Homeschooling and Feeling Thankful

I think it is easy to go through daily life without truly being thankful we are for what we have in the moment.  Certainly,  I'm among the many who have taken things for granted.  The exception seems to be when we have experienced loss, suffering, pain, or difficult times for a long duration, and then we find ourselves in a situation which brings relief.

Since we started homeschooling through a K12 school, I can honestly say that even on the "worst" of days, I feel thankful and grateful to have the opportunity.  Sure, we get grumpy sometimes, and on occasion there is a difficult lesson that we're all thrilled to just be done with.  For the most part, though, we enjoy life so much more than we did during those two truly miserable years when Reezle attended our local public elementary school. There are no bullies, no revolting odors wafting in from the cafeteria, no morning (with the exception of state testing days) where the kids have to drag themselves out of bed before they're good and rested, and no crammed evenings of stressful rushing through mountains of homework and bath times.

My dad visited yesterday, and we spent most of the day working in the garage.  Because of our amazingly flexible schooling schedule, the kids were able to work ahead this week and had plenty of time to spend with their Papa.  We had a great time, and enjoyed a pizza picnic in the yard under a tree.

Does this count as art class?

After my dad left, the kids and I decided to take a walk through the woods.  On our way there, the school bus (my daughter's previous assigned bus) drove past us.  At that moment, Reezle and I just looked at each other and smiled.  We were grateful.  So grateful.  Having family time is a priceless gift. 

Walking through the woods

We spent the remainder of our blistering hot (I swear, it felt like 100 degrees outside) late afternoon/early evening in the cool woods beneath the shade of the trees, following trails and making our own, hoping to find some cool frogs.  We didn't find frogs, but we found a lot of happiness and reasons to smile and laugh, and fallen trees to play tightrope on.  And I was grateful.  Nothing in this world makes me happier than spending time with my kids and my dad.

Tree walker Reezle

Homeschooling my children has taught me a lot about being grateful in the moment, about their strengths and my own, and proves to all of us on a daily basis that we are capable of accomplishing anything we set our minds to.  Family is so important, especially to young children.  We don't get these precious years back, and I am thankful beyond words that I get to be more of a part of their young years than I would if they were behind the walls of a brick and mortar school.

As an added bonus, we are doing a more independent and family-centered model of the program this year, and they both have the same contact teacher.  She is amazing, someone who truly cares about the families she is working with, and we feel even more fortunate because we have her.  Yes, we have many, many reasons to be thankful.

Recommended links:
http://www.k12.com
http://www.abcya.com

3rd Grade, K12, Teachers, and Learning Coaches

Miss Reezle had an opportunity to meet with the 3rd grade K12 teacher via internet/phone conference today, and for the first time ever, actually expressed an interest in doing math.  I was impressed.  I'm not sure what changed, and I kind of wonder if it is the attention her little brother gets for being brilliant at it, but I'll take it.  Math has been a struggle when it comes time for lessons, and not because she finds it difficult; Reezle simply doesn't like math.  Well, until today.

The conference went well; Reezle enjoyed it, talking about her hobbies (photography and hooping, a girl after my own heart) and excitedly announcing that she was going to send her teacher an e-mail weekly.  Oy.  After reading a few passages and word lists, the teacher asked Reezle if she read a lot.  When Miss Bookworm announced with great enthusiasm that she does, the teacher told her that she'd just been reading a list of 5th grade words.  Reezle grinned proudly from ear to ear.

People are sometimes confused when I mention my children's teachers.  "Aren't you their teacher?" they ask.  Well, yes and no.  They're independent learners, and I do present material to them and explain it in various ways to meet their unique learning styles.  I answer questions when they have them, supplement material that is relevant to our lives and in areas where they need additional enrichment or a better understanding, and basically do the things a teacher does.  K12 calls me a "learning coach".  I don't like the term; I'm not merely standing on the sidelines cheering my kids along.  All parents are teachers.

Each child is assigned a teacher (or teachers, depending on grade) by K12 for their grade level.  This person is the child's primary school contact, does assessments, holds online connect sessions like reading and math groups and other fun and educational events, and helps keep the kiddos on track.  Contact, for us, is minimal, as my children are typically pursuing their own interests and learning well beyond the assigned school day.  We might put in an hour a day of Spanish for attendance, for example, but we're speaking it and going over the words right up until bedtime.  Our learning never really stops, and the kiddos are always walking around with workbooks, notebooks, and pencils in hand.  They love to learn, and my husband and I love to teach them.  It is not uncommon for the kids to be snuggled up in the recliner with Daddy when he gets home, going over binary code or fractions, playing some strategy game like chess or Solitaire, or playing Sudoku puzzles.

Those are a couple of G's illustrations depicting fractions.  And, of course, they read so much and so fast that I can barely keep up with their books!  Not that I'm complaining...

Little G: Fall Benchmark Assessment

Little G just had his fall benchmark assessment.

He is 6 years old and in 1st grade (but taking 2nd grade curriculum, soon to be 3rd grade math). I asked if he could be assessed for reading fluency, which they typically do not assess as part of the fall benchmark for 1st graders. His teacher (all K12 students are assigned teachers through their state's school) was super about it and had the assessment up and ready in less than 5 minutes. She's great.


Little G read 115 words per minute. For perspective, Little G reads within average WCPM expectations for 4-6th graders in fall. Crazy. It's a little scary having a 6 year-old who is smarter than you, trust me on this. Ha!

For our next assessment, Mrs. C. has asked Little G to have a book to share with her. He is currently running back and forth from his room with various books, asking, "Mom? Do you think she would like this book? What about this book? Do you think she wants to hear about anatomy? What about cats?" He has two months to decide, hopefully that will be enough time. Heh.

Summer Wrap Up

I have no idea where the summer went, but the beginning of the new school year is less than a week away now. I feel at peace about that, and I'm looking forward to a year of new opportunities, experiences, and challenges. Little G can't stop talking about his Math Orange workbook, and it's been very difficult to keep him from starting (and finishing) it before school even starts. I suspect he will be joining his sister in Math Purple (3rd grade) before long. Reezle is certainly capable of working at grade level, and Little G is helping her understand things she gets stuck on.

Little G's K12 teacher called yesterday, and we had a chance to discuss the upcoming school year and G's various diagnoses. She seems very nice, and I think G is finally accepting the fact that his teacher from last year cannot be his teacher this year. He doesn't like change. Mama understands.

I have not spoken to Reezle's new teacher yet, but that should be happening soon. I don't think my little girl is quite as excited as her brother is to start the new school year, but she much prefers K12 to her former school experiences. Once we start planning trips to the museums and other various places, I know she will be more enthusiastic.

Autumn is fast approaching, and it's so nice to have cool evenings instead of 80-degree temperatures through the nights. Mornings come later, the sun sets earlier, and there is a distinct chill in the air after the sun sets each night. I love this time of year, remembering the fun we had over the summer, looking forward to costumes and trick-or-treating, watching leaves turn, and celebrating the kids' birthdays. Before long, we'll be planning our holiday dinners and cooking and baking more. Reezle talks endlessly about the things she wants to bake when the weather is cool enough to use the oven more frequently. She has a real interest in cooking, so I hope she inherited her Daddy's talents and not my, er, lack thereof. Ha!

For now, I am off to enjoy this lovely quiet morning with a cup of coffee and a determination to finish the blanket I'm crocheting for my daughter's birthday. I have all the yarn I need and plenty of free time in the mornings; no excuses!

Aimsweb and A Boy With Speech Disorders

At the beginning of the year, my children both participated in an Aimsweb assessment. At the time, I felt it was accurate; it assessed them both as "Well Above Average". They are. No problem.

I'm not one of those parents who demands that my children attain some specific standard, or who believes my children are somehow exceptionally gifted just because they're mine. However, they are academically advanced beyond grade level, and would like for testing to reflect that.

Mid-year, Little G's scores dipped somewhat. He was annoyed with the testing; he remembered he had been assessed using these same measures in the past and he is not one who likes to repeat. Getting him to cooperate was a feat of monumental proportions. So when he had to do it for a third time this spring, he just wasn't having it. Typically, before we sit down for our assessments, I have some time to briefly discuss what we will be doing and why. This time, I was experiencing technical issues with my computer (a Dell N5110, another topic; don't buy a Dell), and I didn't have the time to talk with Little G because I was busy trying to evoke some signs of life from my computer. The test is timed, and he spent the majority of that time shooting me dirty, disgruntled looks and throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling in silent protest. His autism and his enormous ego are sometimes a bit of a challenge.

At the conclusion of the testing, Little G scored Below Average. I was extremely annoyed, and having difficulty pretending I wasn't. I told the teacher assessing him as much, and said I should probably discuss the results at another time. She was extremely understanding and offered me some phone numbers of some people I could contact regarding my feelings on the matter and what I felt ought to be done differently. After all, I said in protest, they were assessing a child taking 1st grade curriculum as a Kindergartner. He certainly would have been less frustrated and the picture would have been more accurate had they assessed him based on where he was actually working. I realized I was launching into an epic rant once again, which I was trying to avoid since the issues I was facing were not the teacher's fault and she didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of my dissatisfaction. I accepted her offer of the contact info, and I decided to focus on anything other than Aimsweb.

But I couldn't. A few days passed. The teacher (she's awesome, I'm pretty sure I have mentioned this) agreed to allow Little G to take the assessment again on a day when we were not experiencing massive technical issues and he could truly focus. As it turned out, we still had some technical issues (did I mention Dell sucks?) but she came up with ways to work around it. And when all was said and done, Little G scored in the Average to Above Average categories across the board. I felt better. Little G felt better.



But during the testing, something occurred to me. My son is not typical. My son is autistic and has a speech disorder which affects his expressive and receptive communication. Even if he had truly scored in the below average range for letter sounds, would it have been because of a lack of understanding or learning? No! His speech disorder complicates matters extensively, and the fact that he is able to compensate as well as he does is highly impressive. Here I was spending all of my time focused on the fact that this standardized test failed in an epic way at assessing my son's actual abilities and progress, to the point that I forgot an extremely important variable: my son's language disability.

Little G knew his alphabet and numbers 1-10 by his second birthday, despite his inability to speak (ah, the wonders of computers). He is anything but below average. I bristled at the scores on the latest assessment, an assessment of the boy who has been tutoring his similarly gifted sister since he was just a preschooler. How could he be able to correct Reezle's spelling and grammar errors and he is scoring Below Average on Aimsweb!? Actually, for nonsense word reading, he scored Well Above Average; it was only the things directly related to how he processes speech sounds which became an issue. Duh. Sometimes I fail to think. And yet, standard tests fail to really assess his knowledge and ability because they do not take his disability into account.

Standardized tests are just a part of the story.

Second Round of Assessments

When I decided to take on the responsibility of teaching my children and removed them from public school, I was both excited and nervous. I looked forward to being a part of their learning experience, to taking field trips together, and to feeling like a whole family again. During the two years that Reezle was in public school, I felt as if I lived for weekends and strangers were spending more time with my sweet girl than I was. But I was also really nervous. Education is not something I take lightly, and I was (if I'm to be honest here) a bit unsure of myself. There is an overwhelming message in our society that parents are incapable as teachers and barely equipped to assist with homework, and there was a part of me that believed it.

Today, Reezle did her second assessment of the school year. The first was done when she started homeschool to get a baseline. At the time, she scored off the charts, 'well above average', as did Little G. Today, she did it again. According to the teacher who assessed her fluency, Reezle is reading at 158 words per minute (2nd grade average is 89 wpm, 5th grade average is 139 wpm, 6th grade average is 160 wpm, according to this. Wowza.). She started the year already reading 142 words per minute, so I didn't really expect much in the way of gains between September and February. I guess I should have known better, considering how much she loves to read and how many books she's devoured in the past five months. I am so proud of her! I always had exceptional comprehension and vocabulary, but I was and still am a very slow reader.

She also scored perfect on the math assessment, quickly answering all 50 points worth of questions correctly. I wish her confidence in her math skills matched her ability, but it doesn't. I suppose having a 6 year-old human calculator for a brother probably doesn't help. She doesn't seem to realize she's still way ahead for her grade level. She has a very competitive spirit when it comes to academics.

Thus far, I've been keeping her at grade level work because of her extremely low frustration tolerance and the fact that I wanted to transition her into homeschooling comfortably. However, she is working below her ability and I've decided it is time to start challenging her a bit more. While I stand by my decision to keep her in grade 2 math and language arts, we are working through it at a faster pace now. I echo the teacher's sentiments; we don't want her getting bored...it's difficult to get them back after that. Indeed. I was bored at her age, so I stopped paying attention. I didn't need to pay attention. But by the time I realized I did need to listen, I was out of practice and overwhelmed with frustration. It can be a delicate balance for kids.

In some really fun news, the teacher introduced us to a cool educational website this afternoon called Reading Eggs (it's so much more than it sounds like!) that the kids can hardly wait to start using! There are even books they can read on all kinds of topics, and Reezle is anxious to dig into the history ones.

We're now more than halfway through the school year, and I love this more all the time. The kids love it, too, and there is no doubt whatsoever that we will continue with the K12 curriculum for the coming school year. If anyone reading is considering homeschooling, or looking at different curriculum options, I encourage you to look into K12. It is absolutely wonderful!

In which I do some venting...

If you ever want to know EXACTLY where you stand with your school, school district, or special education contacts, simply remove your children from said school district's schools and see what happens. I always felt like I might eventually put my kids back in school at some point. Now I know I won't. This morning sealed it, but this morning was just the final straw.

At the end of last school year, I wrote a sincere thank you letter to R's teacher and e-mailed it. Despite the less than desirable issues with public school, first grade had not been a terrible year because my daughter's experience in the classroom had been positive. At the beginning of last school year, the paperwork to homeschool R was halfway done and she was only in school to bridge the time/attendance gap. Upon learning this, her teacher called me and was very supportive. She said that she understood if I decided to homeschool, and that it would be her (the teacher's) loss because Reezle really added something to the group. The teacher also offered her help if we went that route should any questions arise. As it turned out, she homeschooled her own children for a while. Impressed with the new teacher, we decided to keep R there for first grade.

The teacher and I communicated often by e-mail, so I had no doubt she would receive the letter. But I never heard a word back. As the weeks and months passed by, I wondered if maybe she wasn't logging in over the summer or if perhaps she didn't receive it. I still don't know.

As the start of this school year approached, I wasn't sure if our virtual charter would be contacting our former school or not, so I felt it prudent to make the call myself and talk to the principal. She had become an ally, so I thought, and I felt that we got along well despite a bit of a rocky start. When I told her that R would not be returning, it was clearly a surprise. The call was abruptly ended; there were some awkward well wishes, and the phone was quickly passed off to the school secretary. I can't explain exactly what more I wanted out of that conversation, but suffice it to say it was something more than what I got.

Today I spoke with the director of special education about getting Little G's IEP faxed to his teacher contact through our virtual school. She informed me that she'd mail it to me because a release would be required to fax it, then very unceremoniously informed me that she would no longer be dealing with my son's IEP because he was not attending school in the district. What? Yes, we were dumped, since we are "no longer IN the school district". You know, even though we are.

But you know, I shouldn't care. This county and district have been an epic FAIL at:

* Providing speech services through Early Intervention. They had none, so I taught my son sign language and found and paid for our own speech services until G was of IEP age and the district took over covering the tab.

* Providing occupational therapy. There was a period of time where I showed up for weeks and a therapist did not, so I read a bazillion books on dealing with sensory processing disorder, hypotonia, and motor skills and created a highly-effective sensory diet for him.

* Enforcing their own rules and policies on bullying.

Now, I'm not big on formalities. Okay, maybe I am. But you know, that teacher could have said, "Thanks, I enjoyed working with R, too." The principal could have been less abrupt, since she started at that school when we did and we have worked closely over the past 2 years. I even sent her an e-mail follow-up when the bus stopped here and beeped for Reezle on the first day of school, just to remind her we were enrolled elsewhere, and wished her a good school year at the new school. No response. How long would it have taken to fire back a quick, "Noted. Good luck to you, too!" And the special education director? We've worked together since Gavin was a baby! Her demeanor was perhaps most disappointing of all. You know how someone acts at the very moment they stop pretending to like you? Yeah. That.

The feeling I get is that they are quite pleased to be rid of us. Which, I guess shouldn't surprise me. I was right in everyone's face all the time holding them accountable and expecting them to *gasp* do their jobs. But I realize now that any kindness or concern was fake, and all of the genuine appreciation I had for the things they did manage to do - which I expressed often and via thank you e-mails - was misplaced. And I have to admit, that stings a little. Or a lot. These people walked a difficult road with our family, and while it wasn't always a pleasant journey I did believe the consideration was genuine. Now I know it wasn't.

Whatever. At least I walk away knowing I did the right thing, and acted in a way that I feel good with. But somehow, I'm sure they all feel the same way.

Designer Curriculum

Today was an exciting day for Little G! His virtual academy 'homeroom' teacher, Mrs. M., called today and G had a chance to talk to her. And, of course, it didn't take him long to find a way to work numbers into the conversation. After asking G a few questions, Mrs. M. asked him if he had any questions for her. "Yes," he said. "What is 4 plus 4?" She said she thought she knew that one, and answered 8. "Correct!" he said, delightedly. His face lit up like it was Christmas, as usually happens when anyone is willing to talk numbers with him.

Mrs. M. and I talked about G's speech, the fact that he is well beyond the Kindergarten phonics and probably the Kindergarten math, and she shared some ideas on bumping up his curriculum. We're going to start him in the later Kindergarten Phonics lessons now, and - depending on the results of his reading assessment, which I am sure will be ahead of grade level - the plan is to get him working on grade 1 Phonics. I was so excited about this, because I was figuring I would just continue teaching him reading and writing using the grade 2 workbooks I've been using for most of the summer. He has been reading books for more than a year, so the sight word flash cards and learning letter sounds is a few steps backwards. I'm glad his curriculum is flexible. That's something a bricks and mortar school cannot offer, at least in such a custom fit way, right now. I told the kids we have a "designer curriculum".

The unexpected twist in plans was that G will be doing a part-time curriculum instead of full-time. I had been slowly coming to terms with this before today, simply because it was taking so long for the issue to be ironed out. Today, we were given options and I feel like, with the input from two teachers, we made the right choice for G. We were given the option of trading History for the Science we really wanted, but since Science is a strong point for me and I was already brainstorming ways to create a Science curriculum on my own for him, I opted to keep the History and have G study grade 2 Science with R. This is one of the many benefits of having two students just a couple of years apart. Mrs. M. suggested that we could log some of G's science studies as Technology.

I'm feeling even more excited about the start of our school year now. Autumn is fast approaching, which means we will have the chance to do some really cool seasonal activities to compliment our curriculum. We will be doing some fun things with apples, thanks to some great experiences from the kids' preschool days that I want to keep repeating. It's a surprise, but I will be sharing soon!

Teacher, Mama

This morning, I shared the names of the virtual academy teachers with R and Little G. Little G looked upset and said, "I thought you were going to be my teacher." I explained that I would, but these other teachers were experienced and knowledgable, and they would help us stay on track. He brightened right back up. My sweet R chimed in right after.

R: That's the best part about homeschool. You are our teacher!

G: You're mama and teacher!

R: Yep! I'm gonna call you Mrs. Mama.

Heh. Aww.

Cool Things

This morning, I logged into the OLS (online school) to browse announcements and check my e-mail. In my inbox was an introduction and bio from the teachers who we will be working with as Little G navigates his Kindergarten year on our homeschool adventure. And I could not believe what I read; one of the teachers also has a degree in communicative disorders!

Since Little G has a diagnosis of expressive/receptive speech disorder, the only concern I had about homeschool (or any school, really) was the possibility of encountering issues where is receptive communication challenges would become an issue. Let's just say I feel a whole lot less concerned now! I was so excited that I immediately e-mailed her to introduce myself and tell her about my son. Any trepidation I felt about plunging into this unknown continues to ease, as these little affirmations seem to be popping up at every turn.

Truly, my only frustration at this point is that I still have not received any science, art, or music curriculum for Little G, and he actually became very upset and started to cry about this when he realized it this afternoon. His favorite things, in order, are math, music, science, and art. And since he will blow through the phonics and language arts at warp speed with little challenge, if any, the lack of science doesn't leave a whole lot to his core courses. Hopefully I can get this rectified tomorrow.

Meanwhile, G did enjoy going through what he already has, which are below:



Pictured are mostly Little G's materials, but a few items of R's. In the upper photo, G poses with his phonics materials, inflatable globe, map, and some reading materials. Below we have math manipulatives, beans, grass seeds, a pile of workbooks on top of a pile of reading books, a slide whistle, a (hot pink!) tambourine, and 3-D shapes. I can't seem to stop playing with the tambourine, heh. I think we are all going to enjoy the music, even if Little G doesn't get his materials. It's not like we're going to leave him out of the fun!