All summer long I have been in "an inner turmoil"...
What should we do?
Homeschool everyone or send some?
I have some of them accounted for in my current home school while a few others are quite challenging and we are uncertain what is best for them?
We have prayed and prayed about it...
God has not been clear
or
have I missed his message?
We started lightly homeschooling for this school year.
With our crew, being all older adoptees(except Anna) we cannot afford to take too much time off.
We usually try to go into June but we didn't last that long and it was obvious we needed a break.
Frustration on the part of the teacher was evident and I just felt like I needed to ENJOY my family especially the new children!
I was trying to teach them and they barely knew English.
It was a good choice and the burden lifted!
Everyone has enjoyed the break!
However, I knew as July approached I needed to start planning and at least get a couple days in.
We had a few question marks and things to tweak before we get going full speed.
Frustration on the part of the teacher was evident and I just felt like I needed to ENJOY my family especially the new children!
I was trying to teach them and they barely knew English.
It was a good choice and the burden lifted!
Everyone has enjoyed the break!
However, I knew as July approached I needed to start planning and at least get a couple days in.
We had a few question marks and things to tweak before we get going full speed.
So far I like what I am seeing BUT I have a few kiddos that are unaccounted for...
school wise.
Emma will continue with our local school district in September. She enjoyed going to school in May and a few weeks of summer school. It is a good experience for her and it is something special that just she gets to do.
Sarah is in 4th grade this year. She is doing Abeka, it is a good solid program and she is enjoying it. She is also being tutored for reading and comprehension this summer. It just so happens that Kelly of the "Billy and Kelly" duo is a reading specialist and a middle school english teacher!
During the school days Sarah works on her school work and I am close by to answer questions and supervise her.
During the school days Sarah works on her school work and I am close by to answer questions and supervise her.
My second grade consists of Ava, Anna and Sam. Ellie is in 2nd grade too but I modify the curriculum to fit her needs (she does K-1st reading).
Mia and Melissa are also in second grade. Those two surprise me! They are quick to catch on with so many things! So far they can keep up with 2nd grade math and cursive handwriting. They will do K/ 1st grade phonics and reading.
Let's see...
that takes care of 8 of the children ;-)
that takes care of 8 of the children ;-)
But that still leaves us with 3 who need "something"!
That would be Luke, Abby and Madeline
Their table is the one closest in the pic.
That would be Luke, Abby and Madeline
Their table is the one closest in the pic.
Luke will be attending preschool 2-3 afternoons a week! He is excited and we are excited for him!
He also does a ton of preschool things at home.
So... that leaves us with Madeline and Abby.
I have prayed and prayed and thought and thought over this...
We really do not know what to do?
We change our minds daily and it's beginning to drive me a little crazy...
We change our minds daily and it's beginning to drive me a little crazy...
Madeline just came home in February. She has some health issues that need to be resolved. Cataract surgery in late September and a one month recovery. Continued patching after the recovery- which, with a patch on she is almost blind. Another surgery to patch a hole in her ear and possibly take out those ginormous adenoids. And then there is the apraxia issue which makes it near impossible to teach her phonics and reading ...
Our plan for Madeline is to learn at home while she is getting all of these medical issue taken care of.
She has had speech once a week times 20 sessions, that is all our insurance will cover. We are planning to private pay for speech twice a week in our home to help her with the apraxia. We have considered trying to get homebound from the school district for her but it entails so many meetings, emails, phone calls and paperwork that we may not bother. Most likely she would only get it for a month or two...
Truly, all of that takes too much of my time and takes me away from the children at home that I need to teach.
We suspect there may be something going on with Madeline regarding learning but it is hard to tell since she has other medical needs right now. She seems to "get" numbers but not the ABC's. We will be scheduling a Neuro Psych eval in the future for Madeline.
Since she has only been home 6 months we are thinking we will have her work on preschool activities and some early Kindergarten learning.
Soooooo...
onto the next child!
Our last kiddo is Abby.
Abby has a learning disability.
She is average in non verbal learning but low in verbal learning(which is everything school related). She has disnomia which means she cannot recall words. Her vocabulary is limited but she is
s l o w l y
continuing to learn.
We spent all of last year preparing her for kindergarten and when she was tested they said she was still at a pre K level ;-(
We worked and worked on the ABC's. Each day she would forget 5 of them...
except it was a different 5 each day.
It's not the type of forgetting where they then say "Oh Ya, that's an H." When she forgets- its GONE, completely gone. I have to then give her a choice - is this letter an A or an H. Then she may get it.
Abby has had OT that will end in August. Her speech will go through September and then we will private pay for speech at home 1-2 times per week. She will also be getting PT every Monday afternoon (through December).
I would like to keep her home but sometimes my confidence wavers and I consider sending her. She is 7.5 yrs old and should be in 2nd grade.
Abby has major health issues(Congenitol Siderblastic Anemia) and is transfused every 3 weeks.
We have heard that the schools will put time and effort into her because she is still young enough and "has hope". However will they do better than one hour of private PT and 2 hours of speech per week?
Abby also has to work on her "character building". She had many undesirable characteristics when she first came home. She seemed void of a conscience, she often lied, hit and hurt others, spoke unkindly to her siblings to get her way, constantly whined, refused to do any kind of pre school work, hid things she wanted, and took longer than average to bond.
Abby has a tendency to act impulsively and put herself and others in danger- crossing streets with out looking, climbing things that are not stable and jumping on railings with a 6 foot drop on the other side, etc
These characteristics have slowly improved over the last 1 1/2 years since she has been home.
Abby has become delightful, she does not hit the other children, she hasn't lied in ages, and we can converse with her. She is bonded now and she loves her family!
She tries to do her school work but if I am not within sight she will get sidetracked in a heartbeat.
I believe that Abby was in the room for the hopeless in China...
She had no knowledge and zero desire to learn.
At 5yr 11 months she acted like a 2-3 yr old and was not the least bit inquisitive.
It was really quite sad...
HOWEVER,
I feel like we are making progress and I don't know that I want to jeopardize the person she is becoming...
Do I have an educational plan? Not completely but I am working on it and hope to try it out this next week or two...
The Neuro Psychologist said in May that we needed to "get going" and yet it's August and we still haven't received the finished report...
Which is supposed to include the recommendations for Abby's education...
So...
do you have any insights? Any thoughts? What would you do?
Praying for God to make it clear, for the ability to homeschool a large family and for insight through your comments!
Blessings to you!
Our plan for Madeline is to learn at home while she is getting all of these medical issue taken care of.
She has had speech once a week times 20 sessions, that is all our insurance will cover. We are planning to private pay for speech twice a week in our home to help her with the apraxia. We have considered trying to get homebound from the school district for her but it entails so many meetings, emails, phone calls and paperwork that we may not bother. Most likely she would only get it for a month or two...
Truly, all of that takes too much of my time and takes me away from the children at home that I need to teach.
We suspect there may be something going on with Madeline regarding learning but it is hard to tell since she has other medical needs right now. She seems to "get" numbers but not the ABC's. We will be scheduling a Neuro Psych eval in the future for Madeline.
Since she has only been home 6 months we are thinking we will have her work on preschool activities and some early Kindergarten learning.
Soooooo...
onto the next child!
Our last kiddo is Abby.
Abby has a learning disability.
She is average in non verbal learning but low in verbal learning(which is everything school related). She has disnomia which means she cannot recall words. Her vocabulary is limited but she is
s l o w l y
continuing to learn.
We spent all of last year preparing her for kindergarten and when she was tested they said she was still at a pre K level ;-(
We worked and worked on the ABC's. Each day she would forget 5 of them...
except it was a different 5 each day.
It's not the type of forgetting where they then say "Oh Ya, that's an H." When she forgets- its GONE, completely gone. I have to then give her a choice - is this letter an A or an H. Then she may get it.
Abby has had OT that will end in August. Her speech will go through September and then we will private pay for speech at home 1-2 times per week. She will also be getting PT every Monday afternoon (through December).
I would like to keep her home but sometimes my confidence wavers and I consider sending her. She is 7.5 yrs old and should be in 2nd grade.
Abby has major health issues(Congenitol Siderblastic Anemia) and is transfused every 3 weeks.
We have heard that the schools will put time and effort into her because she is still young enough and "has hope". However will they do better than one hour of private PT and 2 hours of speech per week?
Abby also has to work on her "character building". She had many undesirable characteristics when she first came home. She seemed void of a conscience, she often lied, hit and hurt others, spoke unkindly to her siblings to get her way, constantly whined, refused to do any kind of pre school work, hid things she wanted, and took longer than average to bond.
Abby has a tendency to act impulsively and put herself and others in danger- crossing streets with out looking, climbing things that are not stable and jumping on railings with a 6 foot drop on the other side, etc
These characteristics have slowly improved over the last 1 1/2 years since she has been home.
Abby has become delightful, she does not hit the other children, she hasn't lied in ages, and we can converse with her. She is bonded now and she loves her family!
She tries to do her school work but if I am not within sight she will get sidetracked in a heartbeat.
I believe that Abby was in the room for the hopeless in China...
She had no knowledge and zero desire to learn.
At 5yr 11 months she acted like a 2-3 yr old and was not the least bit inquisitive.
It was really quite sad...
HOWEVER,
I feel like we are making progress and I don't know that I want to jeopardize the person she is becoming...
Do I have an educational plan? Not completely but I am working on it and hope to try it out this next week or two...
The Neuro Psychologist said in May that we needed to "get going" and yet it's August and we still haven't received the finished report...
Which is supposed to include the recommendations for Abby's education...
So...
do you have any insights? Any thoughts? What would you do?
Praying for God to make it clear, for the ability to homeschool a large family and for insight through your comments!
Blessings to you!
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