Final days '09

In the final days of school, I must attest it was an overall success to put them in for the last trimester. They accomplished far more than I certainly would have. Considering if I miss the 'freedom' of homeschooling I'd have to say at this point, not really. But I do enjoy my freedom during the day to not have to police the boys, plan and execute their educational needs. Part of me wishes I still had the motivation to educate them at home but the bottom line is, I don't. Is this new situation the perfect solution, not exactly but it is where we need to be right now. Ethan has relented to the routine and gotten past his sadness and clingyness, I met with the speech therapist last week to get a new IEP going on Benjamin so he can re-enter the speech program next year to work on the final pronunciations he's having trouble with that are also effecting his spelling, and Fox is enjoying being at the top of his class in most subject areas and having some semblence of social life. There are still a few supplemental classes, programs and activities I hope we can fit in with the regular curriculum to give him a taste of all the areas of writing, engineering, and science that interest him.

It is also a good thing that we are all now held accountable, myself included. I am a pretty laid back person and had a fairly unschooled approach with the kids. This worked very well with Alexandra, she learned things by osmosis, not even realizing we were doing lessons. It was just a natural part of the day. Fox did well under this system as well but as the numbers grew and we needed to delve into more complex concepts things started to get beyond my laid back control. Although Fox went in working at his grade level or beyond, I found with Ethan he was not at grade level with all subjects. Putting him in at this point was a good thing before he got really behind. Helping them with assignments at home, researching, putting projects together, signing permission slips, etc. I can certainly handle with gladness, knowing that someone else is steering the ship. It is not my time to be captain at this point but I'll be a fabulous crew member and supporter with an utmost appreciation for all that teachers do and the impact they have on our young people.

I'm still looking into finding my career and have started to get a sneaking suspicion it may entail working with children in a formal setting, either that or getting involved in some type of 'green' enterprise. Time will tell but for now I'll enjoy the summer and look forward to a new school year filled with fun, challenges, and great achievements.