School is in session

Today was the first day of school here at FreeWater Academy for the 2011-2012 school year.

One day done, 179 to go, but who's counting?

This past school year was very difficult on many levels. Our entire family was sick a lot with various upper respiratory and GI viruses so just getting school done was often a challenge. We encountered several educational issues as well as some personal issues of my own thrown in the mix. Obviously we also had the already numerous challenges that we face on the table.

I found myself wondering a lot if homeschooling was really the right option for us.

I found myself even more often insisting that it wasn't the right option simply because I didn't want to do it anymore.

In all of our years of homeschooling, we've done mostly year round schooling. That is, we've chosen to take breaks here and there as needed/desired instead of taking a long summer break.

With all of the turmoil, we opted to take the summer off almost completely this year. It was a rough summer. Very rough for many reasons, but one being that the kids really needed the structure and routine that comes with the school year.

Despite the difficulties, it was a breath of fresh air for me to take this summer break. I was able to focus on being mom instead of teacher. Of course, the two are very intertwined and the teacher hat is never far away. However, I did not have to focus energy on deliberate or specific teaching goals. I was able to simply be mom and make use of teachable moments as they happened.

As a result, I was able to refocus a bit, recenter myself and recommit to homeschooling my crew for one more year. I spent much time talking with Kev, praying and really evaluating the situation. It was nice to have the chance to look at it without the emotion and frustration of day to day. Taking a break allowed me to get outside of the moment and really look at why things weren't working, to figure out what I could control and accept what was beyond my control. I was able to really look at other schooling options and see how they may or may not be a good fit.

We made the decision to homeschool before Jerald was ever born, before we even married actually. Our ideals then of what it would be like are very far from what our reality has been. We had no idea we'd face the challenges we do, that our children would have special needs. Our plan from the beginning has been to take it one year at a time and re-evaluate.

Most years we've not really re-evaluated much because homeschooling was going well and we didn't see much need to consider other options. It was hard to accept that this year needed a deeper look.

We aren't in the "homeschooling is the only way" camp, but so far we have found that to be the best option for us. While I'm sure this year will have many struggles, we still think it's the right choice for us for now.

I know the new year will have it's challenges, but tonight I'm focusing on it's hopes and opportunities. We didn't have a stellar day, a few things were left undone and the afternoon was a bit difficult. Overall though it was a great day. In fact, for one child in particular it was his best day in months.

Tomorrow is a new day and there is always hope for tomorrow!

Onward we march...1 day down 179 to go, I'm packing an awful lot of hope in that 179 days!


Jerald 7th grade (his glasses were broken when he accidentally stepped on them and the new ones haven't arrived yet)



Rocklin 5th grade



Magdalyn 4th grade



Aaron 1st grade



Parker Kindergarten Notice the hole in his shirt? This is what happens with little boys that cannot stop chewing everything and anything all the time :-(


To give you the full effect, here is Parker's entire outfit for the day: Daddy's t-shirt, his favorite Thomas t-shirt layered over top and his rain boots. Yes, he has khakis and polos filling up the closet, but I have bigger battles. He's dressed, he's happy, he did his schoolwork without a problem, that's what's important to me today.