am back to my old rambling self. Still trying to remember what I was going to write about when I started this post about a half hour ago…….

This school year we tried to do an online public school. I’m not going to say online public schools are bad because for a normal family it wouldn’t be. It just hasn’t been a pleasant experience for us. That ordeal is one of the reasons for my consistent absence. We had enjoyed working at our own speed and in our own way for three years and then we tried to conform to someone else’s schedule as well as add in more structure to our wonderfully relaxed environment…it just didn’t mesh. I admit, I was craving the structure before we started but to be honest, it was a grass is always greener situation.

We are not a family that works well with routine. The new school has added more stress and panic to my life than I would have liked. We went from a think outside the box learning structure to being shoved into a neatly packaged box all tied up with a bow. The kids have rebelled against the whole setup from pretty much the second week of school. I do feel the curriculum is confusing when it doesn’t have to be and lacks the flexibility to give me room to add in those special teaching moments. I am one of those teachers who likes to build on life situations by creating lessons around things that happen in their day to day life. I feel a child learns better when they have a hands on foundation to build on. Having a set strict curriculum has kept me from doing that.

I’m sure that online school is a great alternative to a lot of people. I know that tons of kids thrive on there and it was an awesome opportunity to be involved in it. I’m thankful for the chance. I just don’t feel it works well for my particular situation at the present time. It has been quite a struggle for us. We did give it a shot and tried our best, I just feel that it adds too much stress to me and the kids.

There is also the fact that I really do not care for Common Core Math sometimes. CB (my gifted child) has been struggling with the math lesson setup. They are just too wordy without explaining the process in a way she can understand. Kinda like this post.

Getting that off my chest feels pretty good. I don’t feel we failed… no matter what the kid’s grade books say. I feel we had our own learning experience and it was beneficial to us in that aspect. We learned about ourselves and our strengths/weaknesses. I don’t think we will be continuing the program but I am thankful we were able to try something new.

Homeschool is different for everyone and what works for one family may not work for another.
Go with what works for your kids. 

Don’t be afraid to try new things because even if the end isn’t where you want to be, it is all about the journey to get there. You never know where it will take you.