well, tomorrow is the first official homeschool day for my middle one.
i finally ripped him out of his shitty ass school that didn't want to help him, only push him though to the next grade no matter what the consequence. they wouldn't let me even hold him back (they put him through to 2nd, even though he's CLEARLY not ready and tests as an avg 1st grader!). he did a reading help program last year, well, come to find out most of the students in the program didn't even speak english! so of course they were focusing on them.
poor guy, he has the same form of ADD that i have and he's just falling through the cracks like i did. i saw him starting to have the same issues with comprehension and reading like i did and i do NOT want him dealing with what i had to deal with.
soooo, i found this AWESOME program here in wa state! we are the only state that offers this program, and honestly it should be everywhere.
essentially, it's a compramise between homeschooling, public schooling, private schooling.
he goes to school for 2 days a week, they work on social studies, science for the most part, with math, reading and comprehension mixed in.
they have "enrichment" classes (essentially electives) that he can take, here's and example (i'm totally stoked about these)...intro to bandd (that's what i'm putting him in this semester, cute!), strings, sign language, science exploration, beginning drawing, creative art, the great puppet workshop, lego explorations (he's going in this next semester, they make robots and stuff! so f'in cool!), gardening, acting for fim/tv, swimming, ymca (only costs me $15 a semester and he goes 2 hours a week to swim, rock climb and play sports!), etc...there's like over 50 types of extras classes!
so them i homeschool him 3 days a week. there are monthly meetings/checkups with the teacher so we can see his progress, see what needs fixing and fix it! he only has 9 kids in his class, not 28 like his other school!!!!!!!! so he CAN'T fall through any cracks here! the classes are double grades, so in one class is grade 1/2, then 3/4 and so on...
I LOVE THIS PLACE!
So today was his first day in his new school. he cried (he's my sensitive one), i'm sure he was nervous, but when i picked him up today, OMG the change already started!
normally, i ask him
me"did you have a good day?"
him "no not really"
me "what did you do in school today"
him "i don't know"
me " what was your favorite part"
him "i don't know, recess"
etc etc etc..
he coudln't tell me anything at all about what he did that day.
so today i get him and here's are convo...
me"did you have a good day?"
him "YUP!"
me "what did you do"
him "we played these games"
me " what kind of games"
him "OH OH!! we played this game like we had, with letters and squares"
(keep in mind, right now he has a GIANT smile on his face, i have NEVER seen that from him talking about school)
me "what's it called"
him "i don't know, but we have it and..."
me trying to figure it out... "OH! scrabble!"
him " YEAH! we did that and I built words and I won!"
then i could not get him to shut up about all that he did! it was AMAZING! and the teacher even told me that today was kind of a boring day and they are usually much more intersting!
they totally understand his need for computer and hands on learning. they don't keep them stuck in a chair all day, they move around and stay busy.
i love it love it love it there and it's only been one day!!!
i bought some curriculum (saxon math, that's what my odest uses in his private school so i'm familiar with it and it's highly recommended), and the principle gave me some great links to websites that help with reading, oh and he's going to be doing this other reading program called powerline reading, normally it's $50 per month, but through them it's FREE!!!! they teach reading exactly how he learns! they use the same techniques that they use in ADD centers, with balance, coordination and such, they taylor the program to him, not just a generic program!
so i'm scared and excited all at the same time. EEEEEEKKK!!!
eta: geez, just noticed my mass misspellings! forgive me! i'm tired! lol






Reply With Quote



Bookmarks