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After praying and talking to my husband, and various others, I have decided to homeschool Blondie. Most of the response I have gotten from others has been negative. They tell me that it will tie me down and I will lose my freedom. That is true. It's quite possible that I won't be able to attend BSF unless I switch to evenings instead of mornings. My husband really doesn't want me to go in the evenings and disrupt my time with him. But I decided that Blondie is more important than BSF, and I will give it up if I need to. BSF will still be there when I finish homeschooling her. When I prayed about it, after struggling with it for days on my own, I felt a great peace that this was the right thing to do.
I don't know how long it will be. It might be just for one year, or it might be the rest of her school career. I really don't know.
I found out from her teacher that she will be passing third grade. There was a question about it for a while. She has already repeated first grade, and if she were to fail again, she would be in the same grade as her sister who is two years younger. I couldn't let that happen, and so I was definitely going to homeschool in that case. But since she is passing, I have a choice.
Most people thought that I wouldn't homeschool now since I don't HAVE to. But there's more to it than that for me. The child is so emotionally messed up, to the point she almost doesn't have emotions. She's all happy, all the time. I'm sure that's what she thinks she has to do. I can see that Bubbles has more emotional reactions than Blondie. Bubbles is more attached than Blondie.
Blondie has a lower IQ. I think that she will be able to function normally in society, but it would be easy for not-nice people to take advantage of her. I think that she will learn more from me, one-on-one, than just barely scraping by with a busy teacher in the classroom.
She wasn't nurtured and cherished as a baby. Then Bubbles was born less than two years later, and I believe Blondie was pushed aside in favor of the baby. Blondie tries to be just like Bubbles. We have worked on it and it has improved, but she still thinks Bubbles is better than her and that she will get more attention and love if she copies Bubbles. I have also noticed that she is insecure around Bubbles. When we are working together on her homework, she will be doing okay, but if Bubbles comes to sit down and listen, suddenly Blondie can't focus or remember anything. And that is with Bubbles just sitting quietly and not even distracting her.
I feel like Blondie needs this year at home with me, just to be loved and cherished and have Mom all to herself all day. I hope that this will build her confidence in herself and allow her to feel important, and learn to give and receive love. I'm really choosing to do this more for that reason than for the education part of it, but I believe that it's worth it for that end of it too.
Those of you who are praying people, please pray for me that I will be able to be organized and keep up the pace, because this is a new endeavor for me. I went to Mardel and bought several workbooks to help me get going. I got math, spelling, language arts, phonics, reading, handwriting, social studies and science. I also plan to teach her piano, sewing, cooking and bible stories.
I really think it will be good for both of us. The next hurdle will be to notify the school that she won't be attending next year, though I'm not exactly sure how to do that.
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8 comments:
My first strong suggestion to you is to do a search for homeschool support groups in your area/state.
It will likely be easy to find some, there are usually a number of easily found Christian groups that will be of help to you.
They can tell you what the requirements are in your area and how to go about doing what you need to do.
I truly believe that homeschooling in this case is really about attachment therapy - I really do.
We are nearing the end of our first year of homeschooling our youngest (adopted) children and many people from our social worker to friends and family and people at church comment frequently on how firmly planted within our family our children seem.
That does not mean I believe it is a cure all, nothing of the sort, but I do believe it can be a wonderful way to build those essential bonds for kids who have missed out on them in their early life.
Good luck, but you are most of the way there already with having made the decision.
Perhaps you can do a bsf course at home or ask for help from your church to modify it so that you can continue to follow along when possible?
Oh, I hope it won't come across wrong when I say how very proud I am of you for making the decision you have made. It could not have been easy, but knowing you made it in prayer and love and for all the right reason is inspiring. You both will benefit from this, despite the obvious challenges.
We are homeschooling our daughter. It's hard, but so worth it. She's advanced 2 grades since we started last January.
Congrats! I think it is an excellent idea!
hello. just came across your blog. I homeschool, and love it. It is wonderful. I wouldn't change a thing. There are so many benefits to it. There are lots of groups and others doing the same.
Blessings,
Michelle
You both have my prayers. You have always done what is best for your kids, even when it means putting yourself on the back burner. I'm sure you will BOTH benefit in ways you can only imagine!
Sometimes the decisions we make as parents to do what is best for our kids can be so difficult. It doesn't matter how many people have negative opinions about it - you and I both know there is only one opinion that matters! Good for you!
how is home schooling going?
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