School Days!

The last time I wrote,  I was struggling with lots of tension and discipline issues. Thankfully, it’s all gotten a lot better. The firm, calm but really strict consequences we handed out to Nick were just what he needed. He straightened up and has become more eager to please, happier and  seems increasingly secure .

I was angry enough to be able to unload my false guilt ( I have to homeschool them because they’re orphans?) and happily enroll them in public school. I seriously was high fiving the people who were helping me fill out the paperwork to get them enrolled in school.  I’ve teased the kids that while they are at school, I’ll be drinking lemonade at the pool in a bikini.

  I 've continued to do lessons, but made them optional for the kids. They’ve all come eagerly to every lesson because they want to learn and they realize my time is a hot commodity. They’ve made a lot of progress since July. We gave them a 60 word spelling test a couple weeks ago and all of them had most of the words right. The boys completed the summer reading program at the library and both of them read their first real chapter book.

The kids were all excited about back to school shopping. They were grateful for their school supllies and a little jealous if one got more than another ( due to differring  classroom needs). We went to the open houses and met their teachers and were impressed by their kindness and professionalism. Nadia and Nick were both understandably anxious, but Andrew felt like he was right back where he belongs and went around hugging people.

Nadia is a ninth grader and is taking mostly reading classes and fun electives with the goal of getting her GED in a couple years. She doesn’t have enough time to get all the credits she’d need to graduate by the time she’s 20 so our goal for her is immersion, language and hopefully  to spark an interest in learning. She is making friends with a girl who speaks Spanish. It would be fun to be a fly on the wall and listen to them communicate!

Nick is thriving in eighth grade. He is able to understand much of what the teachers say, seems to be able to do his homework with just a normal amount of help, and loves school. He has already made lots of friends and the girls love to listen to his accent- which both pleases and embarrasses him. He needed to be in a more active and enriched environment than I could provide at home and I’m happy to see his enthusiasm and hear his funny stories. He is rising to this challenge with gusto.

Andrew is very happy to be back at his old school with his friends. Thanks to the intense reading and math we did this summer, he is more prepared to do much of what the other kids are doing, I hope. In any case, he can read much better than in June and is happy.

I’m glad I homeschooled them to teach them how to read and get them acclimated to our family, but am grateful now to send them off to school. Naturally, I’ll need to continue with reading instruction in the evening, but they are more eager to learn now that they see what the other kids can do.

I’d write more, but the dog park is calling my name and I have the free time to actually go there and have fun.

Yay public school!