I fondly remember the days when blogging was just putting thoughts to a page, sharing stories, sharing ideas. Now, blogging is a full-time business for so many. It’s hard to not get caught up in the rat race and instead of just sharing a field trip to share a field trip, now there is the pull to make the blog post “15 Reasons Why Homeschoolers MUST Take Field Trips”. Nothing wrong with that at all! It’s just not something I can make the time to do anymore.
The time I have to sit down and write out a somewhat coherent blog post is severely limited. I know everyone is time starved, I’m not unique with this issue. Blogging just isn’t a priority right now. Gone are the days when we could spend an hour doing our beloved Five in a Row and call it good with formal learning. Looong gone are the days when our evenings were fairly quiet and we didn’t have many outside commitments. With 6 kids, 4 of them teenagers, someone always has someplace to be.
Chit Chat
I’m not complaining (well I’m not a fan of all the driving around!) it’s just this season of life.
So, instead of ditching my blog completely (and I have considered that many times!) I’m going to include more “Chit Chat” posts. I want to continue mostly for myself and the memories that I have recorded in this teeny tiny corner of the internet.
Homeschooling Updates
My homeschooler turned high schooler is chugging along, with only 4 more weeks of 11th grade. I can’t even believe it. It does seem like time speeds up once they enter high school and I have two more entering high school in the fall! 11th grade has been a doozy. We are both ready for the last day of school. He is tired and worn out from the stress of taking ACT’s, SAT’s, EOC’s and any other test they can think to throw at these weary kids. Not to mention the college decision that is looming for him. I completely related to the article I read at Grown and Flown about Stressed Out Teens. By the way if you have a teen I highly recommend Grown and Flown, great website.
While in many ways homeschool to high school has worked out great for him, it confirmed for me why my other kids won’t be making that same leap. Homeschooling is hard y’all, but I have worried and fretted more for my oldest over his public school career than I ever have over homeschooling. It’s not just that high school is a different ball game, in some ways high school in public school is a different planet! One more year to go – we’ve got this.
In August we will start our homeschooling high school journey once again with the next two oldest kids. I will share more soon about the resources we will be using. The other three are making slow (sometimes excruciatingly slow) progress in their work. It’s never seems to be steady progress, but all over the place progress. Such is life with special needs/quirky learners.
Can you believe we are nearing 5 years of living in Florida? Neither can I. We are still fully enjoying the Sunshine State!
