One year ago today I signed a simple slip of paper and handed it to my son's elementary school principal. That slip of paper was all that was required of me to pull Jackson out of public school and homeschool him. It was the scariest and most freeing decision I've ever made. As I reflect on the last year, I can honestly say it's been pretty good. My kid is happy and thriving. He is learning at his own pace and in his own unique ways. His anxiety is under control. The meltdowns are gone. We Continue Reading
I Want To Be A Brave Learner {Five Takeaways from the Book!}
I spent all of February diving into Julie Bogart's new book Brave Learner. I usually don't spend an entire month reading one book, but I wanted to let all the homeschool goodness soak in. We're about to celebrate one year of homeschooling and the truth is I'm still trying to figure out what works best for us. I am still scared I'm going to mess up Jackson's education. This book renewed my hope. It sparked a fire deep within me to create a learning environment where Jackson Continue Reading
My First Strewing Experience
I had never heard of strewing until I started reading The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart. (The book is incredible, by the way! I plan to do an entire post devoted to it really soon.) Strewing is a thing in the homeschool world, but I tried it for the first time yesterday. The idea is to leave an activity, any kind really, out on the table for your child to discover on their own. Parents should sit back and allow the child to check it out. They are free to explore and discover to their Continue Reading
The $80 That Wasn’t Wasted
Back in December we took Jackson to a small monster truck show in Texas. He loves monster trucks and we thought it would be a great birthday present. We also wanted to see how he would do before buying tickets to the Monster Jam tour when it rolled through Oklahoma City in February. The event was in a super small colosseum and the building was metal. The moment the trucks reeved their engines, Jackson went into fight/flight mode. It was so loud my insides were shaking. It was unlike anything Continue Reading
What I Love About Him {Choosing To Focus on His Gifts}
For so many years we’ve had to focus on the developmental delays. We’ve been focused on his speech since he was 18-moths-old. We had to help him find his voice. These days we focus on helping him learn to read and all the things that make learning difficult. Our world has been speech therapy appointments, IEP meetings and appointments with specialists. Sometimes it’s hard to focus on the gifts when things are so hard. But this year I'm determined to focus on all the things I love Continue Reading