Homeschooling update

Where exactly does time go?
How grateful I am for the blessings I have been given over these last few years. I am so glad that I have documented on this blog. I can see the growth of my family over the years. I only wish I had started it sooner.
A lot has happened in the last year. I'm not sure if I will ever be as up to date as I used to be.
We are still homeschooling. Kurtis is now over 18 and is out on his own. He is still 10 feet tall (only figuratively), and bulletproof (also figuratively). He has a job, and is learning what the real world is all about. I just pray that he will learn from his mistakes and that he will grow and become a better person as he gets older. But as for now, he is on his own and his mistakes are his and I know longer pay for them.
Austin is now 16, working toward getting his drivers
license. He has a goal of joining the Marines and is working toward that. In the mean time he's homeschooling, which he hates. He'd rather sit on his Xbox and play games all day. He will soon learn that he can't pass the tests needed playing all day long. But what do parents know?

EmberLee is 10 and is my little homeschooling scholar. I never have to remind her to get busy, she has read 2 books already and we're only ending the 3rd week of school. last year we used Easy Peasy Homeschooling, which was ok. But we are using Discoverk12 this year and she loves  it. It is much easier for her to do the work herself. I love how easy it is to track each of my kids. EmberLee seems to stay a few days ahead of everyone else. She makes me so proud that she doesn't seem to struggle with any of it.

Bridger is turning 8 soon and is in 2nd grade. I will most likely dedicate a blog page just for him. He started Public school when he was in Kindergarten. He struggled big time. He struggled reading right from the get go. Half way through the year I learned that the teacher had no idea he was struggling at all. He would cry and struggle reading at home. He didn't recognize most of the letters. I was flipping the letters, and mixing up words more than any of my previous kids have ever done. Through all this he was also being bullied. The icing on the cake was when he was bullied at recess. A 2nd grader held him up against a fence while a class mate would kick him in the belly. I only know this because it was caught on tape. Somehow the recess duty missed it. That was my que to pull him out and homeschool him. I did this and we started all over. Beginning with the letter 'A'. Last year we left Alaska 2 months into the school year. We had a rough year last year. Starting to read, we ended up at the same place he was at in Kindergarten. So I did some research and his symptoms seemed a lot like dysgraphia, and or dyslexia. So instead of testing him, I decided to treat him as he had either of them. We started making huge progress by the end of 1st grade. When doing spelling we did things like clapping the letters out. We used sand to write in. We would find songs that helped him to remember that "b's" have bellys and "d's" don't. Also "S's" and "5's" are similar. and "Z's, M's and N's and W's" have certain points that make them special. He is doing so much better. Through the summer we worked on letters and sounds and we began this year strong. The only thing that has made things hard are the ladies in primary. Makes me want to smack them for their lack of understanding. They think they can classify him as a "homeschooled" kid. So they will assign him things like scriptures and then complain that he can't read. Make me so angry.

He has made vast improvement. He makes me so proud. He started out the summer with Bob Books Collection 1, and 2. He finished the 2nd box and is now in the middle of the 3rd box. A vast improvement from his struggles.

Theron has just turned 6 and is a spit fire. We have started the same reading process as Bridger. he seems to struggle when he's frustrated, but his handwriting is less messy. He doesn't seem to have much patience with things that need more time. But he responds well to videos, and rewarding with stickers.
Teaching a child to read reminds me of potty training. Something that seems overwhelming at first and something most parents ask for help on. They usually go to the library and check out potty training self help books. They get on Facebook and post questions about it hoping to get some insight on what to do. The best part is every kid is different. What works for some, doesn't work for others. Each kid does it on their own time frame not their parents. When the kid finally is ready to do it, nothing can stop him. Some kids require a night time diaper till they're 8 some sleep through the night dry as soon as they start to potty train. Some kids start late, and when that happens, something must be wrong right? I'm just grateful that potty training is done with all of my kids and that we are finally moving onto reading and that pretty soon it will be behind us too.