Well, I got to speak with the Special Ed Coordinator from Epic Charter today and really liked her! Christopher's curriculum has been picked and I feel really good about it. :) I have a good amount of his fund left to purchase more things throughout the year so that's a plus. The boys got a nice surprise this morning because I thought school started for them on August 22nd but I found out today it doesn't start until September 6th! August 22nd starts the placement testing, that's when Christopher will take some tests to determine what levels all of his courses will be in.
I just about have our dining room the way I want it for when they do start school. I've rearranged and then rearranged some more over these last few weeks. lol (It even spread over into rearranging our bedroom! I did that one night while Chris was playing video games. lol By the time he was done playing I was already in bed and he just looked at me...after 14 years together I think he just accepts my craziness at this point. lol)
I did find out for sure that each of their laptops will have built in webcams so they can skype with their assigned teachers daily/weekly or whenever is necessary. That was great news to hear. My main concern has been Christopher and just knowing I will have so much support regarding him puts my mind at ease...for the most part. lol I still worry every day that I'm going to screw something up with this but I worry about everything so that's nothing new! lol
Jenny :)
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
background theme
I thought I'd explain the whole background theme. We are doing a Harry Potter Marathon right now and I just loved this picture! :)
Well...here goes nothin'! Lol
Well, here it is 2:45am and I'm writing my very first post on here. Believe it or not, this is not that unusual of a time for me to be up! Okay, usually not THIS late but I am a night owl. I always say that I get this from my mama :) When I was younger I never understood why she liked to stay up after all us kids were in bed...now, with 3 boys of my own, I understand very well. Lol
I'm adding in this first post something I typed up over the weekend and have been wanting to share with all my friends and family. So here it goes...
After a lot of thought and consideration and weighing all the pros and cons we’ve made the big decision to try home school this coming year! Without going into all the reasons for this decision, I’ll just say we feel this is what’s best for our family right now.
We are going with an online public school called Epic One on One Charter School here in Oklahoma. It’s still public school just done at home so it doesn’t cost us anything. We are allotted $1000 per child. This is used to purchase curriculum materials and choose from the electives (Matthew is going to try French lol this should be interesting.) You can also use it towards other things as long as it’s for their education. I’m using some to purchase some Speech Therapy books/cds. I’m also buying some study guide books for me to help them in their subjects. We have the option of purchasing laptops for each of them for $250 a piece (money from their funds, not out of our pockets.) As long as they are enrolled in the school they keep the laptops. After purchasing everything we wanted for each kid we still have some money left over that we can use throughout the year if need be or, if we go with them again next year, any remaining funds will roll over and be added to next year.
Christopher will take a placement test within the next week or so to determine what level each of his subjects will be in. He will be assigned a special ed teacher. Matthew and Ryan will each be assigned a regular ed teacher. I decide how often we check in with the teachers (daily, weekly, etc…) They are there for me whenever I need them though. We can even set up tutoring sessions if necessary. What I like is I don’t do any of the grading or testing. It’s all done online. I’m here to help them and if I can’t then I call their assigned teacher. We also have the option of Skype, if I’m not mistaken, which is really nice.
One of my favorite things about this is the attendance policy. There is no set time to start and end every day. They don’t have to check in Monday through Friday. We make up our own schedule and we can change it when we want. There is also no set lesson plan every week. You do the lesson you’re on and you move to the next one when you’re done. This works great for Christopher so he won’t feel rushed. Matthew and Ryan can move on to their next lessons sooner than a week if they get done. If we want to take a Monday off, we can! We can work on the weekends or during the evenings. What I like is, we can go wherever we want, as long as there is internet access. So we’re hoping more trips to Kansas! School starts August 22nd but there is no end date. They would like you to be done by the end of May but if you are still doing your work then you do it until you are finished. You can also finish before the end of May if you get done.
The school provides a field trip once a month that we can join in on if we want but it’s not required. We’re hoping to do those. Also, I know there is a pretty large home school community here on base and they meet at the Youth Center often to have gym time and you can bring your work and do it together in a group a few days a week I think. Since the Youth Center is only a few blocks from our home we will be doing that.
I’ve had some people ask me about the social aspect of home schooling them. I don’t worry about that because they are going to be active in going to the Youth Center to be around other kids. Matthew is still going to get his sports too. Instead of going through the school we will go through the Youth Center. Matt and Ryan already do Baseball through there so now he will also get a full season of Basketball and they offer karate. Plus, we live right in front of a playground so they will get to see their neighborhood friends every day!
I know this is going to be a big change and a big challenge but I really feel this is something I need to do. For those of you who want to know more, you can message me and I’ll explain. I’m nervous but excited. I know this can be a touchy subject with some people but I pray we have the support of all our friends and family.
For those of you, and you know who you are, who have given me advice (some from your own personal experience, some who are in the same boat as me and some who aren’t lol) and who have listened to me endlessly go back and forth lol I am very grateful to each and every one of you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! J
I want to add that I was at the store this evening and ran into someone I know. The topic of me homeschooling didn't go over well, in fact it pretty much ended the conversation. I've been very surprised by some responses I've got but overall I've been reminded of the great friends and family we have and the awesome support we get from all of you. <3
I'm adding in this first post something I typed up over the weekend and have been wanting to share with all my friends and family. So here it goes...
After a lot of thought and consideration and weighing all the pros and cons we’ve made the big decision to try home school this coming year! Without going into all the reasons for this decision, I’ll just say we feel this is what’s best for our family right now.
We are going with an online public school called Epic One on One Charter School here in Oklahoma. It’s still public school just done at home so it doesn’t cost us anything. We are allotted $1000 per child. This is used to purchase curriculum materials and choose from the electives (Matthew is going to try French lol this should be interesting.) You can also use it towards other things as long as it’s for their education. I’m using some to purchase some Speech Therapy books/cds. I’m also buying some study guide books for me to help them in their subjects. We have the option of purchasing laptops for each of them for $250 a piece (money from their funds, not out of our pockets.) As long as they are enrolled in the school they keep the laptops. After purchasing everything we wanted for each kid we still have some money left over that we can use throughout the year if need be or, if we go with them again next year, any remaining funds will roll over and be added to next year.
Christopher will take a placement test within the next week or so to determine what level each of his subjects will be in. He will be assigned a special ed teacher. Matthew and Ryan will each be assigned a regular ed teacher. I decide how often we check in with the teachers (daily, weekly, etc…) They are there for me whenever I need them though. We can even set up tutoring sessions if necessary. What I like is I don’t do any of the grading or testing. It’s all done online. I’m here to help them and if I can’t then I call their assigned teacher. We also have the option of Skype, if I’m not mistaken, which is really nice.
One of my favorite things about this is the attendance policy. There is no set time to start and end every day. They don’t have to check in Monday through Friday. We make up our own schedule and we can change it when we want. There is also no set lesson plan every week. You do the lesson you’re on and you move to the next one when you’re done. This works great for Christopher so he won’t feel rushed. Matthew and Ryan can move on to their next lessons sooner than a week if they get done. If we want to take a Monday off, we can! We can work on the weekends or during the evenings. What I like is, we can go wherever we want, as long as there is internet access. So we’re hoping more trips to Kansas! School starts August 22nd but there is no end date. They would like you to be done by the end of May but if you are still doing your work then you do it until you are finished. You can also finish before the end of May if you get done.
The school provides a field trip once a month that we can join in on if we want but it’s not required. We’re hoping to do those. Also, I know there is a pretty large home school community here on base and they meet at the Youth Center often to have gym time and you can bring your work and do it together in a group a few days a week I think. Since the Youth Center is only a few blocks from our home we will be doing that.
I’ve had some people ask me about the social aspect of home schooling them. I don’t worry about that because they are going to be active in going to the Youth Center to be around other kids. Matthew is still going to get his sports too. Instead of going through the school we will go through the Youth Center. Matt and Ryan already do Baseball through there so now he will also get a full season of Basketball and they offer karate. Plus, we live right in front of a playground so they will get to see their neighborhood friends every day!
I know this is going to be a big change and a big challenge but I really feel this is something I need to do. For those of you who want to know more, you can message me and I’ll explain. I’m nervous but excited. I know this can be a touchy subject with some people but I pray we have the support of all our friends and family.
For those of you, and you know who you are, who have given me advice (some from your own personal experience, some who are in the same boat as me and some who aren’t lol) and who have listened to me endlessly go back and forth lol I am very grateful to each and every one of you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! J
I want to add that I was at the store this evening and ran into someone I know. The topic of me homeschooling didn't go over well, in fact it pretty much ended the conversation. I've been very surprised by some responses I've got but overall I've been reminded of the great friends and family we have and the awesome support we get from all of you. <3
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