Homeschooling Anne goes from 8:30 a.m. in the morning right up through bedtime, with breaks for lunch, snack, and dinner. Since I wake up at 5:30 a.m. to get Leigh ready for school, the days are long and exhausting.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the best situation. In an ideal world, Anne would have a few lessons, a little work, and be done by noon. Homeschooling should offer her free time for play and discovery. We\u2019d have time for art and music, too.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Anne can take all day for just three pages of work.<\/p>\n
She is back home because she wasn\u2019t ready for third grade academically or socially. We received a call on the first day of school, right after lunch, asking if she had trouble sitting, working, and following directions.<\/p>\n
Given the pedagogical approaches of the third-grade teachers, the lack of essential supports, and Anne\u2019s needs, we had to promptly return to homeschooling.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no good defense for how we teach lower-elementary students. We shouldn\u2019t be grading them and we certainly shouldn\u2019t be expecting them to behave like little adults. After two years of COVID-19 disruptions, the post-pandemic classroom should be a lot more about nurturing and reassuring young students.<\/p>\n
It is disheartening that special education supports are more difficult to obtain than they were before the pandemic. Revising Anne\u2019s IEP was going to take months. The school district lacks evaluators, school psychologists, and paraprofessionals. That\u2019s true nationwide. What were staffing shortages before the pandemic are now staffing emergencies.<\/p>\n
With Anne home for yet another year, we are again relying on a mix of workbooks, activity guides, and online resources. I still refer to the state standards each Sunday as I prepare for the week ahead. Homeschooling requires the same planning as teaching in a classroom.<\/p>\n
We control the pace of learning new materials and we can constantly review past materials. Anne needs to progress at her speed, not the mean or median speed of 20 to 30 third-grade students. We move with her, not against her.<\/p>\n
Using IXL, Adventure Academy, and Khan Academy allows us to assess Anne (and Leigh) objectively.<\/p>\n
It would be great to have both girls back on campus at the elementary school. However, we\u2019re also glad that we can continue to provide the learning experiences that Anne needs to be successful.<\/p>\n
Homeschooling Anne also allows me to handle the medical appointments for both girls during the week. With medical appointments and after-school activities, our calendars are packed with non-stop activity.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m too exhausted to write blog posts each week, and I\u2019m struggling to produce podcasts. Homeschooling also means I\u2019m not able to pursue anything else right now.<\/p>\n
Ideally, Anne returns to campus next year, ready to thrive alongside their classmates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Homeschooling Anne goes from 8:30 a.m. in the morning right up through bedtime, with breaks for lunch, snack, and dinner. Since I wake up at…<\/p>\n