Back to school! The joy and dread of every mother of school aged children. If your kids GO to school it means long shopping lists, PTA hit ups, stacks of forms to fill out, orientations, uniforms and pickup lines. If your kids STAY for home school it means new curriculum, lots of planning, lots of organizing, and pumping yourself up to be a teacher again. But whether your kids go or stay for school, back to school means back to the reality of *gasps* a SCHEDULE!
All of the above applied to our family this year. ALL of it! We are home schooling the four older kids and our little squirt, Rabina, is going to Pre-K! We really went back and forth as to what to do this year. A lot of me just wanted to put all the kids in school so that I could have a nice break, but after much prayer and discussion I just did not have a peace about that. So, we decided putting Rabina in school and homeschooling the others was the best decision.
Last year was our first year home schooling. It went fairly well until the girls came home. When they came home, we did zero school for about 6 weeks and then tried to ease into some type of schooling. The schooling part itself was really hard and so overwhelming just because I had to learn what the girls knew and what they didn't. Also, Asher was under a lot of stress with the transition, so he was having a very hard time in school. Then, when you add a very needy and mischievous three-year-old to the mix, home school becomes darn near impossible! There were days where I just cried over how horrible things were going in the educational department. It was a pretty rotten first year of home schooling but I tried to give myself lots of grace about it. It was only one year, and the world didn't end just because it didn't go so well.
Despite how badly things went last year, I still really loved home schooling (at least the good days) and I wanted to continue it again this year because I felt like it was the best choice for the kids. I really wanted to put the girls in grades that fit their actual age and not their paper age (long story), but that requires a lot of catching up. I thought we could cover more ground with them if we home schooled. However, I knew if I was going to try again this year, I would have to figure something out for Rabina. We needed to be toddler-free so we could seriously focus on schooling! I applied for her to go to our public Pre-K program, but we weren't sure if she would get in since it's a lottery system. I had planned to put her in a mother's morning out program if she didn't get in, but we were hoping we wouldn't have to go to (or pay for) Plan-B. Well, she got into public Pre-K! Thank God!
While I was excited, I was kind of nervous about Rabina going to school. School started on Aug 10, and she turned four on the second day of school! She is probably the youngest kid in her class physically, but she is certainly the youngest kid in her class developmentally. In a perfect reality I would not have sent her off to school being so young and immature, but I really needed her to go this year. Regardless, It was so hard for me to imagine her walking into that school building and getting to where she was supposed to go, much less going through a lunch line or walking in any line for that matter. It all seemed so above her capabilities. I met her teacher at "verification day" and explained that Rabina was adopted and asked the teacher to try to always point approval toward us. Like saying "Mom and Dad are going to love that picture!" and stuff like that. I didn't want to be the psycho, overbearing mom, so that's basically all I said about the subject. There was so much I wanted to say to her and warn her about, but I figured I should just let things play out. She would learn soon enough. This was such new territory for all of us though, so I was really anxious about it. Rabina seemed excited and a little scared, too.
Lance takes Rabina to school every morning and I pick her up. She wakes up at 6:30am, is dropped off for breakfast at 7:15am, and I pick her up at 2:30pm. It's a very long day for her!
On the first day, Lance walked her in and gave me text and picture updates. He walked her in the whole first week and, after that, just started dropping her off at the door. What she does or where she goes once she crosses that threshold we have no idea.
When I pick her up in the afternoon she is all smiles and waves to me when she sees me in the pick up line! She is soooooooo tired though!
It's been two weeks and she loves school. I think overall she's been doing well, but I got a sort of humorous update from the teacher this past week. It's humorous only because this is what we deal with everyday and now somebody other than us gets to... um... enjoy it. She told me that Rabina has a hard time being obedient and sitting down in circle time with the rest of the class. She says she would much rather play with all the awesome toys. Say what? My child being disobedient? No never! *maniacal laughter* On Friday, her teacher told me she went and sat behind the teacher's desk. The teacher thought it was harmless and maybe she would just sit there and listen. *maniacal laughter* Well, she drew all over her computer screen with a black permanent marker. She also told me that at lunch that day, Rabina, along with a couple of other kids, decided to get up from the lunch table and go running through the lunch line again for the fun of it. The head of the cafeteria and the principal had to intervene. Bless that poor teacher! Bless her! I had better start planning the most supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Christmas and Teacher appreciation gifts!
I do feel like having that break from her during the day has been good for me... for us. I have a lot more patience for her and feel much more affectionate toward her. In the afternoon when she comes home I play with her (just the two of us) and sometimes we take a nap together because she is so tired. I guess that's my only complaint... she's very tired and therefore pretty grumpy. I am hoping as she gets used to the routine that will get better. I'm grumpy when I'm tired, too.
Having Rabina in school has definitely made a huge difference for our home schooling! We started school the same day she did. This year is going MUCH better than last year. All the kids are doing really well as a whole. We have a few issues we are working on, but I have been really happy with the way things have been going. Day one was a huge shock to the system for everyone. Lots of tears that day but we overcame and pressed on! Asher is doing really well this year, and I am so proud of how far he has come!
Brayden is in 3rd grade this year. I decided Khushboo and Kashila would do well at the 2nd grade level and Asher is in 1st grade. Home schooling 4 kids on 3 different levels is not a walk in the park (unless it's nature walk day and then it might actually be a walk in the park). It's not like I can set everyone down with their school work and go do my own thing. No, it requires my complete involvement. I'm ok with that, but it's definitely time consuming. We start school at 8:30am every day and some days we just barely finish before we have to leave to get Rabina at 2:15pm. On shorter days we finish around 12:00.
We are doing the first year of the My Father's World cycle. The cycle is a four year curriculum and it starts off with Exploring Countries and Cultures. It's challenging and I like that. My best friend Andrea is home schooling her three kids for the first time, and they are doing the same curriculum with us. We have a "synergy" (hate that word) group on Fridays and will do different events and field trips together! I love having her as a partner of sorts. I'm excited to really dig into things and can't wait to start exploring the different cultures around the world!
Tomorrow starts our third week of school. Let's do this thang!
Here are a few pics from Rabina's 4th birthday. She is such a hoot and we are thankful for her!
Also, Asher lost his first tooth! My baby boy is growing up!
Until next time! -K
All of the above applied to our family this year. ALL of it! We are home schooling the four older kids and our little squirt, Rabina, is going to Pre-K! We really went back and forth as to what to do this year. A lot of me just wanted to put all the kids in school so that I could have a nice break, but after much prayer and discussion I just did not have a peace about that. So, we decided putting Rabina in school and homeschooling the others was the best decision.
Last year was our first year home schooling. It went fairly well until the girls came home. When they came home, we did zero school for about 6 weeks and then tried to ease into some type of schooling. The schooling part itself was really hard and so overwhelming just because I had to learn what the girls knew and what they didn't. Also, Asher was under a lot of stress with the transition, so he was having a very hard time in school. Then, when you add a very needy and mischievous three-year-old to the mix, home school becomes darn near impossible! There were days where I just cried over how horrible things were going in the educational department. It was a pretty rotten first year of home schooling but I tried to give myself lots of grace about it. It was only one year, and the world didn't end just because it didn't go so well.
Despite how badly things went last year, I still really loved home schooling (at least the good days) and I wanted to continue it again this year because I felt like it was the best choice for the kids. I really wanted to put the girls in grades that fit their actual age and not their paper age (long story), but that requires a lot of catching up. I thought we could cover more ground with them if we home schooled. However, I knew if I was going to try again this year, I would have to figure something out for Rabina. We needed to be toddler-free so we could seriously focus on schooling! I applied for her to go to our public Pre-K program, but we weren't sure if she would get in since it's a lottery system. I had planned to put her in a mother's morning out program if she didn't get in, but we were hoping we wouldn't have to go to (or pay for) Plan-B. Well, she got into public Pre-K! Thank God!
While I was excited, I was kind of nervous about Rabina going to school. School started on Aug 10, and she turned four on the second day of school! She is probably the youngest kid in her class physically, but she is certainly the youngest kid in her class developmentally. In a perfect reality I would not have sent her off to school being so young and immature, but I really needed her to go this year. Regardless, It was so hard for me to imagine her walking into that school building and getting to where she was supposed to go, much less going through a lunch line or walking in any line for that matter. It all seemed so above her capabilities. I met her teacher at "verification day" and explained that Rabina was adopted and asked the teacher to try to always point approval toward us. Like saying "Mom and Dad are going to love that picture!" and stuff like that. I didn't want to be the psycho, overbearing mom, so that's basically all I said about the subject. There was so much I wanted to say to her and warn her about, but I figured I should just let things play out. She would learn soon enough. This was such new territory for all of us though, so I was really anxious about it. Rabina seemed excited and a little scared, too.
Lance takes Rabina to school every morning and I pick her up. She wakes up at 6:30am, is dropped off for breakfast at 7:15am, and I pick her up at 2:30pm. It's a very long day for her!
On the first day, Lance walked her in and gave me text and picture updates. He walked her in the whole first week and, after that, just started dropping her off at the door. What she does or where she goes once she crosses that threshold we have no idea.
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| Every student at R's school gets free breakfast and lunch! No complaints here! |
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| She got on the floor and pitched a fit the very first day! Good times! |
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| That book bag is as big as she is! |
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| She found herself a friend. |
When I pick her up in the afternoon she is all smiles and waves to me when she sees me in the pick up line! She is soooooooo tired though!
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| This was actually the second day of school. |
I do feel like having that break from her during the day has been good for me... for us. I have a lot more patience for her and feel much more affectionate toward her. In the afternoon when she comes home I play with her (just the two of us) and sometimes we take a nap together because she is so tired. I guess that's my only complaint... she's very tired and therefore pretty grumpy. I am hoping as she gets used to the routine that will get better. I'm grumpy when I'm tired, too.
Having Rabina in school has definitely made a huge difference for our home schooling! We started school the same day she did. This year is going MUCH better than last year. All the kids are doing really well as a whole. We have a few issues we are working on, but I have been really happy with the way things have been going. Day one was a huge shock to the system for everyone. Lots of tears that day but we overcame and pressed on! Asher is doing really well this year, and I am so proud of how far he has come!
 |
| Khushboo redoing an entire sheet of addition after having "counted wrong" |
We are doing the first year of the My Father's World cycle. The cycle is a four year curriculum and it starts off with Exploring Countries and Cultures. It's challenging and I like that. My best friend Andrea is home schooling her three kids for the first time, and they are doing the same curriculum with us. We have a "synergy" (hate that word) group on Fridays and will do different events and field trips together! I love having her as a partner of sorts. I'm excited to really dig into things and can't wait to start exploring the different cultures around the world!
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| Our first synergy group with Andrea's kids. Rabina got to join after school. |
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| Our world cake. haha! |
Tomorrow starts our third week of school. Let's do this thang!
Here are a few pics from Rabina's 4th birthday. She is such a hoot and we are thankful for her!
Also, Asher lost his first tooth! My baby boy is growing up!
Until next time! -K
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