Been a Long Time

Well, it's been a while since I was here last. With my book blog there are always things to say, because I'm always reading books. But here, I hit a mental block. Couldn't think of anything creative or worth reading.

I'm back though. I may still have nothing worthwhile to say, but if I don't try, how will I find out. Right?

Homeschooling is going well. It amazes me the difference in Alanna's work NOW as opposed to what it was when she was actually in school. She's doing so well and she's learning so much. It makes me proud to watch her figure things out and I love learning things along the way too.

Lydia's in preschool. She's doing beautifully. She's so smart. And she picks up things that kids twice her age don't. I can never seem to keep up with her.

This year has been an extremely trying one full of sadness and loss. I think that also plays a part in my being mostly absent. Books are easier to talk about than life most of the time. My sister's ex husband passed away, the horse my mother and I had "rescued" disappeared after we made several attempts to purchase her from her owner, jobs were lost, and all 3 of my remaining dogs died within months of each other.

So, there's my explanation. I can't promise I'll be any more interesting now than I was before. And I know I wasn't all that interesting then. But I will try and post more.

My Apologies

I've been fairly absent from this blog the last few months and I apologize for that.

I moved back to Virginia from Maine in January after taking a leave of absence from work for depression and anxiety and honestly, those two things just hadn't gotten any better after the change. Lots of things have gone on recently and not so recently that have made it difficult to write, as well as difficult for any improvement as far as the depression and anxiety are concerned.

I've also been at a loss for things to write about, honestly. With my book blog it's easy, I write about the books I read and love. Here, I have to be creative. :-P And sometimes I'm all out of that kind of juice.

I'm still researching homeschooling and am still planning on going that route with Alanna come the fall. It's a lot to do and a lot to plan for, but I've been fortunate enough to have help from some of my old classmates from highschool and some friends from back in Maine.

I'm also going through a pretty ridiculous divorce that is the source of all kinds of irritation. But that can only last so long and then things are over and done with. My advice in this situation? Make sure you truly know who you're marrying when you marry them. You don't want to look back on however many years of your life that you spent with a person and wish that you could take them back. Do them over. I love his family though. With all my heart. And at least one good thing came out of it all. :-) The pretty little 3 year old who's asleep in the next room.

So if anyone has questions, or if there is anything you would like to see me write about, please don't hesitate to let me know! I will try and start writing regularly again soon.

Adventures In Homeschooling

I have made the decision to homeschool my 8 year old this coming year. It's something I had thought about before she entered preschool and something I've been thinking about a lot even this school year. She has agreed to be homeschooled prior to today, although I'm not 100% certain she understands what that means. I truly believe that it's what's best for her.

I've already looked into the laws on homeschooling in my state so I'm confident that those won't be an issue and I've already started looking for a homeschooling group/co-op. I've been checking out tons of different websites to get an idea on curriculum.

There's TONS of fun and interesting things that we can do. I've been kind of worried as to whether or not I would make a good teacher for her but really, who better? And I've decided to get her started in Awana's after the summer. Over the summer there are some "camp" like sessions that run 4 weeks at a time that I would like her to be a part of that happen to run the same time Awana does so we're going to do those first. Sign Language being one. And Animals (with hands on experience with live animals) being the second.

I'm excited to see where this takes us. And I'm excited to be a part of her learning. I know her behaviors and how to teach around her difficulties. This will definitely be a great experience. For both of us. She's such a bright little girl and I hate to see her so disiniterested in her school work, the way she is now. She went from being what all her teachers told me as "one of the brightest kids in her grade" to someone who was in trouble for talking, not taking work seriously, needing a lot of teachers' assistance etc.

If anyone has any advice they'd like to offer, any resources or curriculum ideas please don't hesitate to contact me @ wilirisros33@aol.com! They would be greatly appreciated!