We switched online schools this year. This new school is MUCH, MUCH MORE intense. I really like all that they provide. It has just been a pretty big adjustment from last year's online school and adding Abbe into the mix..... All of this has made for a few stressful weeks.
Yes, we have decided to keep Abbe home this year also. Last year ended up being a pretty good year for Ruth. So, with the doctor concluding that all of Abbe's stomach issues were due to her stressing herself out, we decided we would try it with her also.
So, now our kitchen/dining area has two computer desks and computers and school areas. Jason said he didn't know where else we could stuff something else in here. Jason and I sit at the laptop at the kitchen table off and on while we are helping the girls. This way we can see what they are doing and also try to get some things accomplished.
As most of you know, we decided to keep Ruth home last year after a very trying and difficult 5th grade year in regular school. Ruth has ADHD and very high anxiety which feed off of each other in a vicious circle. (Yes, we went to Children's Hospital for diagnosis. Yes, she sees a counselor. Yes, she takes medicine but at the very lowest level available. Yes, I did not want to believe the diagnosis when they told me. My child could not have this. Any hooo...) Ruth was getting bullied and was retaliating. So, Ruth was getting in trouble and not the girls who were doing the bullying. The teachers really tried to do something about this but they did not have the back up from the principal for any real change to happen. All of this was having a very negative affect on Ruth's self confidence which was already not very high anyway due to the ADHD and high anxiety. Another vicious circle for my girl. Having been bullied myself in High School, I know what it can do to a person's self confidence. And at age 10.....well, I knew something drastic needed to happen for my girl. My mom has said that she has noticed a huge positive change in Ruth over the past year which makes me happy. Especially since doing school at home is a pretty big challenge for the whole family.
Yes, that previous paragraph had a lot of "hot topic" words in it. Sigh. And I can see a lot of people rolling their eyes right now about the ADHD, the bullying, the stomach issues, the high anxiety.... These words are in the press a lot these days, and everyone is saying they are involved in one or more of these things. But these things ARE and have been happening here. If you want to believe it or not, that is up to you. We are doing what we feel is best for our children. If you know me well, then you know how much I struggled with Ruth's diagnosis. You know how terrible Ruth's fifth grade year was socially. And you know that I am a Big Mama Bear when it comes to my children.
Yes, Eian still goes to the local public school and will remain there as long as it continues to work for him. He has an excellent teacher this year. Also, Eian is a pretty social kid who likes (and needs) to be around other boys. Also, I know myself pretty well, and I think having Eian home too with all of the one-on-one work that is needed at his age would be waayyy too much for me. And he gets aggravated being home with all of us girls when Jason is at the firehouse! :-) Most of our neighbors have girls too! So he really needs to be throwing around some testosterone with someone. 
Well, this ended up being a much wordier post than I had intended! Included some pictures from August for y'all.
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