Hi, Welcome to the Jungle

The world of homeschooling is a mysterious place full of MAGIC and wonder! It's also full of curriculum choices, homeschooling and learning styles, disabilities, your house NEVER being clean, tantrums, and best of all...not having a minute to yourself because you don't send your kids out the door 8 hours/5 days a week.

Sounds tempting doesn't it?

Oh come on, don't be scared. It's not ALL that bad! Some of us homeschool because we L-O-V-E it (I love teaching but have social anxiety) and some of us do it to break free of the emotional scarring and restraints that public school can have. Now, I'm not saying that is everybody's experience. In fact, there are A LOT of fabulous schools with fabulous teachers out there. I'm definitely NOT here to bash on anyone's choice of school.  There are many reasons why homeschoolers choose this lifestyle. We all have different needs as a family and that is A-Okay!

HERE ARE 5 OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING!

  1. Freedom to make our own schedule. We can go to touristy places during the off season and decide when to take school vacations.
  2. If we find a topic that is just SUPER interesting and we want to learn more about it-there is nothing saying that we can't keep going and diving even deeper in.
  3. No snow days! We live in the upper Northeast, so when the public school kids have to make up those days (schools here are in until the middle-end June) we get to keep trucking and finish a lot earlier.
  4. I just get warm & fuzzy feelings in my tummy when my kid FINALLY get something they have been struggling with. I get to see that lightbulb click and it's the best feeling ever.
  5. Because everyone learns differently, I can customize our lesson to how my kids learn best. I can also teach all of my kids the same topic at the same time!

SO, WHY ARE WE HOMESCHOOLERS?

Over 10 years ago, our family started dabbling in homeschooling. I was in an abusive relationship while in the Navy and my ex-husband refused to get up in the morning to take my son 1/4 of a block to the bus stop. He was in Kindergarten. I thought "no big deal-I'll just have him start next year." Well, next year came and we quickly learned that my beautiful baby boy was different than the other children AND, teachers just did not have patience for him.

When he was little, he would take his stuffed animals His favorite was Woody and flip them in the air. Then, he would flap his hands around his ears. I did not know why he was different (was not diagnosed with Autism until 16), but he was labeled as immature, a nuisance and a child with NO social skills at all because he was TOO friendly. This parent-teacher conference opened my eyes to how life would be different for my son and how he would not be accepted as he was.

Children with High-Functioning Autism are often seen as just trouble makers. 

Children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) were not usually diagnosed and the cure for them was punishment. My husbands Mother used to tell me that he just needed a good whack on the ass! He did not need to be punished, he needed love and kindness.

When you thought about Autism, you usually pictured kids playing with plates, spinning in circles and making inaudible sounds. (This is a really bad example so don't burn the torch and track me down) Today, we know that there are different levels of Autism. We didn't get that diagnosis until later because my son is very social. But, his executive functioning skills and social skills are still something we struggle with years later.

Now, I'm not going to go too far into the reasons we went in and out of public school over the years here. I promise, I'm not going to leave you hanging and I will explain more later. But, the day we brought them home for good, I felt like I was the luckiest MOM in the world!

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?

I started TOTE YOUR HORN because I've been where you are. 

I know the mom struggle.

I know the homeschooling teacher struggle.

I know the wife struggle.

I know how it feels to struggle with all 3 of these things at once.

It tears you apart and eats you piece by piece. 🙁 You think you're alone, but you're surrounded and everyone wants something from you ALL THE TIME!

  • We're trying to give attention to our little ones while teaching our older children.
  • Let's be honest-we have a house to run. God forbid we skip a day of dishes or laundry
  • Don't forget that we have to make sure everyone is fed and clean.
  • There are not enough hours to even make time management seem like a reality.
  • People are judging us ALL THE DAMN TIME! And, don't even get me started on strangers quizzing our kids.
  • What the heck do we do when we have multiple kids at different learning levels that all need to be taught at once?
  • Figuring out what to teach, how to teach and when to teach.
  • Balancing our house, kids, teaching, husband, friends, family, business. Forget about ME TIME. It just doesn't exist.

REPEAT AFTER ME

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!