School

I know my blog has been boring, and this probably won't help much.  I decided to homeschool Max and Marshall this year for a few reasons.

1.  The schools here really aren't great.  They have pretty low standards and don't really offer the opportunity for your child to excel in any subjects.

2.  The kids in the school here really aren't great.  I especially noticed the difference from 2nd to 3rd grade.  Max was being called foul names and for the little time that I spent in their classrooms, I was appauled by the language that I would hear the kids use.  With the large amount of diversity in our school combined with double-income and divorced homes, the kids today are left to themselves with nothing but time, the t.v. and the internet; forcing these kids to grow up faster and be exposed to the adult world way too early.

3.  Even though none of my kids were involved in any extra activites, like sports or music lessons, I never felt like I was able to spend any quality time with them.  As soon as they were home from school it was homework time, for 1-2 hours, play time, dinner time, then bed time.  Life was a whirlwind, we kept going and going and going with not much meaning.

4.  It seemed safter to keep Max home with his platelets still all over the board.  Who knows if and when some punk kid would think it was funny to trip him or push him down, not understanding the consequenses.  The offer was still on the table to have homebound come in twice a week (and I loved his teacher) but I didn't like the hours that we were imprisoned in our home.

So I spoke with a friend in my ward that homeschools 3 of her 4 kids (ages 9, 11, and 14) and really liked the program she was using.  It is called K12, and in Las Vegas, it is paid for by the school district through a program called Nevada Virtual Academy.  It is great!  They send you all the materials for all subjects, including art materials, reading books, teacher manuals, and they even have foreign language.  All the daily schedules are online, which is where you log attendance and assesments.  A lot of the work is even done online.  My kids really like it and so do I.  I never in a million years thought I would be one of those "homeschool moms" but it really isn't so bad.  I mostly didn't think that I would have the patience for it but I am proving myself wrong.  I has been a little tricky to find balance with the 2 of them, and splitting my attention, but we are getting there.  Life is much more laid back and I don't feel to stressed, hard to imagine how having your kids home all the time and being in charge of their education can actually make our family more relaxed, but it does.  I love the time I spend with them, mostly, and I love seeing what they are learning.  We'll see if my tune changes come January, once a baby is thrown into the mix, but I really think it will be easier for me having them around.  Only time will tell but for now I am going to enjoy it.

P.S.  I still enrolled Simon in Kindergarten.  I figured they can't really mess up a 5 year old and he needs to get out of the house and play everyday.  Even if it is for only 2 1/2 hours a day, it helps give me some time with the other boys to be more productive.