Am I a Tiger Mom?

    It is a constant battle. Am I a tiger mom?  Am I pushing them enough? Do I really use every opportunity for education?

    Okay, the answer to the last question is, of course not.

     There was a time when the television was never on in this house. There was a time when my children had never played a video game.

    I have relaxed. A lot.  We now have a Wii, but all of the games we have require activity. Both children also have a DS, but the games are all education related. (Big Braid Academy, Flash Focus, Brain Age, My Personal Math Tutor,.. you get the idea.)

    For the most part, my children are naturally attracted to learning. This means that as often as they chose the latest animated film to watch on TV, they are watching Animal Planet or Discovery Channel. They are fascinated by the world around them.

     In the local schools, the summer break is so long and when they were younger, I scheduled educational activities throughout the summer. My children only went to museums, zoos and other outings, not laser tag, arcades or other things. We worked on reading, did extra science experiments, kept journals of insects and birds and other things during the summer.

     Now, they are older. I am working on giving them their "wings". I want them to be able to make their own choices and watch for signs that they will chose arcades and candy constantly.

    It is part of growing up. If I police every single thing they do until they leave for college, they will not have the practice or experience making good choices.

    The hardest part is watching them make not so great choices. Chocolate cake for breakfast? Okay, let's see how you feel in an hour. You want to use your birthday money at the arcade instead of going to the bookstore?  Okay....

     Watching the devastation of a child who realizes that $20 lasted for about 14 minutes at the local amusement park is hard. Yes, now she knows that going to the bookstore would have been a better choice. She had wanted the artists set and a new book. She could have easily purchased both at the book store where we shop. She is miserable now. She has nothing to show for that 14 minutes. One photo of her bouncing on a ride. She is sad.

    I do not like those moments or days. I know I could have steered her toward what seemed the less attractive choice. I could have listened to her whine about how it looks so fun. I could have then repeated the battle every time she asked. Instead, she is experiencing this misery herself. It is not her mom that caused this misery. Her mom that just wont allow her to do anything thing really fun. It is the choice itself. She gets it now.

     The very next time she had money, she asked to go to the book store. I didn't poke at her. I didn't ask with a smirk, "Are you sure you don't want to go back to the fun park?" No, I smiled on the inside. She is learning that life is filled with choices. She now knows why we rarely go to the fun parks. She knows that I can turn that same money into a lot of fun activities that will last longer. She knows that most of those activities leave her feeling a little better about things.

     This summer, we do not have very many things scheduled. My oldest child wants to be a veterinarian. Her desire has been the same for years. This summer, we talked about what she would like to do. She wants to learn different methods of tie dye and screen printing T-shirts. She wants to do hands on animal dissections. She wants to do three different summer reading programs. She also wants to continue with her guitar and piano lessons.

     That sounds great to me. I have already located the supplies for the dissections and created worksheets so that they can be performed properly and with the maximum educational benefit. I discussed with her that we would not be wasting these creatures. If she wants to do this, she must do it correctly. She must learn as much as she can from it as this creature died for her education.

    We must take responsibility for all of the costs of our children's education. Some may think it is just a worm, or a frog, or a starfish. Taking things for granted is not a positive trait. That attitude has caused enough harm to our planet. If she is to be a vet, I would like her to be the most responsible vet that she can be. I also would like her to know about as many choices, solutions and alternatives as she can. That will make her the vet that people rave about.

     Ahhh... the little one would like to continue with piano lessons, learn to make a few instruments, make T-shirts and go to the park to collect insect specimens for fall. She has several technical books about insects and is planning an insect guide of her own for our area. Good for her. She will get to use her artistic skills, she will look up information and put it into her own words. She will love every minute of this. She is a very advanced student so even though she is only ten, she will also do six dissections this year, with the same worksheets as her sister.

      I don't know where I fit in anymore. We have chosen not to super accelerate the younger child even though she could easily skip through a grade or two. It just doesn't seem to be the right choice for her. She does not need to graduate high school at the age of 13 or 14. She actually may need more time to mature before continuing to college. This also gives us the opportunity to do these extra projects and keep her involved in clubs and sports.

     We constantly are reevaluating our choices for our children. This may all change next year. We may have a completely different plan. Maybe next year, the youngest child will need to accelerate again. We don't know. We can only make the best decision for right now.

     This Friday, we are planning to watch a movie and have popcorn. I don't think I am a tiger mom.

We Are Re Enrolling

  So?  Will we do this again?  The answer is a very loud YES!  This choice we were so uncertain about a year and a half ago; this choice that seemed so risky has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done with my family.

   Honor roll with academic achievement!  Yes!!

   I was concerned at the beginning of the school year that at some point, they were going to ask me to show them the completed work.  I created a small file basket with folders for each child and each subject.  It is filled now. 

   No, nobody has ever asked me to send them copies, or produce any of them, but that file basket is a treasure trove.  Each of the art projects have had a purpose.  My child has learned so many techniques and so much about various artists.  It is wonderful to look through her papers and I will create a display with them for her room this summer. 

    Each of the writing assignments are there.  They are in order and I can see the growth and progress.  It is wonderful.

    The science papers with the explanations in their own words, drawings of what they have seen and learned...are all so wonderful.. I have proof of how much my children have learned this year.  They have done so much and learned about so many different things.  Their self confidence and personal responsibility has grown by leaps and bounds.  I am impressed.

    I can open the cabinet and see that we still have school supplies in good shape.  There will be a few things to replace, but not much.  We didn't spend as much this year on school supplies and it looks like even less next year.

    Now for a quick run down of what we actually used.

    My children quickly abandoned the three ring binders and the spiral notebooks and found that loose leaf paper in a folder worked best for them.  This might be due to the file system.  The work on things until they take the assessment, and then file them. No need for a cumberson binder.  Keeping a different colored spiral notebook for each subject proved equally cumbersome to them.  For another family, those might work better, but since my children take their lessons and laptop "to go" three times each week, it did not work for them.

    I will estimate the total paper use for printing at 2 reams for the year.  If we were doing this completely from home, I would imagine we would have used far less paper and ink, but again, for our purposes, this is how much we used. We also used the plain paper for art projects and science drawings.

    We used the colored pencils quite a lot.  The crayons were used a bit, but we will not need to repurchase those.  We did use the math kits that I purchased.  They had protractors, compasses, etc in them.  Find them on sale if you can.  We also used about half a package of graph paper.  The lessons requesting graph paper come with a file to print some, but it was easy to just grab some from the cabinet.

    Pencils.  Both children now prefer mechanical pencils.  I don't think that it really matters either way, but it is nice to have little lead refills in a drawer rather than sharpening often.

    Paints: The K12 kit came with more than enough paints and oil pastels for the lessons.  We still have quite a bit left.

    Glue and Glue sticks:  We have used almost as much of this as we did in previous years at B&M schools, but I honestly do allow for a LOT of lattitude in the creativity of completing lessons.  If my child is studying a unit on ecosystems and wants to create a representation with cut up National Geographics and a shoe box, I will let her every time.  So, for two children, one bottle of glue and four glue sticks have been used so far.

     There is one teeny, tiny thing I plan to look for this summer for both of my children.  I plan to find one of the journals that contains both blank and lined paper.  This is not really for curriculum purposes, but it seemed like it could blend in well.  At the beginning of each day or week, I would like them to do their writing assignments in the journal and they can draw or take pictures and glue them in.  They could cut out things from magazines that relate.  Basically, I think this will help them to be even more engaged in their writing assignments.

    Ahhhh.. the flexibility of being able to add to the curriculum.  I really do love it.  Last week, we added a project on Alexander Graham Bell. The girls built a telephone like system and were able to recreate a few of his other designs.  As long as my children are getting the main curriculum done first, I plan to continue these little extras.  It just happened that there were books and kits on sale at Half Price Books on clearance for $4.  What a bargain to add extra reinforcement to both their history and science lessons.  Next week we have a kit about Thomas Edison and making "movies" from still drawings... How much fun!

    Yes!  We have already re-enrolled and have been approved for the next school year.  I will have an 8th grade and 5th grade student next year so I will focus on preparing my 8th grade student for more challenging work.

    I am more than ready to do this again.  This has been an amazing opportunity for all of us.  I feel so grateful for being able to be so involved in my children's education while having all of the guidance and support I could possibly need.  We found our groove quickly.  We found what did and did not work for us quickly.  The curriculum is pretty intense at times, with cummulative tests and other more challenging elements, but this is what we were looking for.  My children need more challenging material.  They need to move quickly. 

    I still marvel at how history and science and art often teach the same time period, discoveries and about the same historical figures at the same time.  This greatly reinforces the material for all and gives my children a much better understanding.

   I love this!

   

We Will Be Re Enrolling!

       I cannot believe we have already completed the first half of the school year!  This year has really just flown by!  
      As a parent of a 7th grade student, there have been a few things we have made note of. 

• There doesn't seem to be a National Junior Honor Society chapter.   My daughter has earned straight A's, which has given her Honor Roll and Academic Achievement status, but no NJHS.  We are currently researching other scholarship opportunities.  I will create a separate post for this later.
• There are certain normal school traditions that have given me lots of fond memories.  Powderpuff football, Senior skip day, Pep Rallies, ... I am still coming across things..  We are keeping this in mind as we get ready for the high school years.
• We are learning about AP classes and the credits given by universities and weighing this also.  Are we really ready to supervise AP classes? 
• We are currently paying for sports, music lessons, etc.  These are things that would be considerably cheaper in an actual school setting.

   These things are not necessarily "deal breakers".  I just bring them up because they were things we had not considered.  It is one thing to make a change for a year, but as this really does appear to be the best opportunity for education, it is important to not overlook other experiences. 
    Yes, I absolutely still love this school.  I love the curriculum.  I love our teachers.  I love what we are doing.  We just are going to look into changing a few things in the near future. 
    Our local school district does not allow for virtual students to participate in school activities.  In our personal situation, we have been looking at the possibility of moving.  Since this was already a long term goal, we may be making adjustments to this goal.  There is a possibility that we will now search for a community with both better schools and the ability to use the virtual schools.  Ideally, we would like there to be cooperation between the two.  It would be nice if we could continue to use the virtual school more progressive curriculum and also be able to cooperate with a local school for certain classes or even music and sports.   (Yes, these agreements exist.)
     We do know that for next year, we will be re-enrolling with our current school.  In our current location, this is absolutely the best option.  Our local high schools have just above an average rating, so it is likely that until we are in a different area, we will continue. 
     On a completely different note, it appears local laws may be changing soon.  It appears there is indeed an attempt to raise the expectations.  I will try to remain hopeful, even though I have seen how twisted the "No child left behind" laws became. 
     I do hope that by the time my children are parents, that the schools have made positive progress.  I have lived here for a long time and there were improvements made 15-20 years ago...and then it seems began the long disappointment.
    Our children deserve better from us, from teachers, principals, districts, as well as state and federal government.  Repeatedly lowering expectations has created a situation that has already put many of our children at risk.  Neither of my children is interested in tech fields right now, but if they were graduating right now there chances of being hired by US based tech companies would be microscopic.  Check the numbers.  The overseas recruits are beating us in education.
     That is completely appalling to me, so I will continue to push my children.  Reach higher.  Do not make excuses.  Find solutions.  Make progress.
    Now I must go purchase drinks so that my younger child will have 2 liter bottles for a science experiment.  We are lucky to have been invited to participate in a Science Fair.  Yay! 

Education is a constant choice.
     

Getting it ALL together.

     It's that time of year.  It is the time of year I dread every school year.  It is winter break.  Yes, there is the excitement of holidays and presents.  There is also a tremendous flip side.  The weather is usually cold and bleak.  Often it is raining, snowing, sleeting or just too cold to play outside. 
     We have indoor activities.  The Nintendo Wii has kept me from losing my mind many cold bleak days. I try to keep them active. 
     I am grateful that my children are playing on basketball teams.  That gives us about 2 hours of PE credit each week.  Combining that and the Wii Sports, we are able to get our PE hours logged each week. 
      I was asked about a common "myth" about virtual school.  Someone had told this person that there is only about three hours of schoolwork each day. 
     Unfortunately, some see this as a perk.  Children learn very quickly when they are younger.  They really are sponges absorbing all that is around them.  It would be an incredible waste to only educate for three hours per day.
     Having said that, if your child is only using three to four hours per day do complete lessons and is staying on track, it may be time for a parent-teacher conference.  Sometimes the solution will be to work ahead in lessons.  Sometimes you will be permitted to count other activities toward attendance.  Either way, it is important to not only log attendance accurately so that the program is not jeopardized for all, but to engage children appropriately. 
     I will be honest with you.  I do not allow a lot of completely idle time.  Even during school breaks, I plan activities to motivate my children to learn more about life, science, math, art and many other subjects.  Life is meant to be a learning experience and in my opinion, watching others experience life on TV is simply not good enough.
     Be careful when considering a virtual education for your own family.  Be especially careful about taking advice about shortcuts.  The lessons your child is learning today will be the building blocks of lessons of the future.  Math is a perfect example of this.  How easy will multiplying fractions be for the child who has a good grasp of their multiplication tables?  How hard will it be for the child who "skimmed" that unit?  The more they learn now, the easier high school and college will be for them.
      I like to keep this in mind for my children.   I can remember my 10th grade English teacher asking me to write a novel.   That same year, my Biology teacher expected me to write a research paper.  Yes, I struggled that year, but later, in college, I was able to complete writing assignments quickly and often helped other students who were struggling to create an essay.  I am reminded that if I make my children really work now, they will feel much more secure and confident later.
      Ahhh.. so I am done with my speech today.  This was not meant to be easy.  There are things we can do to make it more interesting.  There are things we can add to make it more fun, but it is very important to remember our goals.  Your goals may be very different than mine. 
      My goal is to do my best to not eliminate any future choices for my children.  It is an awesome responsibility, but it is worth it.

Homeschool?

         I still get a little nervous when someone asks me if I am homeschooling my children.   I don't really know how to answer.  It seems a disservice to home school moms and groups to call this homeschooling.  I know a few home school moms who put a lot more work into education than I am currently doing. 

       I do not attend the conferences and peruse varieties of curricula and teaching methods to determine which will be the best fit for my child as well as achieve the goals of actually educating them.  I attempted to do this on my own.  I sat down with stacks of textbooks and began reading the objectives and pouring through sample lessons and worksheets.  I can honestly say that I have no idea how one person could have enough time to evaluate all that is available for one subject in one grade level, never mind building an entire well rounded curriculum.   I was quickly overwhelmed.  I guessed it would take me months of preparation to find acceptable curriculum and create lesson plans for one school year. 

       I also do not have the same reasons for doing this as many of the families I met while searching for home school information.  My children were not bullied or in danger.  I was not uncomfortable with the topics that were being taught.  I was uncomfortable with the amount of materials that were not taught, due to time constraints, budget, or merely political reasons.

      Now, I may say that I did not feel my children were bullied or in danger, but let me say that I also did not feel that the local public schools were as focused on success as I would like.  It seems an awful lot of resources and time are focused on the problems in school.  With every published report of the condition of our schools, testing, student statistics or salary requirements, there are teams of people creating tests surveys and compiling data for these reports.  Unfortunately, as much as I rely on these reports to compare and contrast information, it seems these are resources that need to be used to better prepare our children for their futures.  In this way, I did not feel that I could entrust my children to the local school.

       With this virtual school method, I am able help my children to accelerate if they wish to.  I am able to add other materials to supplement if I chose to take the time to do so.  We are free to explore many more opportunities while they are also achieving their school requirements.  

      I really do not have to do much to find accomplishment with this method.  I am certainly grateful for such a strong curriculum and guidelines that are easy to follow.  I am grateful that the planning I do is so easy in comparison to creating actual lesson plans.  

     I am not comfortable with the term, "Home school mom".  It does not offend me, but it does not fit.  What we are doing does deserve its own name, free from other associations, because it is different.  It is unique.  I love this and hope we are able to continue to evolve as my childrens' educational needs evolve.  

      

   

Tomorrows lesson will be.....

    One of the benefits of flexibility and not having to constantly move at an "average" schedule, is that the children can move ahead to the next lesson once they are finished.  They do not have to wait for the allotted time to expire.  Another benefit is that when I notice that yes, they were able to complete the lesson and even the assessment, but do not completely seem to understand, I can stop, take a break and plan a way to help them to truly understand the material.

     We are going to have one of those moments tomorrow.  I have reviewed the lessons and searched the internet for an alternate way of teaching the subject.  This took me about ten minutes. No joke.  I found a youtube video that will work nicely.  I have my large whiteboard out and ready to demonstrate.

     Mixed numbers are a bit funky to say the least.  What is a mixed number?  You don't remember the terminology?  Okay..  3 1/4 would be a mixed number.  So?  Big deal.  Okay, on your mark, get set, divide 3 1/4 by 5/12.   Now multiply your answer by 2/3.  Um... What?  Yes.  So, my child completed the lesson and even took the assessment and mastered it, but I really do not think she will be retaining it long enough to do the semester assessment, so I am going to do an extra lesson tomorrow. 

    What is the big deal?  She understands all of the other concepts well enough to explain them to anyone.  She scores 100% on her assessments, so missing that question on the semester test will still probably give her a mastery score.  Um... I know she has the ability to understand it.  I know that she just needs an extra way of looking at the problem and a little reinforcement.  I know that she will retain it and understand it if I put a little time into it. (I have scheduled approximately 45 minutes for this.)

     My goal for doing the virtual school was not simply to have the children get acceptable grades in an accredited program, it was to have them receive the best education possible.  The math curriculum provided is perfectly fine.  It is not lacking.  All lessons are covered well.  After all, she was able to complete the problems herself and master the assessment.  What makes me think I should do this? 

    I have watched her.  Math is very fluid for her.  She does not stumble at all.  She follows concepts well and understands them.  She does not just follow the steps, she actually is able to incorporate them in a practical way in her mind.  She UNDERSTANDS math in a way that most people would envy.  Her work on this lesson was disjointed.  She memorized the steps and went on.  I believe she will be more comfortable when she sees this again if she understands it rather than memorizing it. 

    Maybe I go to far.  I don't know.  I really do not this will even take 30 minutes and in my opinion, it is time well spent.  Then she can go back to racing through her lessons.

     Besides, maybe she will lose interest in science and math and decide to open a catering business.  Her recipe may call for 3/4 cup of sugar.  She may decided to mix 27 batches at once... Then she may realize that her oven will only hold 9 batches.  She may need to know how to complete 27 X 3/4 and then divide that by 3.  ?  Or it may get even more complicated.   Either way, knowing and understanding math can give her more abilities in other areas.  If she does decide to be a caterer, I would be willing to bet she has less waste and more profit, because she will know how much to purchase, the cost per item and how much to charge to make a X% of profit. 

     That is what I tell myself when I add more work to my day.

Yet Another Sign

      Today offered yet another sign that we are making the right choice for our children. 

      K12 is a curriculum offered to students not just in the USA.  I moved a lot as a child. There was always a learning curve at each new school as the curriculum materials were never the same from one school to the next. I was always able to keep up and even excel, particularly in Math and English, but I do have the perspective of a military family moving from state to state or even to different countries.   Military families are able to take advantage of K12 and I an only imagine how wonderful that would have been for my parents who often made choices about assignments based on the local schools.

      Today, I received a phone call from our PAL to let us know about a special situation offered to K12 middle school students in Oklahoma.  Since the K12 curriculum tends to be about a year ahead of the Oklahoma Public School system, K12 is offering us the opportunity for my 7th grade student to complete the K12 6th grade coursework. I was assured that she would be able to promote to 8th grade no matter her choice but that we should look over both the K12 6th and 7th grade materials and decided what is best for her.  (K12 6th grade coursework meets the PASS skills for the state of Oklahoma 7th grade.)
       I have very mixed feelings about this.  First of all, SHAME on Oklahoma for allowing for a full grade level difference in education. (This weekend, we will go through a few chapters of both the literature and the language textbooks to see which we prefer.)  Second, I congratulate K12 for recognizing this difference and giving middle school students a 'bridge'.  Clearly they researched and found that OKVA students may have additional needs. They must also have gotten this approved by the powers that be in the state of Oklahoma education departments. Their goal is to get all of the middle school students up to speed before 9th grade, when the classes begin to count as credit on transcripts. 
      Yes, now I have more to do. Yes, I am now having that icky feeling in the pit of my stomach that I get when I am making decisions that affect the education of my children. 
        Unfortunately, the gap in education is large. It is not my imagination.  It is vulgar.  Until the state of Oklahoma can bring its brick and mortar schools up to speed, I will gladly allow them to pay for the K12 curriculum for my children.
       K12 has already offered several choices to us for flexibility.  My 7th grader can also do a 'bridge' math course to catch her up to the Pre-Algebra K12 offers if necessary.  They offer many ways to catch our children up to their standards.
       I have read some reviews that said the K12 standards are too high.  Maybe those families would be more comfortable in Oklahoma Public Schools. I don't know.  Since we are not talking about kids glued to school work 12 hours per day, and the K12 school day means that all coursework is completed during the school day, (no homework time added), I think K12 appears to be very efficient.  I have reviewed most of the coursework myself already, and can honestly say, it is not "fluffy'.  They cover the subject, review, test and move on. 
      I still do not know what our actual school day will look like.  I can see that there is a possibility that my youngest may finish her classroom work in four hours.  She does not daydream.  Without time to wait on others, lining up for other classes, and other typical classroom issues, she may have quite a bit of free time for activities at the end of her day.  Or, she may need more time than I anticipate. Either way, I am planning on approximately six hours per day for classroom work with 30 minutes each day for PE... Just as recommended.
     I will have to write about PE another day, but I like it!

And So It Begins.... A New Journey....

     We began this journey in October of 2010.  Things had changed at our previous school. There was not going to be a seventh grade so my daughter would 'age out' of her school and go where? Public school? That would be great if we had not already had such a bad experience with the school in our district.  I don't mean just a bad experience, I mean, from the day we enrolled her, to the school nurse, the school counsellor, the school board and the two teachers she had. Neither wanted to be there. One was on her way out and the teacher who replaced her took the job while she was waiting to be offered a job as a professor of a local university. It was the worst.
    We decided that we would not drive 45 minutes per day to take children to separate schools, so that severely narrowed our search. We only found one fully accredited school within a reasonable distance that we both liked. The problem? It was almost double the price we had been paying for tuition in years past. 
    I researched homeschooling as a last resort.  I did not like the labels that came with homeschooling and I definitely did not like that there was simply no oversight.  I could simply keep my children home and never teach them a thing. I would never get into trouble. ~ Not a great plan.  But, I tried to keep an open mind and went on a mission to find curriculum and materials. 
     I wish I could get those two weeks of my life back. That was a nightmare that simply would not end. I spoke to other homeschool moms and was told, "Yes, there are things you purchase that you never use." or "We purchased 'X' curriculum one year and it was too frustrating. It was wasted and we purchased a different one the following year."
    I reviewed several math and science textbooks before I realized that I was indeed seeing a theme. Marketing. Once I got past the 'promise' of a solid Christian curriculum, I often found that the texts were far too watered down.  (Think of how you would explain murder to a four year old.)  It was so fluffy and gentle so as not to offend any particular group that most lacked any real substance.  Some of the textbooks were absolutely insulting.  I had to double check the grade level several times as many seemed to be written on a second or third grade reading and comprehension level.
    So... after speaking to a few degree toting teachers, I realized homeschooling was not going to be our best fit. I had heard of virtual education before, and have taken many classes online in the past, but I was skeptical that this could be effective for younger children.
    After I had resolved myself to paying more than I could easily afford to the private school, I ordered information from a virtual school.  I checked the reviews from parents who had been using the virtual program and read as many articles as I could find on the subject. I read the most angry and disappointed parental reviews and researched testing scores. 
   I spoke to the K12 staff a few times and I really started to consider this as a possibility.  I researched the curriculum K12 used and felt it was bold and specific. It seemed to be just what I was looking for.  I still had concerns.
     What about PE? How I have counted on allowing my kids to burn off energy in the gym during the harsh winter days. What about the great taboo? Socialization?  Will this change my outgoing, confident children into the shy, withdrawn children who save their smiles only for their safe home? Will they be able to accomodate my youngest child? She races through curriculum and completed two grade levels worth of work last year. 
     K12 said call any time if I had questions.  I have spent hours on the phone with their staff requesting more and more information.  I will say, they are very ready to answer even my most bizarre concerns. It seems they have really "heard it all before."  
    You may be interested in hearing the answers about my youngest child.  I have reservations about labeling her as a 5th grade student, or moving her up again to 6th grade.  She is smaller than other children her age and is "younger".  After discussing my concerns and asking if she would get too bored, I was told that she can advance a grade level in individual subjects, OR we can evaluate with her teacher and myself if it is time to move her up an entire grade level, OR if we feel that is not the right decision, she can add an elective class.
     That one answer may have actually 'sealed the deal'.  Her cognitive and emotional development are not on the same page. I needed to know that she could be herself and still feed her incredible intellectual needs.  I needed to know that there were choices and she would not simply be "stuck".
      As far as then enrollment process...it is not for the weak.  There are a lot of documents to send in.  Also,if your district really does not like to lose students (federal funding), you will need to know the 'open transfer' date and take it very seriously.  Our district does not let go of students willingly after this date.  Ask about it, know it, get your documents in.  Also, just because this is the 21st century, realize that human beings will review each of your documents and then they will be entered into the computer.  This took about a week to complete.

So... here we are.. we began the enrollement process on February 1st. Sometime in June, my children had their website profiles ready. Today, the books and materials arrived for the school year. There was over 100lbs stuffed into five large boxes, including a microscope. It is all very impressive and overwhelming right now. I looked at a few of the workbooks as I put things on the shelf, and I really am impressed with the depth. This is not fluff, this is very specific education. There was an entirely separate set of books for each semester.

The left is a photo of some of the science items that have arrived. Goggles, graduated cylinders, test tubes, petri

The right is a photo of about 60% of the books for ONE child. Notice the inflatable globe and map. That child also received white board as well as 10 bottles of 8oz paints, fabric, canvas, artists paper and brushes and even oil pastels. This all arrived at NO COST to me. Yes, I am impressed. Even the assigned reading for each child was taken care of. The books they were assigned to read arrived with the boxes. Shakespeare, Secret Garden, Pollyanna, and several others.

So.. how is this different than homeschooling? Well, first of all, I am the "coach", not the teacher. The children will be assigned a teacher and will have phone, email and interactive virtual access to their teacher from 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday. If they need help or have a question, they contact their teacher. I am basically the attendance monitor and the person in charge of organization. Talk about back up. I can "teach" the material, or if it is something that I am not familiar with, or just do not have the energy or patience, I can defer to a real teacher. This gives me peace of mind. Both of the children are taking History and Geography. I am great with Geography, but am not nearly as strong in US History, so I was worried.. Then I saw the curriculum. My children will be learning WORLD history and geography! I am thrilled!

So, to sum up. I am overwhelmed by the responsibility of scheduling time effectively for two very different children. Our counsellor has already advised that especially for the younger child, it may take her 4 hours or it may take her 7 hours to complete her work. It is completely dependent on the individual and their learning "style". I can only imagine what the first few weeks will be like. I am sure we will make a few adjustments, but this is the beauty of it all... We can cover all of the subjects in short bursts of time each day, or we can schedule Fridays as Science days if it works best for us. The counsellor strongly recommended that language arts be done daily. But Tuesdays could be Geography and History day... or maybe one child will do better with smaller blocks and the other would prefer the dedicated days. Either way, we will figure it out. My children may not be doctors before they drive, but they are intelligent and love to learn more and more.

I think this may be our greatest adventure yet. So far, the only limitation I see is me, so I will do my best not to fail.

School begins August 18th... So I will post again sometime after that date, just to be accountable. In the meantime, I would appreciate any and all words of encouragement as this is by far the most important challenge in my life now.