Friday, January 9, 2009

The Academy in 2009

Along with some of the dietary changes we're making this year, our school environment is changing too. We started the year doing our school work at the dining room table. This is because I didn't have the classroom ready in time and after a summer of kids playing down there, it was a disaster. I also needed to make some changes to simplify things a bit and I just didn't get to it. So, school was in the dining room for the first semester. It was okay, but not the best. There are many distractions up here and it was hard to keep order. The school books ended up on the kitchen counter, on the china hutch, on the floor, etc. The papers were everywhere as well. It was quite frustrating. So, back down to the classroom we went. It's been much better. I still don't have it in perfect condition but the kids seem more peaceful down there and that's important.
Recently, a neighbor was talking to me about how I homeschool my kids. She said she couldn't possibly have homeschooled when her kids were younger. She knows Jetter has some learning difficulties and was concerned that he wasn't getting help from a "professional". I'm not sure she knows that I have my degree in elementary education and 10 years of classroom experience, but I decided not to even mention that. The fact is, I'm Jetter's mom and I know about his quirks, his feelings, his difficulties, his frustrations, etc. way more than a teacher could. (I'm saying this from experience. I cared deeply for the children in the classroom, but I couldn't know or love them like a mother. My time with Jetter has to be rather intensive as well, and it's just not possible to spend that kind of time or energy on one student in a classroom when there are others that need help too.) I also didn't share with her the amount of research I have been doing on ADHD, Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. I did however, explain to her that nowadays the resources available to homeschoolers is vast and I have an excellent curriculum that I use. One of the best things about homeschooling Jetter is that I can use the special resources he requires, but he doesn't have to leave a classroom to receive the help he needs. He knows he has some special difficulties to overcome but he is doing quite well.

I've decided to write up a post on Jetter and the special things he uses for my own benefit (as a record) but I thought maybe his grandparents might be interested in seeing what we use as well. I hope to add some pictures too, so I'll work on that today.

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