Today we added structured PE classes to Brennan's schedule, which he will attend at the community center down the block. Every Tuesday morning at 8:00, he will attend rock wall class, and Thursdays at 8:00 is swimming. He is very excited. Patti, our teacher/home school consultant we meet with weekly, is so awesome. Today I had to restrain myself from impulsively hugging her and telling her I love her - she's THAT encouraging and supportive. After all the years of hearing that Brennan isn't doing well at this or that, to have someone sit there and be so wonderful is very comforting and exciting at the same time. I did tell her that I appreciated all the great stuff she does for us. I probably worded it differently.
I told her that Brenna had been drawing lately, and that on President's Day we checked out a book for kids on drawing Utah's signs and symbols - seagulls, the state capitol, etc. Along with "serious" pictures, he drew a great picture of the capitol building being attacked by a flying saucer, with a chunk shot out of the side of the dome. It cracked me up. Patti suggested that Brennan should take a shoebox and decorate the sides, inside and out, with Utah stuff and make a little Utah box, and that each side could represent something different - geography, flora/fauna, art, history, food, natural resources, etc. That has me really excited. Gee, twist my arm. You want Brennan to make a Utah shoebox? I am SO there. We still have pangs of homesickness for Utah, especially Cache Valley.
The whole staff is completely great. I can't think of enough positive adjectives to describe these people. Just think of your favorite one and that's what I think of them. I used to think about homeschooling my kids and the number one thing I thought of was, I couldn't possibly do it. I wouldn't know enough, have enough resources, be able to keep him busy enough, but these people make you feel like your kid will be the next Nobel Prize winner with YOU as his teacher. No public school has ever made me feel like that.
I'm not knocking public school - Bella and Harrison are still doing well there and I love their teachers - but if it doesn't work, it just doesn't! Thankfully there are great homeschool programs out there now - I especially love that the school districts are involved. I talked to the mom of one of Harrison's classmates today and she said she'll be pulling her little boy out of public school too, because the kids at school have been picking on him and he's just miserable. This week is probably his last. Poor guy, he looked like he felt terrible - like he was just hanging on for dear life, emotionally. That's no way for a kid to learn. It's great that we don't HAVE to send our kids to school anymore if they're not doing well. We have great options. And that *sniff, weep* is why I love homeschool.