Dear Followers:

Changes are coming. One of those changes is that I am deleting this website. Don't worry, we're not really going anywhere except to a different site. All future posts will be found at my other blog: A Life Conceived
So, delete this blog, and go follow the other one, if you wish. Thanks for sticking by our side for this trip so far. ;)

~V

Happy New (School) Year!

Working hard at hardly working

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but back in November we placed the children in daycare and public school due to my mental health. Between July 2012 and July 2013 I was hospitalized three times because of my symptoms. I was unable to properly teach and take care of my children. Things have been crazy ever since and only now are we beginning to slow down and get settled.

As of the first of this month, J and I are no longer married. We have 50/50 custody with me having the children on the weekends and every other Monday. Since he has them during the week and works during the day, we decided to keep them in public school and daycare. This year, according to age, Lily will begin 2nd grade, Iris will be Kindergarten, and Rose will be Pre-Kinder. Dorian is only 18 months old. :)

While they had a great time in public school last school year, we were disappointed in having to put them there. The teachers were great, loved the kids, and the kids did well socially, but because they are two years ahead of everyone academically, they were bored and we had a lot of behavioral problems. I decided that this school year, if I was stable enough, to continue homeschooling. Due to how the custody is set up and me still being easily overwhelmed when trying to teach three children at different levels and a toddler running at full-tilt, I thought it best to do this on my custody days with the help of my mom.

Today is our first homeschooling day. Lily is reviewing 3rd grade, Iris is reviewing 1st, and Rose is reviewing PK. I was able to sit with them for an hour and help them with any questions they had. My mom helped out by sitting with Dorian and watching Super Why or else he would have caused havoc in the background while I helped Rose. We are currently on our lunch break. I will let them play for a bit before getting them back on to learnings, and then break for snack followed by nap/quiet time. I'm considering having them do a little more schoolwork before or after dinner, I'm not sure which just yet. I may try one today and the other tomorrow to see which one works the best for them. 

My goal is to continue this pattern for the rest of the school year, with exceptions for field trips, holidays, illness, and emergencies. I'm hoping this will help them stay challenged so that their minds will continue to grow and that all the hard work they've put in the past few years isn't lost.

Here's to new challenges in the new school year. :)

)o(