Thursday, January 7, 2010

The First Week

This week was not a good one. I got sick on the 2nd. I swear it was a short version of the flu. Horrible, let me tell you. I'm still coughing horribly. I'm just SO thankful that the four days of fever are behind me. My children contracted it as well, and thankfully, they, too, are on the mend. Dave escaped. I'm so glad.

We had a nice time with our families and got to see a lot of people in a short amount of time. It was also quite nice having Christmas spread out. It made the toys not seem so overwhelming. We all received some very lovely gifts, and it was honestly WAY too much. I am in awe at our family's generosity.

Aside from that, not much is going on. Today is my first good day after being sick all week. I don't have a fever, and I actually drank coffee this morning. The sun is coming out and it is pretty with the little bit of snow cover on the ground. We've yet to get any major accumulation.

I'm contemplating now what my resolutions will be for the new year. Have you made any?

I'm also teetering on the edge of what to do with Sam for kindergarten. There is a Pre-K and Kindergarten at our church that is half a day, four days a week. This sounds PERFECT. However, I'm sure there will be advance registration for the Pre-Ks who are moving up to kindergarten, and I don't know that he'll actually get in (there are 2 PK classes of 10 each and 1 kindergarten class of 14). If he doesn't, I don't know if I could send him to full-day kindergarten at our public school yet. He'd probably do fine; it's me I'm worried about. :) However, the kid is already reading, and I know to homeschool him for kindergarten wouldn't be a huge time commitment (after talking to a few moms who've done it). I don't know...I have peace about not homeschooling him (as I've mentioned before--I'm not compelled to do it, but I am open if we feel it is a necessity). Looks like we'll see how things pan out and just PRAY and seek His Peace in the matter.

Just out of curiosity, Arkansas homeschooling moms, do you know if you have to present anything to a public school if your child has been homeschooled--like aptitude testing or your lesson plans or anything?

That's all for now. We have a lot more traveling to do for the next week and a half. I'll be in and out. I'm sorry I'm so far behind on reading many of your blogs. I just don't come back to the sunroom (where the computer is) that often now that it is FREEZING!!! I hope to catch up a bit now that I am feeling better. XOXO.

7 comments:

  1. glad to hear you are on the mend. being sick is never good - but even harder as a mom. thank God for compassionate, capable husbands :)

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  2. All you have to do to homeschool as far as paperwork to the state is turn in an "intent to homeschool" to your local public school. I think the deadline is mid-August. There is mandatory testing you will receive information about after you turn in your intent to homeschool, but I don't think that starts until 3rd grade. I love homeschooling. I used to feel good either way--homeschool or public school--except my particular public school was stinky. Now, I love homeschooling so much I don't think I'd quit even if I had a really great school down the street. Since Sam is already reading though, I'm not sure what you think public K5 will do for him especially if he is not still napping at home. Brooke found it a little too easy to get into trouble during K5 because she had nothing else to do. You can completely op out of K5 in this state too.

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  3. The "intent to homeschool" form for the Little Rock School District asked for the core curriculum, subjects to be taught, and class schedule. Here's the page with the forms if you want to see:
    http://www.arkansased.org/about/schools/home.html

    We also had to do a "kindergarten waiver" form. See link at the bottom of this page:
    http://www.homeedonline.com/forms.html

    These pages might help give you a more specific answer to your question. Homeschool testing doesn't start until 3rd grade like Dena said, but I don't know if they would automatically do testing if you were transitioning to public school.

    Hope you're feeling back to normal soon!

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  4. Oh Manda, I'm so sad for school. Freddy is eligible to start the 4 year old pre-k program at our elementary school this year and I'm having serious doubts about wanting to send him. Addie would miss him terribly and I would too. This is selfish, but I feel like I've hardly gotten any time with him and August is only 7 months away! I know you'll make a good decision. Maybe you'd feel better if you talked to the teachers or if there is a gifted and talented program at that age so he would be challenged.

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  5. I hated it when it was time for Andrew to start:( I think all mommys struggle with this!!! Andrew could read when he started but he still has fun there. He's never talked about being bored or anything. I think he just really enjoys the social aspect of it. He's got a couple of really good friends and enjoys looking for mysteries on the playground;0)

    I'm SO glad you're feeling better... I'm a little under the weather today. I'm coming down with a cold:(

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  6. i'm glad you are feeling better.

    you inspired me yesterday to make an afternoon pot of coffee.


    ahhh was it ever good. then shane walked in the door with a happy hour for me.

    then i made a 2 layer chocolate cake. oh lord pmsing is going to make me big as a house :). hahaha

    the good news is my resolution was to get skinny and i've already dropped 32 pounds this year and the weight just keeps falling off. amazing. all i'm doing is drinking coffee, happy hours and eating cakes.

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  7. I'm glad to hear your feeling better. I don't have many resolutions either but to finish my thesis and graduate when we return to AR for a few months. I also want to include God in even the little things. I find I pray for major stuff, but forget that God is also interested in the little things that go on every day. Blessings to you.

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