Monday will bring the official start to our homeschooling adventures! Because nothing is normal with us, their materials are not yet in and Emily isn't 100% setup yet. While I started the process of registering her back in March, the school that we are using could not officially register her until they held an IEP meeting (Individual Education Plan) for her. Since we are using a county school program, they wanted to speak to her teacher's and support staff from last year. School is starting on Monday, but we only had her IEP meeting today! We met today with her teacher, her school occupational and physical therapists, her hospital homebound teacher, and the ESE teacher. (Special education). We had someone from the county homeschool section on speaker phone. In the past she has struggled with math due to the excessive absences from medical conditions. At first our school staff didn't seem sure that this could be good for us, but in the end I think that they were all impressed with what this homebound opportunity has to present.
Because I am not a good teacher, I never really thought that I could do something like this. I was very worried about teaching a traditional home school curriculum, mostly because it lacked teacher support. Perhaps we will stay with this, or perhaps we will eventually move to a different curriculum. Time is on our side. Or, if homeschooling does not prove to be a good fit for us, by using this county program, she will be easily transitioned back into her old school. I really appreciate that. I think that this will be perfect but just in case...
Once we're able to start I think I will be happy with it. The program that we are using is Calvert Academy. It's a private homeschooler that also works with counties. Not only is this partially an online program but there are also books and bookwork. When we started talking about homeschooling, I asked my children if they would prefer all online or a blend. This blend should meet their needs, keep them engaged, but also be flexible enough for our hospital trips to not interfere in their education. Where a traditional school will keep moving and Emily would have to fight to catch up, this new option will start back up where she left off. I really, really appreciate that. This truly seems as though it will be a perfect fit for us. I hope so. Oh, and we'll still have field trips. They say it's usually about one a month.
The only worrisome part thus far is that, not only is Emily not 100% set yet but we haven't gotten Zachary's material yet. I am really hoping that we can at least start the online parts on Monday, but I also don't want to get so far ahead that they are backtracking with the worksheets. Either way, we'll get it done. I am so excited for this opportunity!!! I really hope that this is as perfect as it sounds.
