About a month ago Blake stopped going to school.
There was nothing I could do to get him there.
He was just done.
And I'll admit, I was done with the fight also.
It was more a fight in my own head
about feeling like a failure as a mother.
There was nothing I could do to motivate him, change his attitude,
help him get to school.
I tried everything and when EVERYTHING didn't work
I ended up in tears. I mean it's my job to get my kids to school.
After a week of him staying home and doing small school work
projects like a book report, a small science project and some math on SumDogs,
I decided to entertain the idea of Independent Studies to finish out the school year.
This was the only option we HADN'T tried and I wanted to know if it might work.
After meeting with Blake's wonderful Principal we had a plan in place.
He would finish out the year with Short-Term Independent Studies.
This means that the work comes directly from his teacher
and should take about 3-4 hours per day.
His teacher knows his abilities and what he needs to work on
so she didn't overwhelm us with too much work.
We started 2 weeks ago.
Blake was so excited.
We went and bought a desk for him to work at.
We also purchased a small white board weekly calendar
where I fill-in his work for the week and also
attach his Journal Prompt for each day.
We bought him a fun pencil to celebrate his new school journey from
The Printed Palette while we were down south at the Queen Bee Market.
PE includes baseball practice and swimming in our neighbors pool in the early afternoons.
Where else do you get to do your school work barefoot?
Well...maybe in Hawaii! But Blake thinks it's pretty cool.
The honeymoon period lasted one week
and the second week we had a few rough mornings
but it was nice to know we could just start school work a little later in the day!
This week we are plugging along.
On Monday we actually went and visited the Middle School
that Blake will be attending if he chooses to go back to traditional school.
As of right now...that is his plan.
He wants to try Redwood Middle School.
And I'm ok with that, because I know we have a plan
to fall back on that is working and keeping my boy relaxed and happy!
The other perk to this homeschooling/independent study program...
I have a lunch date more often than not these days!
My 8 year old came home in October. I felt the same way you did- it was hard feeling like I wasn't succeeding. But he has had a GREAT year at home and we are sticking with it next year too. I'm so glad that I didn't force him to keep going. I'm so happy that things are working for you and Blake. :) You're a GREAT mama!!
ReplyDeleteAshley, thanks so much for the comment. Now I'm just kicking myself for not trying it sooner! So glad it is working for you too.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for this new season and for the decisions to make in the future
ReplyDeleteMy sister bounced back and forth with traditional and independent study. Mostly because of all her surgeries that she needed due to her form of spina bifida. She always had a good experience though. At one school her teacher completely refused to adapt her teaching to her so my mom moved her to a different one. So glad you are making the right move for Blake. That's the sign of a great mama not a failure.
ReplyDeleteI hope everything will continue to go well for you and Blake.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a great plan! Homeschooling is going well for us - it's fun to be laid back and just be home and together. :)
ReplyDeleteYou can do this by making a timetable of the things paper help that you need to study on a day to day basis.
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