Hi world!
Just letting you know that I exist. My sons have started blogging so I figured I'd join them here and see what they were all Twitterpated about.
I'm 43, stay at home mom of three wonderful guys, Danyl who is 9, Sean who is 12 and Chris who is 26. My husband is also a stay at home dad, thank Heavens. We live near Denver Colorado. Hubby and I are both disabled, he is legally blind and has depression, ADD and other ailments. I am on disability due to Fibromyalgia, COPD, PTSD and borderline personality disorder. Up until last month I was also considered diabetic but have been removed from the medications because my A1C has been pretty steady at 5.3 for about 6 months. I just have to watch my weight and what I eat.
Chris is married to a lovely woman and has a step son so I'm kinda sorta a gramma. They live in Texas, close to his grandparents. Sean is my precocious preteen.He has played the trumpet for two years and is unschooled this year. He wants to go back to school next year so, he'll be back in school.
Danyl is my youngest and the most handful. He has severe agoraphobia which manifested itself back in the summer between kindergarten and first grade. At the beginning of first grade we had to carry him to the school bus or walk him the mile to school, across a major street. He began showing other signs of anxiety at this time as well. He's exceptionally bright and had begun expressing the desire to be home schooled. We had never spoken about homeschooling at home or around him, ever. By the middle of the first semester it was apparent that there were SERIOUS problems. We discussed therapy and he began seeing the therapist at school. She diagnosed him with ODD and agoraphobia.
In April of that year, we moved suddenly and had to remove the boys from school. The district we moved to had no openings till the next school year so, for the rest of the term and into the summer, we were forced to home school. We discovered we LOVED it! At the beginning of Danyls second grade life, we placed him and Sean into a Montessori school. That year was the worst ever for Dan. He had to be CARRIED, every morning, to the bus and placed on the bus. This was heart wrenching for my husband and I but, we were so sure the children HAD to have a public education that we dug in our heels and made the horrible trips, every day. Dan would complain of bullying every week, had daily headaches and said the school was so noisy that he couldn't think. His grades plummeted, as did Seans. Tests showed them in the higher levels but their work wasn't being done or turned in. After a year of frustration, we pulled Dan from school and began online schooling in third grade.
Dan blossomed at home. He completed the third grade curriculum in half a year and started fourth grade in March. In May he stopped working on curriculum. The school accused him of having me do his work because he would go for a week without doing any work then get it all done plus the next weeks. In ONE DAY. This school year we started with the online schooling and because the teacher was so aggressive with Dans "inability to be consistent" we decided to pull him after much of the three months being lectured to, yelled at and accused of "letting the children run our home" because we didn't MAKE them do their school work for 6 hours a day. They both were completing, in 2 hours, a complete weeks worth of curriculum! So, we pulled them. It was too much of a hassle.
Now we unschool. The children are happier, Dan has taught himself to read college level text and his understanding of some things surpasses mine considerably. He taught himself division in two days and had a look at algebra last week. I have gotten to the point where I'm having to look up much of what he's asking about because, honestly, I have no freaking clue! It's been a great learning experience for us all.
I must say that I do kick myself for forcing him to do something that probably scarred him for life. I thank heavens every day that he's such a happy child otherwise and that his love of learning has not been broken. Daily I pray for the brainpower to encourage and stimulate his mind for the future good of everyone in his life but most of all I strive to make sure my boys are HAPPY. I will NEVER again be forced to FORCE my children to do anything.... Except maybe brush their teeth!
