We’re settling in. The first few weeks of school are underway, and so far, this seems like a much easier year than last year.
Jessie LOVES eighth grade. She’s waking up on her own, getting her homework done right away and loving all of her classes. She started a new discussion group at the synagogue last night, and it was happiest I’ve seen her at the synagogue in years. She had such a rough time last year, with the bat mitzvah. On a side note – the bat mitzvah had the exact opposite impact on her – I was hoping it would really cement her relationship with the synagogue and her Jewish identity. Instead, she walked away thinking that she didn’t want to go back to the synagogue ever again, had no interest in ever reading Torah or being actively involved in services at all. She agreed to take the class conditionally, but walked away loving it. She’s taking Model UN, of course, on Wednesdays, and then maybe yearbook or knitting. She’d also like to me to investigate singing lessons (not signing lessons, which I inadvertently spent some time searching for as well).
Julie is rocking first grade. When she’s there. She still hates getting up in the morning, and begs most mornings to stay home. I’m trying hard to keep the faith – she does LIKE school, and she’s happy to be there. But every single morning – she wakes up crying and trying to stay home. But she’s happy while she’s there, and she was so proud of herself yesterday afternoon. She BROUGHT HOME HOMEWORK. Granted it’s first grade homework, so she had a bunch of work sheets (each of which took all of three minutes for her to complete), and it wasn’t due until Friday. She finished all of it yesterday.
I think I’ll probably end up homeschooling Julie. Not certain of it, because things might change. Maybe she’ll continue to love and adore school… but if this goes well with Sam, then I think I’ll want to do the same thing with Julianna. With Jessie – I’m not as certain. She’s older, for one thing, and she really LOVES school. We’re tentatively planning on South High for her next year. It’s a big urban high school, which terrifies me a little, but we’ll see.
Homeschooling with Sammy – it’s going… well. I think. I’m going to be an eclectic homeschooler (which you’d predict, I think). And this year in particular is going to be a little haphazard. We’re still trying to get a grip on what he can see, and what is the best way for him to learn. Right now, we’re reading out loud, all the time, and when we aren’t reading, he’s audiobooking (which I’m now using as a verb). We’re working through a math curriculum and then we’re just reading. Big appointment next week with the low vision doctor, and I think we’ll get some answers there about what he can see, what kind of technology is out there that he can use, and what he’ll qualify for.
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